I was only 4 when LEGO Racers was released, but that’s not to say I didn’t get the chance to enjoy it. It’s one of those games that I’ll always remember playing many years ago and the joy it brought me. Seeing a new LEGO racing game finally coming out it’s safe to say I was a little excited.

Developed by Visual Concepts Entertainment, LEGO 2K Drive is the open-world LEGO racing game we’ve all been waiting for. Welcome to Bricklandia. It’s time to race, smash, and drift your way through a cast of wacky rivals, sidequests, and many other activities, on your way to winning the coveted Sky Trophy. With so much to do, see, and build, the adventure feels endless.

I spent most of my time playing in the story mode and the open world, which is spread across 4 separate biomes that you can explore. Smash through races and many side activities while earning those precious Brickbucks to buy more LEGOs to add to your ever-growing collection, in the game of course. If you were to focus purely on just races and a few side activities to get the required levels to progress, the game isn’t overly long, taking around 6 hours to complete, but there is still plenty more to do, with many unfinished activities, side quests, and races on the multiple classes for alternative rewards.

Racing is the primary focus, battle it out against AI or players using powerups, drifting and smashing for more boosts, and jumping through some cheeky shortcuts. The racing style is similar to other games like Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing, and Sonic Racing, so if you’re familiar with those you’ll have no problem, but there’s a little twist in this one – you’ll be racing across multiple terrain types. Luckily, it’s LEGO. Your car quickly transforms between three different vehicles from street cars, offroad, and aquatic, which you preselect in your loadout before races.

As mentioned, there are many activities to do in LEGO 2K Drive. Whether it’s completing a small circuit as fast as possible, hitting as many drifts in an allotted amount of time, pushing some golf balls into a hole, or any of the other numerous options, you’ll be entertained for hours. Each of these comes with a reward system, achieving bronze, silver, or gold nets you a nice XP and money bonus, and naturally, the better you do, the better the reward, however, repeating these will not give you as much. There are also some side quests where you’ll get a chance to meet some of the locals, kind of similar to your other activities but without time restraints, more of a little adventure.

Playing through these open-world activities and quests you might notice some powerups during them, this is for the alternative way of playing, which is Play With Your Friends. You and up to 6 players online or 2-player split screen can enjoy the open world together. Doing this is purely for fun and does not progress your story, but hey, you can still earn those Brickbucks.

It’s now time to get your competitive spirit out and join in some online races. Party up with a couple of friends or go at it alone, then queue up for Cup Series where you’ll compete for the podium, or just play Race where you’ll just play track after track for fun. SUBZERO2K and I had a good amount of fun here, battling it out and bricking each other, unfortunately, we couldn’t find any other players at the time of playing, but on a good note, it auto-fills the remaining spot with bots. I believe I won most of the races, but for Subby’s sake, we will call it a draw.

At this point, you are probably asking about building your own car, and the answer is; It’s LEGO. Of course, you can. Starting out, you have plenty of bricks to work with, and completing races and activities gives you access to a few more brick packs.

With a creative mind and patience, it is possible to build some pretty cool things. If you’re not so creative, like me, you can take cars that you’ve already unlocked and make your own additions, or try remodeling it entirely. The only limitation here is your imagination. Oh, and the size perimeter you have to abide by. If you would like to take these new fancy rides online you will need to get them published by submitting them for review.

Microtransactions, I do not like them and many other people would agree. In my opinion, LEGO 2K Drive was a game that does not need them. After playing through the story I gained myself a little over 20,000 Brickbucks which is enough to buy 2 vehicles, a few minifigs, or some brick packs which only include around 3 – 6 pieces.

This is where microtransactions come in, for around $8 Australian, you can get 500 Coins and then convert them to 10,000 Brickbucks, enough to buy 1 standard vehicle. Naturally, you get more for your money if you buy the larger packs. Your choice here is to grind for a few hours for a car or some extra bricks or spend money.

A mix of LEGO and normal objects littered around the world of Bricklandia make it feel like you’re in your bedroom, or backyard, playing with LEGO again. Accompanied by great lighting and high-definition textures makes most of the LEGO looks almost real with the way the light reflects off the glossy pieces, and each piece is distinguishable from the next, especially when you take damage and your vehicle starts to fall apart. A fantastic job.

Ah, the sound of LEGO bricks. Reminds me of that satisfying sound when rummaging through my boxes of LEGO when I was younger. Such a nostalgia trip. As you tear your way through the tracks and open world you will most likely hit a few things, smashing through things like fences, structures, and other vehicles on the road you’ll hear that Lego smash sound. It seems each brick size has its own click-and-clack sound.

Voice acting in LEGO 2K Drive seems to be more aimed toward the younger audience, which is by all means nothing to complain about. I chuckled at a few of the many, many puns throughout the story, especially some of the characters with their wackiness also got some laughs along the way, but its pretty common for the LEGO game and movie franchises.

All in all, it’s a great LEGO racing experience for everyone, with loads of races and activities to complete. A fantastic-looking game with the satisfying LEGO sounds we all love, a wacky cast of characters, and online modes to enjoy with your friends. My only grief with the game is the added microtransactions, making it overly grindy if you don’t want to spend money.

Written by: MrVibeAU