Year: 2023
Platform: PlayStation 4
Developer: Visual Concepts
Genre: Racing
Review Date: 3/7/26
Rating: **

This is a break from the usual Lego formula and is a dedicated racing game. You can either play through Story Mode to take on increasingly difficult challenges, or you can just focus on racing selected tracks from the main menu. There are also minigames to play, and you can customize your vehicles or even build them from scratch in the garage. There are tons of options, but as with any Lego editor, analysis paralysis sets in and the building tools are awkward and cumbersome.

Historically, I've really enjoyed all of the Lego games I've played. However, this one confirms what I've suspected all along: I really don't like racing games. I don't even like the racing challenges in other Lego games, so why would I think I'd like an entire game that revolves around racing? It's also one of the few Lego games not developed by Traveller's Tales, and the presentation suffers as a result. The writing is particularly bad and not funny, and the voice acting is overly cringey. It might appeal to younger players, but I found it offensive. It's also overly chatty and I wish the characters would just shut up. The "ooo-ooo, eee-eee" sounds from the monkey mechanics are especially grating.

I don't play a lot of racing games, so I can't compare the controls to anything else, but I found it very difficult and frustrating to control my vehicle. This is especially true when you're just trying to explore the world. There are basically two speeds: fast and stopped. There's no way to just casually cruise through town. What you really want to do is get out of your car to walk around, explore, and interact with other characters, but that's not an option. Steering is very sensitive and I was always overcorrecting and driving like a drunk weekend hooligan. Drifting is pointless and nearly impossible to pull off, but the game places a lot of emphasis on it for some reason. Probably just the "cool" factor? As I've seen with other racing games, the racing logic itself is baffling. I've heard this referred to as "rubberbanding," and no matter how well or how poorly you're driving, the rest of the pack sticks right with you.

While you can basically drive anywhere and destroy most everything you run into, the map isn't very helpful and I found it unreasonably difficult to get to different locations. I would often find myself driving in circles no matter how many times I tried to break free. The camera is also very sensitive, so if you spend a lot of time looking around trying to orient yourself and find something, you're likely to get queasy fairly quickly. I had to stop after about an hour because I felt so sick. Another annoying feature is that you're always being prompted to spend your money at the garage on upgrades and bling (or "flair," as they call it), but I was never able to. There's a big green box at the garage with money floating over it, but when you try to enter it, nothing happens and there are no action prompts.

Overall, I was looking for some lighthearted entertainment during these increasingly dark times, and "Lego 2K Drive" failed to deliver. It confirmed my dislike of the racing genre in general, and I found the entire experience to be frustrating and joyless. Needless to say, I gave up on it after a few hours and have no urge to revisit it.