NEED TO KNOW
What’s it? A Lego kart racer the place you may construct your individual autos.
Launch date Might 19, 2023
Count on to pay $70 / £50
Developer Visible Ideas
Writer 2K
Reviewed on GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, i7-7820X, 64GB RAM
Multiplayer Sure
Steam Deck N/A
Hyperlink Official site
Each time I play a brand new “kart” racing sport, I am all the time disappointedly stunned on the lack of innovation throughout the style—and Lego 2K Drive is nothing new in that respect. Each drift round a nook, each enhance off a ramp, I had the identical thought: I’ve performed this sport earlier than. You have, undoubtedly, performed this sport earlier than. That is Mario Kart. That is Crash Staff Racing. That is Garfield Kart.
That being stated, Lego 2K Drive’s tackle kart racing does really feel extraordinarily polished. The controls really feel weighty and responsive, and there is loads of suggestions in its turns and drifts primarily based on the dimensions and specs of your automobile. The programs themselves are decently diverse, even when personally I might have most well-liked a larger deal with shortcuts and alternate routes, and the open-world maps within the story marketing campaign really feel appropriately expansive.
The humour in Lego 2K Drive does really feel just a little bit extra juvenile than your normal Lego sport—they appear to be concentrating on a fair youthful demographic than traditional.
Lego 2K Drive’s story mode is completely stuffed stuffed with content material, although that is largely to its detriment. The precise story missions solely took me about 5 hours to finish, however there is a wealth of aspect missions and challenges to work by as soon as you’ve got overwhelmed them. These additional actions are very reduce and paste nevertheless, and you will be repeating the identical missions a number of occasions throughout each map for those who’re going for 100% completion or, worse, making an attempt to grind by missions in an try to earn extra “Brickbux” – Lego 2K Drive’s in-game forex for its microtransaction retailer (extra on that later…).
The story missions have the type of quirky aptitude and foolish jokes which have come to be anticipated of the Lego model. Gamers above a sure age will most certainly discover themselves groaning by infinite puns in an try to skip to the following race. Youngsters will completely love the endless stream of gags nevertheless, they usually’ll particularly love the primary villain and star of the present, Shadow Z. The humour in Lego 2K Drive does really feel just a little bit extra juvenile than your normal Lego sport—they appear to be concentrating on a fair youthful demographic than traditional. I’ll admit although, at the same time as a grown man with greying hairs, a few of the jokes did handle to get a couple of chuckles out of me—largely because of Shadow Z’s voice actor Rene Mujica absolutely committing to the position.
Want for greed
The micro-transactions on this sport are predatory, and I do not use that time period flippantly. They utterly detract from what would in any other case be a family-friendly sport that folks and children alike might get pleasure from.
The one characteristic that does truly set Lego 2K Drive aside from its contemporaries is, sadly, each its largest draw and its largest downside: the kart constructing system. It is genuinely spectacular, permitting you to craft any method of automotive, boat, or off-road automobile you may probably think about. Utilizing the Lego components you’ve got acquired by finishing missions, you may craft any method of four-wheeled monstrosity which you can probably think about. The system itself is simple to familiarize yourself with, effectively defined and successfully limitless (exterior of literal weight limitations). Every part is 1-to-1 by way of real-life Lego specs too, that means that for those who can construct it in-game you may 100% replicate stated creation with actual Legos.
However to get probably the most out of construct mode, you’re going to want the most effective components—components which can be solely available for purchase with actual cash. The good engines, the most effective wanting tyres, and the sharpest-dressed drivers are all locked in Unkie’s Emporium, a colourful-looking storefront that means that you can use the Brickbux you’ve spent actual cash on. The micro-transactions on this sport are predatory, and I do not use that time period flippantly. They utterly detract from what would in any other case be a family-friendly sport that folks and children alike might get pleasure from. The construct system and its easy tutorials, a lightweight and humourous marketing campaign, and offline cut up display screen make for an ideal child-appropriate romp by the world of Lego, however sadly revenue margins have taken priority over crafting a healthful expertise.
Lego 2K Drive can be very upfront about ensuring you recognize this can be a sport for youngsters. Every part from the story mode, which continually refers to you as “child”, to the microtransaction retailer itself, which asks you to get your mum or dad’s permission earlier than accessing it, continually reminds you that this can be a sport focused at a youthful demographic—which makes the wildly overpriced bundles, such because the $50 coin pack, and the in-your-face nature of its micro-transactions all of the extra brazen. After ending the marketing campaign and a great bulk of Lego 2K Drive’s aspect missions, I barely had sufficient in-game credit score to buy greater than three autos from the shop, not to mention any of the shiny extras supplied up alongside them.
Simply to make clear, at launch on current-gen platforms, this can be a $70 sport—a $70 kids’s sport that is launched with a season go and an overstuffed micro-transaction laden retailer. Even placing apart its demographic, is it actually acceptable {that a} full-priced sport has so many extras locked behind the usage of a bank card at launch?
Kart assault
The rapacious nature of the microtransactions in Lego 2K Drive makes it unimaginable to suggest to anybody inside its goal demographic.
Efficiency-wise, Lego 2K Drive ran extraordinarily effectively on each builds I examined it on. The lower-end construct (i7-7820X, GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, 16GB RAM) virtually managed to run Lego 2K Drive on its highest settings, though this did have a barely noticeable but general minor impact on the framerate. Even in split-screen, the i7-7820X construct managed to carry out effectively with comparatively little in the best way of efficiency points. My greater finish construct (Ryzen 9 5900X, RTX 4080, 64GB RAM) ran the sport with completely no points, at a wonderfully constant framerate. Admittedly, though Lego 2K Drive appears to be like fairly good and a few of the destruction mechanics are spectacular sufficient that you’d count on them to affect the body price, it is not precisely pushing the envelope with reference to its graphics—neither is it making an attempt to. But, these days, a PC sport that appears good and runs effectively at launch is rare enough to be worth lauding.
There’s a lot to like in Lego 2K Drive, particularly if you’re a fan of kart racers or Lego normally. The sport runs effectively, it is acquired a wealth of content material to work by, and there’s a clear love for the Lego franchise that permeates every little thing from the sport design to the maps themselves. Positive, exterior of its construct system, Lego 2K Drive is not precisely making an attempt to be modern, however strong, enjoyable gameplay greater than makes up for an absence of ambition. This makes it all of the extra disappointing that the rapacious nature of the microtransactions in Lego 2K Drive makes it unimaginable to suggest to anybody inside its goal demographic.
