Welcome to Bricklandia, home of a massive open-world LEGO driving adventure. Race anywhere, play with anyone, build your dream rides, and defeat a cast of wild racing rivals for the coveted Sky Trophy!
Disappointingly, seems like 2K have stuck their messy cash shop fingers into Lego.
I did have concerns about some aspects of the game. Most notably, the “Unkie’s Emporium” stores spread throughout the game, which we weren’t allowed to check out during our hands-on time. While you do collect “Brickbux” in-game that can be spent in the stores I wondered if microtransactions would also be part of the mix.
It turns out I was right to be concerned. During an interview session with Lego 2K Drive’s creative director Brian Silva, he said you’ll be able to purchase vehicles, minifigures, accessories in the store, and when I reached out to 2K PR for further details, they confirmed real money will be in play, although they were quick to point out there will be some degree of safeguarding to keep children from spending.
Doubly disappointed to just realise now that with 2Ks involvement in this we won’t ever see any regional pricing for the game on Steam. With the stupidly high launch prices we are going to be waiting for ages for a decent 80%+ price drop to make it worthwhile.
Standard Edition @ R1069
Awesome Edition @ R1789
Awesome Rivals Edition @ R2139
https://store.2k.com/game/buy-lego-2k-drive?drm=Steam
And then to throw a real money cash shop into the mix on top of that. Yeah, nah.
Release Day and the pre-order and early access reviews are coming in.
General comments about the game and gameplay suggest a half decent, if content light, kart racer and Lego builder game.
But almost every review I’ve seen mentions the egregious micro transactions and cash store in a game targeted primarily at younger gamers.
As a result, the game’s overall review rating is looking poor, and the recommendations from critics is trash:
offensive microtransactions
It’s really a shame that such a lovely and fun open-world sandbox is tied to stuff like a season pass, premium currencies, and expensive in-game purchases.
hampered by meaningless live service progression
Unfortunately, the game is also a bit light on content and its aggressive microtransactions may make parents looking for something light to play with their kids pump the brakes.
highly enjoyable and delightfully chaotic racer is drowned in open-world mush
chaotic racing and inventive story mode are let down by irresponsible microtransactions.
Given that this is a full-price, premium game aimed at children, one that is designed to encourage children to buy real-world LEGO bricks, locking content behind season passes and micro-transactions feels gross.
Sadly, the aggressive monetization really ruins a lot of the fun in the game. There’s always a choice not to use this avenue, but between the low payouts per race, the long grind, and the expensive pricing, the push to spend more Brickbux is as powerful as ever.
I reckon once the official public release happens later today, the metacritic and Steam reviews will reflect the same thoughts. Insert disappointed face here
I hope Lego see this and realise how much they messed up by giving this game to 2K:
Sure, that’s only Steam-based numbers, but still… At that rate the game is going to be dead within a month. Steam reviews are at 54% and reflect those that I mentioned earlier - game good, stupidly high pricing and the ridiculous in-game monetisation bad.
It will have to be on sale at greater than 50% off and with heavily improved in-game Brick Bux earning rates to make it even slightly attractive.
Very saddened as I had some hopes for this game.
