- 28/05/2024
GamesRadar Mahin Kesore and Heather Wald reviews Lego 2K Drive is a surprisingly flesh kart racer that's seemed to come out of nowhere! But can it stand up against the kart racing giants?
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00:00 And essentially it's an open world driving adventure.
00:05 So the best way I could describe it is it's a bit like a mashup between
00:09 Bulls-Eye Horizon and Mario Kart.
00:12 So you can kind of drive around this open world and you're in a car
00:16 but it's got this like sort of transformer quality to it.
00:19 So when you are on a road you're in a street car and then as soon as you go off-road
00:23 onto like grass or dirt the car will change up to an off-road car.
00:27 Right.
00:28 And then once you hit the water the vehicle will change up to a boat.
00:31 Very Mario Kart 8-esque sounds like.
00:34 Yeah, it is a bit like that on the tracks, like the way it changes.
00:38 The actual races are very Mario Kart like because
00:43 you drive into these floating question marks to give you items.
00:46 Right, I've heard that before somewhere.
00:49 All of the cars have boosters which once you use the meter up
00:52 if you smash into things and break up bricks it will fill back up again
00:56 and you can keep boostering.
00:58 Kind of like how you get bricks and points in like the Lego Star Wars
01:02 and the Lego whatever kind of games.
01:04 Like the points like that I guess.
01:06 Yeah, it's similar in the way that they're like trying to encourage you to smash up stuff.
01:11 Oh.
01:11 Which is really fun and satisfying and makes that like break brick noise.
01:15 Yeah, the classic Lego noise.
01:17 Is there any customisation to the cars and stuff like that?
01:20 Yeah, there is.
01:21 So you will, when you're doing races, unlock new vehicles and different rewards
01:26 and outside of the races there's also missions, on-the-go events
01:31 and challenges that you can do which will also unlock more cars.
01:34 But you also have a garage and in the garage you can build your own cars.
01:39 So you can build your own boat, street car and off-road car
01:43 and they all have different build bases that you can choose from
01:46 and then you can just mess around with all the different pieces.
01:48 I think there's like over a thousand pieces that you can play around with.
01:51 All Lego, obviously.
01:52 I made my own sort of street racer car and I picked from a build that's called Tiny Terror.
01:58 So it's like a really small base with wheels, like a little square
02:02 and I built up a little car and put like pigs either side of it
02:06 and just made a tiny little pig car and then you can test drive it.
02:11 So that pig car will live on in my dreams.
02:13 Alright.
02:13 But once you make the car, you get to test drive it around a sort of lap
02:17 and mess around with all of the features it can do.
02:20 You can also tune it up a little bit.
02:22 So it's quite intuitive the way the pieces just click together in the garage.
02:27 Right, it sounds like everyone's car that's going to play this game
02:30 is going to be a little different because it's all going to be customisable.
02:32 Is that like the main selling point of this game that it's Lego and it's customisable?
02:37 I guess it's definitely a big part of it.
02:39 I think because if you've ever wanted to make your own Lego car and drive it around
02:43 this is the perfect way to do that.
02:45 And your own Lego boat, I guess as well.
02:48 But it's also as an online game.
02:51 I think they're really trying to sell it as a great way to play with your pals.
02:56 So I think it's got up to six players online.
03:00 Okay.
03:01 And because the open world is quite big, you can sort of just drive around with each other
03:05 and just enjoy being in the same world.
03:08 Or you can do races together and do little activities with each other.
03:11 Because there's also arenas where you do sort of little crazy challenges.
03:18 Yeah, there's just so much to do from the little time I spent with it.
03:22 The open world is very much there to encourage you to discover different things to do.
03:28 When you're driving around, it'll just be like on the go event discovered and then you
03:31 can go up to it and be like, I want to try this.
03:34 And certain races will be locked off to you until you reach a certain level.
03:38 So you have to complete challenges, level up and then you can do more.
03:41 It sounds very Diddy Kong Racing.
03:43 Classic.
03:44 Yeah.
03:45 And is that what they're going for?
03:48 Yeah, it's really interesting because it has such a Mario Kart feel or Diddy Kong Racing
03:53 feel actually in some respects in the racing.
03:56 But they were really trying to position it as a driving adventure.
04:00 So it's got races in it, but it's really at its heart a driving adventure.
04:05 So while you can take part in races, they've got all of these different activities.
04:09 They're really trying to push the experience of driving in a Lego car rather than just
04:14 racing, just pure racing.
04:15 Is there like a battle mode?
04:18 Not that I was aware of.
04:20 I think the most competitive mode I tried was the just straight up races.
04:25 There are sort of like mission quests littered around as well.
04:29 So a little like Lego person will be there being like, hey, can you help me herd my pigs?
04:34 And then you'll go and collect pigs in your car and drop them off at some point.
04:39 It sounds a little bit like Mario Kart DS.
04:42 There's like all these little missions that you do where you can like fight a boss or
04:45 race a boss around a track and, you know, they're OP and really fast or whatever.
04:49 OK, so that's the kind of feel that they're going for.
04:52 Who are the characters in this?
04:54 Um, so they're definitely I think they're new Lego characters.
04:58 I think I might get called out by Lego diehards.
05:02 Yeah, the Lego Sans.
05:04 But the first character you meet in it in the Turbo Acres area, which is the first sort
05:09 of hub area you'll go into, there are different biomes in the open world that you'll unlock
05:14 and venture to.
05:15 And the first one, Turbo Acres, is where you learn how to drift and do all the basics like
05:20 boosting.
05:22 And you meet a fellow called Clutch Racington, and he will sort of teach you, teach you the
05:28 ropes a little bit.
05:29 And you also have a trusty little robot called Stud.
05:33 S-T-U-D with like all caps and he will give you, he's kind of there to just guide you
05:40 throughout the experience.
05:41 He'll pop up every now and then be like, hey, you can now go here or you can fast travel
05:45 here.
05:46 There is fast travel too.
05:48 We got to go to, after Turbo Acres, we got to go to a place called Big Butte County.
05:57 It's sort of a country western-esque kind of area, and it's got desert land and lots
06:04 of cowboys and horses and yeah, it's got that kind of vibe to it.
06:26 So if you load up the game in single player mode, what is the objective?
06:29 Is there a story?
06:30 Are you just kind of open world zooming about?
06:33 I think it's to be like the best racer.
06:36 I'm pretty sure there's like a proper name for it.
06:38 But as you sort of go through all of the races and earn flags, each time you win a race,
06:44 you earn a flag.
06:45 Once you have enough flags, you can unlock an arena.
06:49 And so I think there's a progression system where you're trying to basically beat all
06:53 of those races and all of those arenas in all of the areas.
06:55 But yeah, I think it's really just to be the best racer in Bricklandia.
07:00 Okay.
07:01 Yeah, Bricklandia.
07:02 Right.
07:03 So a lot of us would have Mario Kart 8 as the standard and are used to the physics, the
07:11 drifting and the handling and the feel and the gameplay of Mario Kart 8.
07:15 What does the handling of all the different karts and stuff and the physics and stuff
07:19 feel different compared to the standard, which is Mario Kart 8?
07:24 It's interesting.
07:25 I think, um, LEGO 2K Drive, the races feel a bit more chaotic to me, especially when
07:31 I was playing multiplayer with some other people during the hands-on session.
07:37 It feels very fast paced.
07:39 So you have all of these like LEGO vehicles boosting away in front of you, left, right
07:44 and center.
07:45 We're all fighting for first place.
07:46 And then you'll have items thrown at you like a spider web, obviously a LEGO spider web,
07:52 and you have to mash a button to get it off you.
07:56 Or they'll have sort of more cheesier items.
07:59 One reminds me a bit of Bullet Bill in that it will sort of jettison you forward like
08:04 light speed and push you forward in the track.
08:07 So sometimes I would go from fourth to first place using that item.
08:11 And then missiles are the worst.
08:13 Right.
08:14 Are they like the red shell?
08:15 Yes, they're like the red shell.
08:17 But instead of just, you know, getting shelled and you get twirled in the air or whatever
08:22 and you stop for a bit.
08:23 Sometimes a missile, if you get hit enough by various items, will completely obliterate
08:27 and break apart your vehicle.
08:29 Oh, that's what I was going to ask.
08:31 Yeah.
08:32 So your vehicle starts deteriorating as you play.
08:35 Yeah.
08:36 So it's very much like the pieces start falling apart as it would in a LEGO set would, theoretically.
08:41 Yeah.
08:42 And then there'll be a point your car just blows up or whatever.
08:44 Yeah.
08:45 So then you'll really get pushed back a little bit.
08:48 There were a few times where I was in first place, just got absolutely obliterated and
08:52 then was, you know, way back there.
08:54 How do you get your car to back to normal whilst you're racing?
08:57 It will sort of automatically come back.
09:00 Yeah.
09:01 It doesn't take too long.
09:02 It's quite, quite quick to get back into the race.
09:04 But you are like set back a little bit from it.
09:07 That's very interesting because like Mario Kart 8, sorry to always bring it back to that,
09:10 but that is the standard.
09:11 Great.
09:12 You have like coins and stuff and that is kind of what makes you go faster is trying
09:16 to make you collect more coins.
09:17 But I guess the similar thing to that in this would be the state of your car and how put
09:22 together it is.
09:23 Yeah.
09:24 Definitely the boost is like a huge thing as well.
09:27 It really helps to sort of move you forward.
09:29 So if you're smashing into stuff that helps you as well because you're filling that booster
09:33 meter up again.
09:35 But you have to sort of be careful not to like hit something that's going to actually
09:38 stop you.
09:39 So you just want to hit like little fences and decorative things that will smash so you
09:43 can fill that meter back up.
09:45 In a world where like, you know, there is already a great kart racing game that's doing
09:49 so amazingly that even a game that's second best or third best will still make 2K and
09:55 LEGO a lot of money.
09:56 So I can definitely see why they want to throw their hats into the kart racing ring compared
10:02 to other kart racers.
10:04 What's your overall opinion on it?
10:05 Do you think it's one that will stand the greats like Mario and Crash Bandicoot and
10:10 all that?
10:11 I think because it's also an open world driving adventure, it's not just like a kart racer
10:15 where it's that's all you do.
10:18 It's definitely got an appeal and the fact that it's got so much, so much sense of humour.
10:24 Like it's still got that very like LEGO goofiness.
10:26 So if you've got a kid who is absolutely in love with LEGO or an adult who loves LEGO,
10:31 it's got that signature humour.
10:33 There's so much to do in it from what I've seen.
10:37 And I think it would be a laugh to play with your mates.
10:39 So I think because it's positioned as a full, proper open world driving experience rather
10:45 than just a racing game, it definitely has an appeal.
10:49 And yeah, it's interesting that it does feel like a mashup of of Forza Horizon.
10:54 It's definitely like an arcade racing adventure or driving adventure, as they say, because
11:00 immediately it made me think of Forza Horizon a little bit in its arcadey sensibilities
11:05 and the Mario Kart too, obviously.
11:08 All right, cool.
11:09 Well, I hope you've enjoyed that chat and I hope you will comment, like and subscribe
11:13 to GamesRadar's YouTube channel.
11:14 Until next time.
11:15 See ya.
11:16 Bye.
11:16 Bye.
11:17 Bye.
11:17 Bye.
11:18 Bye.
11:19 Bye.
11:20 Bye.
11:20 Bye.
11:21 Bye.
11:22 Bye.
11:23 Bye.
11:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:41 (whooshing)
11:43 (cat meows)
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