LEGO 2K Drive Review (PC): The Game I Wish I Had Growing Up

The first time you enter the game, you'll see it's 100% made for kids. That's not a knock against it, but the eye-candy bright colors, corny 5-year-old Disney-style voice acting, and overall presentation aren't meant for adults.

The great news is that it doesn't take itself seriously, and the story embraces the cliche tropes of the new guy being a threat to the reigning champion that, for some reason, is bad and drives a black car.

It's the opposite of how GRID Legends approached storytelling, and for me, it was refreshing to see self-ironic dialogue because it gives off fun vibes, precisely how a LEGO racing game should be.

During first contact, I noticed that the main menu wasn't clustered with a lot of junk like in Disney Speedstorm, where I felt lost in translation 90% of the time because of the immense volume of info in front of me.

Here, you have the Single-Player and Online components, the Garage, and Unkie's Emporium, where you build your own set of wheels, which you unlock later in the game.

The Play menu contains the Story, Cup Series, Race, and Minigame modes, where you can play solo like a hermit or with a friend in split-screen mode.

First, you must do a couple of laps in the Story mode to learn the gameplay mechanics. Honestly, I didn't have any hopes for this game being anything more than quaint or adequate for 10-year-olds, but the second I pressed that gas pedal... I was amazed by how well the handling felt.

From the sound of the wheels screeching on the tarmac to the shaking car animations and drifting, coupled with the funky music, I had no doubt that the production level was sky-high.

The first "real" race acted like a simple tutorial, where I was driving a McLaren. All the usual Mario Kart staples of gameplay mechanics you'll find in every kart racing game are also here. I was coming fresh from Disney Speedstorm, so I had no problems adapting almost instantly to LEGO 2K Drive.

The clear and concise onboarding, meaning how the developer communicates to the player what they need to know to play the game, is well done, unlike in Disney Speestorm, where I still was confused regarding some progression aspects even after 10 hours of gameplay.

In other words, you'll use the drift mechanic to refill your boost bar while collecting weaponized items to help you win by "bricking" opponents.

That's pretty much everything you need to know to play this game. The purpose is to progress and compete in the Sky Cup Grand Prix, the ultimate showdown that will get you Bricklandia's most coveted prize, the Sky Trophy.

This being a LEGO game, you can build your own vehicles based on the different types of LEGO chassis you'll find in the Garage section. But that doesn't limit your imagination because you can use every shape, size, and color of LEGO brick from real life to make the custom ride of your childhood dreams. You can even pick which engine revving sound you find most pleasing.

You'll need to earn Brickbux by doing various activities across the open-world map or by simply collecting them when you see them float around on a ramp.

One of the unique features is the vehicle-type shifting or morphing in real-time while you're driving. In the options menu, you can set the transformation to be manual or automatic, but the former would make your life harder.

The animation and feeling when your car transforms into an ATV when you hit a patch of dirt or into a speedboat when you touch water is a fun little spectacle to behold. It also acts like a great gameplay mechanic, where you don't need to separate races based on terrain. I found this feature extremely fun.

CONCLUSION

After I've been unexpectedly seduced for the first few hours by the enchanting world of LEGO 2K Drive, the "honeymoon" period wore off, and I found the monetization reality a bit lackluster.

The graphics are extremely eye candy, especially in 4K with everything on ultra settings. The sound design perfectly complements the world's aesthetics, from special effects to the upbeat soundtrack.

The gameplay is immensely fun in short 1-2 hour bursts. It's an absolute joy to do a couple of races to unwind after a hard day's work. It's like therapy.

The only thing that I have a problem with is the progression design. The game itself is $60, and on top of that, it still feels grindy after the initial shine fades off.

Speaking not as a reviewer but as an extremely passionate lifelong gamer, my "professional" advice for those enticed by what LEGO 2K Drive offers is to wait for a massive discount (40-50%), and then jump into its Live Service waters. It's always better to be safe than sorry (and a bit poorer).

RATING 80/100