“Yes, I take the comparison between Mario Kart and Forza Horizon,” says Brian Silva, director of the upcoming Lego 2K drive, during a preview of Visual Concepts’ new racing game. The comparison was the first thing that came to mind after about three hours Lego 2K drive‘s open world hijinx and races full of power ups, boost pads and lots of drifting.
However, as this is an officially licensed Lego game, Lego 2K drive seems to have more than just his influences on the building blocks.
The facility for Lego 2K drive is pretty standard fare: you’re the new kid on the block and you’ll need to increase your reputation by winning races and completing side quests to eventually gain enough notoriety to challenge the familiar characters in the story and unlock new areas of the map . This sets the stage for these types of games, but the key lies in what only Lego can offer.
If you’ve played any of the Lego action-adventure games or seen the Lego movies, you’ll be familiar with the brand’s tongue-in-cheek humor. The same light-hearted silliness serves as the basis for Lego 2K drive to contextualize the open-world driving adventure. History’s universal broadcasters narrate game events with an irreverent aplomb, poking fun at the absurdity of what is happening. Almost every character name seems like a cheesy car pun, and side missions task you with running silly errands for NPCs – although I think I’ve done one too many quests helping cops with their damn jobs, and now I’m a part of which the problem, but that’s on me.
Lego blocks themselves are an integral part of the gameplay and the way the open world is laid out. “Anything you see in-game with Lego can be built in the real world with Lego,” Silva said of the buildings, foliage, and other objects seen in-game. This extends to the vehicles themselves, which are the most important element of the game’s identity.
The open world of Blocklandia consists of different types of terrain. Your vehicle automatically and instantly transforms into the right vehicle to suit the topography – a racer for the open roads, an SUV for the dirt, and a speedboat for sailing the waters. It’s enjoyable to navigate the world and use the different vehicle types on the fly, and this puts more emphasis on the extensive vehicle customization features.
You can customize each of these vehicles with decals, flair, or some nonsensical configurations with stacked blocks. But the more intriguing aspect is the ability to build vehicles brick by brick using official Lego bricks, of which there will be over 1,000 pieces to play around with. It took some time to master the controls in the customization garage as there are multiple moving parts, levels and small parts to manage within a 3D space. It’s not quite as easy as snapping in whatever brick you want when coming up with fancy designs, so I imagine it will take significant effort and wrestling with the systems to make the most of the customization options of the to get the game out. However, after about 30 minutes I was able to assemble a modest car for myself, so I’m sure that with more time and creativity people could create some wild whips. And while he couldn’t confirm specific details, Silva did mention that players can share designs online (and there will be a review process for inappropriate content).
No matter what monstrosity or fine piece of Lego art you dream up for your vehicles, you’ll take them to races. And I think what’s most striking from a gameplay perspective is that Lego 2K drive
The tracks often feature big jumps and boost pads to keep up momentum, and varied terrain allows you to use any type of vehicle throughout the race. Each racer also has their own NOS-like speed increase meter, which builds up faster the more you destroy on a track, encouraging controlled recklessness in driving. Drifting is the key to taking tight corners at high speeds – it’s made easy by simply pulling the right trigger to make your car lose traction and start skidding. It’s easy to control even with a hairpin. The courses themselves change depending on the three difficulty levels available; Not only do they make the AI tougher, they throw extra twists, turns and obstacles onto the track for more chaotic racing.
It’s cool to see someone else give the karting genre a shot, especially with a collaboration like Lego to make it stand out but also fit it into a larger environment with other activities in between. I wish there was more from the game. Most of the side quests felt like basic tasks, like timed runs from point A to point B or fast car chases. Other missions pop up for large amounts of XP, like one where I had to defend three towers by clashing with aliens descending from UFOs. It played in the goofy tone, but it didn’t necessarily play to its playful strengths. It’s an aspect that felt weaker based on the hands-on demo.
However, there is a good gameplay foundation. Driving around the map is effortless and unlike its contemporaries, it never feels like you’re stuck or needing to back up. Your Lego vehicle simply adapts to the situation and keeps things moving. A dedicated jump button also makes exploration easier, so you don’t always have to be pinned to the ground. Silva mentioned that she wanted to create a sense of exploration, saying, “It doesn’t say [Lego 2K] Run for a good reason. We didn’t want this to be your traditional racing game where you choose and repeat your vehicle and track. We wanted it to feel like a driving adventure.” With so many more parts of the map to unlock, I hope the adventurous spirit of Lego 2K drive will become more apparent as the game progresses.
In total, Lego 2K drive has a lot of potential as both a kart racer and a light-hearted open-world driving experience. I’m curious if the kart racing aspect will provide enough to sustain long-term interest, as it seems like the potential is there, particularly with a focus on multiplayer racing and open-world pursuits. With a roughly 15-hour campaign, it’s the things outside of kart racing that count to support the rest of the game, be it the goofy atmosphere, deeper vehicle customization or the side content in Blocklandia.
It won’t be long before you can start moving bricks yourself. Lego 2K drive will be released on May 19th for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.