![]() Even the custom map screen itself is a remarkable, miniaturised version of the whole LEGO Valley environment, literally pieced together with fistfuls of digital LEGO bricks and packed with tiny riffs on the world’s huge pirate ships, bright-green football fields, and even its high-speed dedicated race track (which, notably, is the first purpose-built, full-time race track to appear in a Forza Horizon game). The animals have been replaced with LEGO versions of themselves, rocking back and forth on their stiff plastic limbs. In keeping with the theme, there’s a new radio station called Radio Awesome which plays the aggressively saccharine LEGO hymn “Everything Is Awesome” non-stop. Inspect the bones and skulls themselves and you’ll note they’re constructed with a broad spectrum of tiny, recognisable LEGO parts, and I get the feeling anything in the game could be built in real life with a big enough parts bucket at one’s disposal. The world itself is an ode to various famous LEGO themes, from the quaint village of Brickchester and its countless streetside cafes to a beach lined with pirate shipwrecks, a forest filled with glowing ghosts, and a desert spotted with towering dinosaur skeletons. This expansion has certainly been assembled with oodles of affection for Earth’s favourite building blocks. The attention to detail is typically terrific. Stickered parts even have a completely different sheen to them, and the texture of raised, glossy paper is noticeably distinct from the hard and smooth ABS plastic surface of a LEGO brick. ![]() Gaze over a grey baseplate and you’ll notice the word “LEGO” is stamped on every single stud. Zoom in on the headlights of a LEGO Mini and you’ll be able to make out individual part numbers and copyright symbols. The softly-scratched surfaces of the LEGO bricks (particularly clear pieces like headlights and windscreens) are incredibly authentic close up it’s far more in line with the look of The LEGO Movie and its follow-ups than Traveller’s Tales’ more stylised LEGO-branded games over the years. The LEGO looks quite remarkable, too – especially under bright sunlight. It nails the earnest humor of LEGO, but sacrifices building, an equally core element of the brand.LEGO Speed Champions remains in sync with Playground’s previous work with Hot Wheels – just like the enormous, highway-width orange tracks of Hot Wheels Island, the LEGO bricks here have been scaled up to suit the real world, as if some billionaire lost a bet to a 10-year-old in the toy aisle. LEGO Speed Champions doesn't quite achieve that perfect synergy. ![]() It brought the iconic orange tracks to the game with all of the crazy loops and twists that define them. It managed to bring a wild new gameplay element to Forza while staying true to the core of Hot Wheels. Forza Horizon 3 had a Hot Wheels DLC that players loved. ![]() The best way to frame my impression of Forza Horizon 4 LEGO Speed Champions is to use a comparison I've seen drawn by many others. There is a certain fun in seeing all the souped-up Fords and Ferraris drifting alongside my modest LEGO mini-coup. Seasons change the landscape, and Forzathon appears from time to time to gather you and other online players for a frenetic series of driving tests. Those elements carry over into this DLC's LEGO Valley as well. I've had a lot of fun with Forza Horizon 4's live service approach to a racing game. I should make it clear that I don't think playing Forza is a bad thing.
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