2023-05-16 14:55:00
They say that LEGO has changed its licensing policy and soon we will see a multitude of games inspired by its pieces without the exclusivity of TT Games. LEGO 2K Drive was one of these leaked games there are more from 2K itself- and bring this universe to arcade racing. Although little by little games are arriving that try to rival Mario Kart Disney Speedstorm the most recent- Visual Concepts has gone for something a little different and more ambitious: combine competition with the open worldwhich has given us that combination of which we spoke in our impressions: a bit of Forza Horizonof Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and naturally, the kart game starring Mario.
These influences, plus the customization possibilities that are a must in a LEGO game, add layers to LEGO 2K Drive so that it can be enjoyed in multiple ways: due to its story mode, the search for personal records, the competitiveness of multiplayer, there is a split screen, as well as online with cross-play – or collecting and creating. It may be that those who cover a lot do not squeeze much, but it indicates that 2K hasn’t settled for the simplest kart formula.
LEGO crazy cars
The main mode is the story that takes us to different maps or open biomes. We are not talking about a huge interconnected world but about several maps with freedom of movement and a defined theme in each one. The general idea is to progress through a competition by defeating rivals, but this free-roaming approach is peppered with side quests, races, mini-games, and collectibles, so usually you won’t just go from point A to point B to participate in one of the two dozen racesbut you will be interested in discovering what each corner offers.
Shall we start with the best? He gameplay of LEGO 2K Drive It is just as you would imagine, with a successful physics for each type of vehicle and the usual characteristics of this type of game, from the importance of skidding to jumping to avoid obstacles, the strategy dosing the turbo and a series of power-ups to harm your opponents. the enemies. Although not as combat focused as other kart titlesWithout a doubt, a good missile at the car in front of us will facilitate victory.
If we mention “vehicle type” it is because the competition takes place on three types of surfaces: asphalt, earth and water. So we don’t really have one car but three that transform to adapt to each situation. This influences the type of control and braking reaction, obviously, and it is convenient to have the best vehicle of each class ready in our configuration. Here, of course, all that part of creating vehicles, whether they are official LEGO vehicles or whatever comes to mind, and the improvements to apply in each case. Normally there is no absolute best vehicle at all, rather we have to choose between top speed and acceleration or its stamina/vitality.
This editor of cars and boats will delight fans of the toy brand, but if you don’t have the patience or skill, don’t worry, it’s optional and you can play with all the ones you’ll unlock. It is also possible to choose our pilot, although with less degree of customization, and apply improvements, so that you will constantly return to one of the garages to make changes and Try different ideas that help you break records.
S, these runs in LEGO 2K Drive They are fun, and if you want to jump into the action without going through the story mode you can also do it with the solo, split screen or online racing mode. These tracks combine those terrains, some traps and designs that go from the most comfortable to winding layouts. The difficulty in the lowest category is easy enough for any player used to the genre to get first place the first time, which makes sense for a game that in principle can be aimed at the little ones, a point about this later- and makes us think that there is some system of rubber banding -adjustments in the speed of the rivals according to our position-.
In short, the gameplay hits the key and shows that the spirit of the LEGO Racers is still alive, and this may be the start of a stable driving series. However, in LEGO 2K Drive we will not always be stepping on the accelerator to win a competition.
A walk through Blockland
The idea of the open world brings several advantages because in each corner of the zones you will find some type of collectible or missions provided by characters, with the characteristic LEGO humor – attentive to the translations of the names. These secondary tasks will sometimes lead us to pick someone up or go through certain points within a time limit, and even mini-games that include, for example, the objective of defending a series of points on the map, destroying a number of objects or Rescue citizens from waves of robot cowboys. It is a type of test to give variety to the approachthat not everything goes through the official races and in that sense its inclusion is understood.
However, in practice these minigames sometimes do not go well with the type of vehicle control. There is a fast turn that is not used much during the competition, except for excessively tight curves, which is useful for these situations, but even with this help, sometimes the precision that is required ends up making the minigames more difficult than the championship itself. In addition, these are not completely optional tests, since the story mode forces us from time to time to reach a certain level to unlock races with rivals Which leads us to scour the map to get that necessary experience. Taking into account that the story is not excessively long between five and ten hours, they can be a bit heavy. Those, there is much, much more to do on the maps outside of the main quests; you can finish the story and leave up to 80% more activities to entertain the completionists.
On the other hand, the world of Blockland is a joy to explore because the vehicles are fast and you can travel freely on this map, partly thanks to the fact that almost all the decoration is destructible. It’s a shame that the open world has the usual advantages and disadvantages of these games and sometimes deviates from what it does really well; think about story mode LEGO 2K Drive as a more global and ambitious adventure than a more direct racing game would be Although we remember, the quick game options are available from the initial menu.
We have commented on its approach to the youthful public, although all kinds of players will love it – due to the weight of LEGO and its casual tone, but there is something that makes us recommend that the youngest are always under supervision: there are microtransactions and a Premium currency. These types of practices are acceptable in free games after all, the funding comes from there-, but in a full game release it grates a bit to see the option of spending more money to get cars, drivers and decorations is so present and visible. . Perhaps it has been assumed with little reluctance in sports games, but we do not believe that LEGO 2K Drive fit that profile.
The most spectacular LEGO
Visual Concepts has created a very happy and colorful world you can judge him gameplay of this analysis – in which almost everything is built with plastic parts. Hit billboards, billboards, or even other vehicles and their components will be blown up, a very effective effect both in racing and exploring Blockland. TT Games’ adventures may pay more attention to detail, but as a whole the open world of LEGO 2K Drive It’s more impressive, and performance runs smoothly on the version we’ve played, on PS5, except for a few typical Unreal Engine flaws.
Naturally, it comes with voices in spanish so as not to miss any of its gags, and the music, although it does not always stand out, knows how to accompany with calm melodies during free exploration, and becomes more powerful during the competition.
conclusions
The core of LEGO 2K Drivethe driving, is all the good that we could hope for: fun, frantic, allocated, and this is multiplied in multiplayer. The story mode gives these competitions a bit more context and while not all of the side events hold up, we’d rather see the bottle half full; they are an extra to the main competition. More annoying are those microtransactions that are left over in a full-price game, and that is that the money obtained naturally from the activities will be insufficient to acquire everything we want.
All in all, this game is a serious and solid 2K bet with the LEGO license that brings a lot of content -for one player and multiplayer-, tools to develop creativity and above all, some exciting races which in the end are what really matter.
We have carried out this analysis on PS5 with a code offered by 2K Spain.
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