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?
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 Hello, I'm Mehene Kassour, and I'm here with Heather Wold.
00:07 And you've played this new LEGO racing game.
00:10 What even is it?
00:11 So it's LEGO 2K Drive.
00:13 And it's from 2K, as you might imagine,
00:15 who collaborated with LEGO.
00:17 And they're working on a bunch of different titles
00:19 at the moment.
00:19 But we got to check out LEGO 2K Drive, which has only just
00:22 been announced.
00:22 And it's coming out pretty soon.
00:24 And essentially, it's an open world driving adventure.
00:29 So the best way I could describe it
00:31 is it's a bit like a mash-up between "Bowser Horizon"
00:34 and "Mario Kart."
00:36 So you can kind of drive around this open world.
00:39 And you're in a car, but it's got this sort of transformer
00:42 quality to it.
00:43 So when you are on a road, you're in a street car.
00:46 And then as soon as you go off road onto grass or dirt,
00:49 the car will change up to an off-road car.
00:52 And then once you hit the water, the vehicle
00:54 will change up to a boat.
00:55 And it's very--
00:56 Very "Mario Kart 8-esque," sounds like.
00:58 Yeah.
00:58 Yeah.
00:59 It is a bit like that on the tracks, the way it changes.
01:03 The actual races are very "Mario Kart"-like,
01:06 because you drive into these floating question
01:09 marks to give you items.
01:10 Right.
01:10 I've heard that before somewhere.
01:12 Yeah.
01:13 All of the cars have boosters, which
01:15 once you use the meter up, if you smash into things
01:18 and break up bricks, it will fill back up again.
01:20 And you can keep boostering.
01:22 Oh, kind of like how you get bricks and points
01:24 in the LEGO "Star Wars" and the LEGO whatever kind of games.
01:28 Like the points like that, I guess.
01:30 Yeah, it's similar in the way that they're
01:32 trying to encourage you to smash up stuff, which
01:36 is really fun and satisfying.
01:37 It makes that break brick noise.
01:40 Yeah, the classic LEGO noise.
01:41 Is there any customization to the cars and stuff like that?
01:44 Yeah, there is.
01:45 So you will, when you're doing races,
01:48 unlock new vehicles and different rewards.
01:51 And outside of the races, there's
01:52 also missions, on-the-go events, and challenges
01:56 that you can do, which will also unlock more cars.
01:58 But you also have a garage.
02:00 And in the garage, you can build your own cars.
02:03 So you can build your own boat, street car, and off-road car.
02:07 And they all have different build bases
02:09 that you can choose from.
02:10 And then you can just mess around
02:11 with all the different pieces.
02:12 I think there's over 1,000 pieces
02:14 that you can play around with, all LEGO, obviously.
02:16 I made my own street racer car.
02:20 And I picked from a build that's called Tiny Terror.
02:22 So it's like a really small base with wheels,
02:25 like a little square.
02:26 And I built up a little car and put pigs either side of it.
02:31 I just made a tiny little pig car.
02:32 And then you can test drive it.
02:35 So that pig car will live on in my dreams.
02:37 But once you make the car, you get
02:40 to test drive it around a lap and mess around
02:42 with all of the features it can do.
02:44 You can also tune it up a little bit.
02:47 So it's quite intuitive, the way the pieces just click together
02:50 in the garage.
02:51 Right.
02:51 It sounds like everyone's car that's going to play this game
02:54 is going to be a little different.
02:55 It's all going to be customizable.
02:57 Is that the main selling point of this game,
02:59 that it's LEGO and it's customizable?
03:01 I guess it's definitely a big part of it.
03:04 I think because if you've ever wanted
03:05 to make your own LEGO car and drive it around,
03:08 this is the perfect way to do that.
03:10 And your own LEGO boat, I guess, as well.
03:12 But it's also as an online game.
03:15 I think they're really trying to sell it as a great way
03:19 to play with your pals.
03:20 So I think it's got up to six players online.
03:25 And because the open world is quite big,
03:28 you can just drive around with each other
03:29 and just enjoy being in the same world.
03:32 Or you can do races together and do little activities
03:35 with each-- because there's also arenas where you do
03:39 little crazy challenges.
03:41 And yeah, there's just so much to do from the little time
03:45 I spent with it.
03:46 The open world is very much there
03:48 to encourage you to discover different things to do.
03:52 When you're driving around, it'll just be like,
03:54 on-the-go event discovered.
03:55 And then you can go up to it and be like, I want to try this.
03:58 And certain races will be locked off to you
04:01 until you reach a certain level.
04:02 So you have to complete challenges, level up,
04:04 and then you can do more.
04:05 It sounds very Diddy Kong Racing on--
04:08 Classic.
04:09 Yeah.
04:10 Is that what they're going for?
04:12 Yeah, it's really interesting because it
04:14 has such a Mario Kart feel or Diddy Kong Racing feel,
04:17 actually, in some respect, in the racing.
04:20 But they were really trying to position it
04:22 as a driving adventure.
04:24 So it's got races in it, but it's really, at its heart,
04:28 a driving adventure.
04:29 So while you can take part in races,
04:31 they've got all of these different activities.
04:33 They're really trying to push the experience of driving
04:35 in a LEGO car rather than just racing, just pure racing.
04:39 Is there a battle mode?
04:41 Not that I was aware of.
04:44 I think the most competitive mode I tried
04:46 was the just straight up races.
04:49 There are mission quests littered around as well.
04:53 So a little LEGO person will be there being like, hey,
04:56 can you help me herd my pigs?
04:58 And then you'll go and collect pigs in your car
05:01 and drop them off at some point.
05:02 It sounds a little bit like Mario Kart DS.
05:05 There's all these little missions
05:07 that you do where you can fight a boss
05:09 or race a boss around a track.
05:11 And they're OP and really fast or whatever.
05:13 OK, so that's the kind of feel that they're going for.
05:16 Who are the characters in this?
05:19 So I think they're new LEGO characters, I think.
05:23 I might get called out by LEGO diehards.
05:26 Yeah, the LEGO Sans.
05:28 But the first character you meet in it
05:30 in the Turbo Acres area, which is the first sort of hub
05:34 area you'll go into.
05:35 There are different biomes in the open world
05:37 that you'll unlock and venture to.
05:39 And the first one, Turbo Acres, is
05:41 where you learn how to drift and do all the basics,
05:44 like boosting.
05:46 And you meet a fellow called Clutch Racington.
05:49 And he will sort of teach you the ropes a little bit.
05:53 And you also have a trusty little robot called Stud.
05:57 S-T-U-D with all caps.
06:01 And he's kind of there to just guide you
06:04 throughout the experience.
06:05 He'll pop up every now and then and be like, hey,
06:07 you can now go here.
06:08 Or you can fast travel here.
06:10 There is fast travel too.
06:12 We got to go to--
06:14 after Turbo Acres, we got to go to a place called Big Butte
06:19 County-- Big Butte County.
06:21 It's sort of a country western-esque kind of area.
06:25 And it's got desert land and lots of cowboys and horses.
06:30 And yeah, it's got that kind of vibe to it.
06:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:35 Thank you, stranger.
06:50 So if you load up the game in single-player mode,
06:52 what is the objective?
06:53 Is there a story?
06:54 Are you just kind of open world zooming about?
06:57 I think it's to be like the best racer.
07:00 I'm pretty sure there's a proper name for it.
07:02 But as you sort of go through all of the races
07:06 and earn flags--
07:07 each time you win a race, you earn a flag.
07:09 Once you have enough flags, you can unlock an arena.
07:13 And so I think there's a progression system where
07:15 you're trying to basically beat all of those races
07:17 and all of those arenas in all of the areas.
07:20 Yeah, I think it's really just to be
07:22 the best racer in bricklandia.
07:24 [LAUGHS]
07:25 OK.
07:26 Yeah, bricklandia.
07:28 Right, so a lot of us would have Mario Kart 8 as the standard
07:33 and are used to the physics, the drifting, and the handling,
07:37 and the feel, and the gameplay of Mario Kart 8.
07:39 What does the handling of all the different karts and stuff
07:43 and the physics and stuff feel different
07:44 compared to the standard, which is Mario Kart 8?
07:48 It's interesting.
07:49 I think LEGO 2K Drive, the races feel a bit more chaotic to me,
07:55 especially when I was playing multiplayer
07:57 with some other people during the hands-on session.
08:00 Is that because there's no items or something?
08:01 It feels very fast-paced.
08:03 So you have all of these LEGO vehicles boosting away
08:07 in front of you left, right, and center.
08:09 We're all fighting for first place.
08:10 And then you'll have items thrown at you like a spider web,
08:15 obviously a LEGO spider web.
08:16 And you have to mash a button to get it off you.
08:20 Or they'll have more cheesier items.
08:23 One reminds me a bit of Bullet Bill
08:26 in that it will jettison you forward like light speed
08:29 and push you forward in the track.
08:31 So sometimes I would go from fourth to first place
08:33 using that item.
08:35 And then missiles are the worst.
08:38 Right.
08:38 Are they like the red shell?
08:39 Yes, they're like the red shell.
08:41 But instead of just getting shelled,
08:44 and you get twirled in the air or whatever,
08:46 and you stop for a bit, sometimes a missile,
08:48 if you get hit enough by various items,
08:50 will completely obliterate and break apart your vehicle.
08:54 Oh, that's what I was going to ask.
08:55 Yeah, so your vehicle starts deteriorating as you play.
08:59 Yeah, so it's very much like the pieces start falling apart
09:02 as it would in a LEGO set would, theoretically.
09:05 Yeah.
09:06 And then there'll be a point your car just blows up or whatever.
09:08 Yeah, so then you'll really get pushed back a little bit.
09:11 And you're like, "Ah!"
09:12 There were a few times where I was in first place
09:14 and just got absolutely obliterated
09:16 and then was way back there.
09:18 How do you get your car back to normal whilst you're racing?
09:21 It will sort of automatically come back.
09:24 Yeah, it doesn't take too long.
09:26 It's quite quick to get back into the race.
09:28 But you are set back a little bit from it.
09:31 Okay, that's very interesting.
09:32 Because Mario Kart 8, sorry to always bring it back to that,
09:34 but that is the standard.
09:36 Great.
09:36 You have coins and stuff,
09:37 and that is kind of what makes you go faster,
09:40 is trying to make you collect more coins.
09:41 But I guess the similar thing to that in this
09:44 would be the state of your car
09:46 and how put together it is or whatever.
09:48 Definitely the boost is a huge thing as well.
09:51 It really helps to move you forward.
09:53 So if you're smashing into stuff,
09:55 that helps you as well
09:56 because you're filling that booster meter up again.
09:58 But you have to sort of be careful
10:00 not to hit something that's going to actually stop you.
10:03 So you just want to hit little fences
10:04 and decorative things that will smash
10:06 so you can fill that meter back up.
10:09 In a world where there is already a great kart racing game
10:13 that's doing so amazingly,
10:15 that even a game that's second best or third best
10:17 will still make 2K and LEGO a lot of money.
10:21 So I can definitely see why
10:22 they want to throw their hats into the kart racing ring.
10:26 Compared to other kart racers,
10:28 what's your overall opinion on it?
10:29 Do you think it's one that will stand the grates
10:32 like Mario and Crash Bandicoot and all that?
10:35 I think because it's also an open world driving adventure,
10:38 it's not just like a kart racer where that's all you do.
10:42 It's definitely got an appeal
10:43 and the fact that it's got so much sense of humour,
10:48 like it's still got that very LEGO goofiness.
10:50 So if you've got a kid who is absolutely in love with LEGO
10:54 or an adult who loves LEGO,
10:55 it's got that signature humour.
10:57 There's so much to do in it from what I've seen.
11:00 And I think it would be a laugh to play with your mates.
11:03 So I think because it's positioned as a full,
11:07 proper open world driving experience
11:09 rather than just a racing game,
11:11 it definitely has an appeal.
11:13 And yeah, it's interesting that it does feel
11:16 like a mashup of "Falls of Horizon".
11:18 It's definitely like an arcade racing adventure
11:21 or driving adventure, as they say.
11:24 'Cause immediately it made me think
11:25 of "Falls of Horizon" a little bit
11:27 in its arcade-y sensibilities.
11:29 And then Mario Kart too, obviously.
11:31 (laughing)
11:33 All right, cool.
11:33 Well, I hope you've enjoyed that chat
11:35 and I hope you will comment, like, and subscribe
11:37 to GamesRadar's YouTube channel.
11:38 Until next time, see ya.
11:40 Bye.
11:41 (car engine roaring)
11:44 (car engine revving)
11:47 (car engine revving)
11:50 (car engine revving)
11:53 (car engine revving)
12:02 (electronic beeping)
12:05 (whooshing)
12:07 (cat meows)