When it comes to racing and Lego there is one series that stans above all else, Forza Horizon. Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champion’s expansion was everything racing and Lego fans could want. But there is a new contender on the block looking to claim this crown, as 2K games and Lego have teamed up for Lego 2K Drive.

Lego 2K Drive is sort of open-world racer, that mixes elements from Mario Kart, The Crew and Forza Horizon with a pinch of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to create a fun brick-filled thrill ride.

Building Crew

Lego 2K Drive is set in BrickLandia. You’re a new driver on the scene, looking to take the top spot by racing the very best and helping out locals. It’s light hearted and has a very The Lego Movie vibe to it all. Something which hints that Lego 2K Drive is aimed at younger gamers, especially in its humour.

The game isn’t truly open-world as it’s broken into four different biomes. You can fast travel between each with ease. And each of the four biomes has a good footprint of roads, tracks and rivers to blast around. And each one has tonnes of secrets to find too.

Ranging from sandy deserts to a lush green valley; each biome mixes its location with Lego bricks to craft a half-and-half look. Plus, there is a near-toy box feel to it as you find yourself dwarfed by seemingly giant everyday objects.

Driving Mechanics

Driving is an arcade affair. Easy to pick up but it’s the fact your ride will switch between a car, off roader and a boat the second you touch the required terrain; that adds a bit of chaos to the mix.

You pick three different vehicles to use at any given time, this system also means you never truly have to stop, as you’ll constantly be switching back and forth over the races or just exploring the bio-domes.

Racing is fun but the rubberbanding is all too apparent at times. More often than not the CPU players will gun it till the last lap and then just lose interest. It’s probably too often that you’ll take victory just seconds from the line.

Lego World

Beyond the racing the world of Lego 2K Drive has a lot of missions to tackle. From bite-sized racing challenges, like get X amount of air or drift for X distance, or more tale-focused fare that sees you saving locals from aliens, robots or skeletons.

These missions range from to OK to ‘meh’. And this is an issue that isn’t helped by main races being level-gated. You’ll need to complete a lot this lesser side content to earn the right to continue racing.

Lego Play

Lego 2K Drive a brilliant customisation system that lets you build anything you want on wheels. With 1,000 unique pieces to choose from, your imagination and this fat stack of pieces are you only limits.

You can lose hours in the workshop trying to build your dream rides. Though if you don’t want to tinker there is a good section of pre-made vehicles to pick from.

Missed Opportunity

It’s also worth noting that you can’t share your dream creations online. And this is a real shame as it’s an area where this game could easily find a community based on passionate builders.

Lego 2K Drive is colourful and bright and looks how you would expect a Lego game to look. That is, laden with charm and no little wit. The voice acting is passable though the writing isn’t the best at times.

Lego 2K Drive‘s soundtrack often fits the situation you’ll find yourself in perfectly, and does a good job adding to the spectacle or upping the ante when required.

Podium Finish

Lego 2K Drive puts up a good fight for the throne, but it’s probably geared a little too much to the younger player. The game lacks one too many options just now to take the pole position. That said, if you have a Lego-mad youngster, they’ll losing hours exploring as well as virtually building their perfect racing machine.