For some, LEGO is a symbol of childhood, another (and still growing) group of people consists of colorful bricks even into adulthood. The Titanic, Millennium Falcon and Tallneck from the Horizon series can be built. When people think of “LEGO”, the first thing that comes to mind is “creativity”. The same goes for the new arcade racing game LEGO 2K Drive, which is coming out next week.
“First of all, we wanted to make sure it was a real LEGO game. Not just a racing game, but a game that will represent LEGO in every way,” says Emmanuel Valdes, art director of Visual Concepts, the studio behind the title, for Zing.cz.
The main task of the player in this case is simple: win races, defeat opponents and fight your way up the leaderboard to a shiny cup for the winner. The game has been in development for five years and is now out May 19 in the version for PC and consoles Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, as well as Xbox One and Series X/S. “We started with twenty people, but then we became more than a hundred. It’s obviously a big game,” Valdez admits.
Lots of crashes and crowds of fans
Not only the open world, but also the cars in LEGO 2K Drive are built with familiar building blocks. The player is then constantly motivated to run into everything. “Destruction affects the game,” explains the developer. The more you break, the more you build the booster. “It allows you to accelerate for a short time, which you want to do very often, especially during races. Your goal is to crash into objects, break them … And also build boosters with the help of drift, ”Valdez describes the“ arcade ”features of his game.
It offers a story part as well as co-op racing or split-screen competition. It’s aimed at both adults and kids, who Valdez says especially enjoy bumping into things.
There will also be side activities, which are usually seasoned with specific humor, typical even for the animated film The Lego Movie. For example, when you successfully complete one of the first races, a herd of singing pigs will gather around you. “As you improve, characters in different worlds notice and recognize you. You will have more fans, ”the developer describes. “I’m not sure if pigs interact with you more,” he adds with a laugh. “But human characters can. They say things like “it was a good race” or “it was close”. And as you do so, you notice that the crowd is getting bigger and bigger.”
car madness
The second part of the game where the creativity associated with LEGO sets comes into play is in the garages. In the game, you can drive off-road, rough terrain and on water – the vehicle changes depending on the surface. And all three can be built from scratch. “You start with a chassis depending on whether you want to build a regular car or an SUV. Then you will be offered all the possible dice available,” explains Valdez.
As the game progresses, the player collects rewards in the form of more and more types of cubes. “You can paint it with any color we provide you. Any cube can be made to glow or glow in the dark,” the creative director lists. A newly built racing car may also have various special components such as an aircraft lift destroyer. But you don’t have to deal with their function, they are usually just cosmetic items.
“There you can put ordinary lights or a police beacon. But there are other crazy things that I know a lot about because I built most of them,” Valdez allows himself to get carried away for a moment. “For example, flower pots. Want to put flowers on the car? We have big ones and small ones. I also made a cupcake tray that glows. Or a DJ set that you can put the driver in. It has speakers, a turntable,” he explains , adding that each such object can be “programmed” to behave in a specific way: “So you put on the brakes and flap your wings. You press the Boost button and all the lights come on or DJ music starts playing. There are endless possibilities for what you can do.” , and it’s very creative, just like LEGO.”
“We have people here who always go to the garage,” he admits even about other developers. “Team members who don’t even play the game but go straight to the garage where they build.”
Source :Indian TV
