LEGO 2K Drive is a racing game with some enjoyable aspects. It has a free-form drive in a colorful world and good customization mechanics. It has some issues that work against the experience in a hard-to-ignore way. There is a lot of fun to be had in a LEGO type of experience. It is a game that places more emphasis on fun over hardcore racing experience. LEGO 2K is more than realistic racing.
The moment-to-moment gameplay experience while driving in different areas provides a fun experience. Inputs are simple with the ability to quickly jump, drift and turn. The game feels like players have more control over what they are driving. Such a feeling provides a fun driving experience. Despite having some interruption that breaks the momentum. Despite all its good points, it has some issues that work against the experience in ways that are hard to ignore.
Career Mode and Setting
The start of its career mode is simple that does not have many complications. You are an immature racer who is starting from the bottom. There is a racer at the top of all racers who you are supposed to defeat and win the big race. Along the way, you need to work your way through different races, open-world activities, and other side activities.
Career mode is not that long as one can finish it in 7 to 12 hours depending on how many side activities you do. Most jokes of LEGO 2K Drive will fall flat and will not have much impact on players. I guess it really does not help as the game is focused on the younger audience.
LEGO 2K Drive features four unique biomes with each one having a decent size open world. One of these biomes is a small tutorial location while others are open-world areas. The biomes include deserts, lush green valleys, and waterways. In terms of visual design and tutorial, there is a lot to like about these biomes.
Players will see a vast variety of things in the environment and things in the environment are destructible. When you destroy something it will get destroyed in traditional LEGO fashion with bricks flying around everywhere. Your car will transform according to the environment. Going through off-road will transform it into an off-road vehicle. On the road, it will transform into a street car while water will transform it into a boat. Such changes take crashes and going off track out of the equation. Your boost will fill quickly which makes racing more fun.
Side Missions
There are different side missions in the open world. It is mostly about collecting things or going from one point to another. In certain side missions, you have to avoid bombs and reach the destination. There are some strange missions as well which include smashing aliens with a car while defending the tower. While playing career mode these side missions can feel like they are breaking momentum and the game is forcing you to do these activities. You will be spending the majority of the time playing side missions, online races, and extra stuff.
The Driving and Vehicles
Like other races, you have a variety of things to pick up while driving the vehicles. The game will let you equip different types of weapons that you can use against opponents. There is fun in the general driving of the game thanks to its enjoyable mechanics. The core driving of LEGO 2K Drive is fun and simple. Driving the car is relatively easy as the game focuses more on fun rather than realism. The stats are different with generally fast and easy turns. The start of each race is fun even if it dies down later on.
The boost has a sense of speed that feels good. Cars will take damage and will break down as you do damage but hitting different things will drop bricks that you can pick up and heal. You can pick up different weapons while racing that will give you abilities to attack opponents. It is chaotic and some of the weapons are really good. You can select what boat, off-road vehicle, and street car you want to drive.
AI Has Cheat Difficulty
The major problem that the game face is its AI. Driving mechanics are fun but AI has a rubber banding issue. The AI will reach you in the end, no matter how well you drive. Similarly, you will easily catch up to the opponents in the end. Enemies will be far from you and then they will be close to you before you know it.
Such a difficulty of AI takes away any real sense of challenge. The stats and perks of different vehicles become useless. It gives you little reason to change the vehicle. The only thing that will matter is how they look. The lack of importance for stats makes the concept of vehicle collection a hollow experience.
Customization
The creation and customization aspect of the game is really good. It lets you create an entire vehicle from scratch. When customizing a vehicle the game will give you a choice of picking the basic body or making a vehicle from scratch. You can pick each piece of LEGO to make a vehicle. The game offers a vast collection of pieces to choose from. You can also choose cosmetic options like stickers, paints, and other such stuff for vehicle customization. LEGO 2K Drive gives you a lot of options so creative people will have a blast with it.
More pieces will be unlocked as your progress and unlock new customization options. Building cars and putting different LEGO pieces together can be fun. Players can spend hours in the vast amount of options that the game presents. There is no creative market-sharing option to share your creations with the community.
General Gameplay
Leveling up and getting new parts is the major aspect of the game. There is an in-game currency that you can use to buy different items. There is even an option to buy in-game currency with real money. Though you can earn the same currency through in-game activities, having the option of microtransaction is a low blow. LEGO 2K Drive is focused on younger players so purchasing stuff by mistake can happen.
The open-world design has some issues as well. The visual design of the game is incredible not only in the amount of verity it has but the color and personality of each area as well. Driving cars in these areas feel incredible and provides an enjoyable experience. Maps are not big so there is not much to see. The stuff that the map is filled with such as side activities is not that good.
There is even the option of couch co-op which is something that I have stopped expecting from games in the era of online games. Presentation of LEGO 2K Drive such as cut scenes and graphics are also good. There are plenty of side activities such as getting air time records or drifting courses. There are a lot of set-piece missions with goals and setups.
Verdict
LEGO 2K Drive is not an even experience as there are ups and downs to it. There is a lot to like about it and at its core, it is a fun experience. The driving is fun, with a good open world that looks great. AI of the game holds it back and the fun world is filled with some generic goals and setups. The world is filled with generic content that leaves much to be desired. The customization options are good with quite a lot of options to have fun. Don’t expect a serious Forza-type experience from it.
People might even call it a cart racer because it feels like one. It is a game for all ages that can quickly be mastered. LEGO 2K Drive is the type of game that one can just pick and play. If you are looking for something good for all ages then this could be it. It is a straightforward arcade-style racer. The game is easy to play as it has an emphasis on fun if you can ignore the microtransactions.
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