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LEGO CITY UNDERCOVER (WIIU)
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Publisher: Nintendo.
Developer: TT Fusion. Released: March 2013. Genre: Sandbox. Posted 24th August 2024. By Tom Clare © 2024 |
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Released originally as a Wii U exclusive, LEGO City Undercover made for a lovely surprise in 2013. For Travellers’ Tales’ super-saturated series, the game was like a revelation. Synonymous with 3D platformers underpinned by a host of fan-pleasing film recreations, the great irony is that the one game not to lift its theme from an existing license happens to deliver the best story and writing of the lot. In the context of its creative/destructive nature, a sandbox setting makes more sense than linear platforming ever did, allowing the player to seek out a vast array of activities and rewarding the player endlessly just for exploring.
Maverick cop Chase McCain returns to LEGO City in pursuit of escaped felon Rex Fury. He joins up with Chief Gleeson at the police department, where he’s promptly teamed with rookie Frank Honey. The hapless Honey is a gem of a character and a wonderful example of Undercover’s all-encompassing appeal. It isn’t easy to write ‘dumb’ dialogue that consistently hits the mark, and Honey’s endless misunderstandings and fathomless naivety culminate in some memorable scenes. His funny faces and slapstick gags will prove an instant win with younger players. Equally, his rambling stories of buying a painting in pieces that turned out to be a jigsaw, or when he tried to feed a horse, prove laugh-out-loud funny, regardless of your age. The story is successfully imbibed with a nineties action movie shtick, albeit with softer edges, and its characters are likeable without exception.
All the platforming you love from earlier LEGO titles, but on a grander scale and with a far crazier
LCU plays like a typical LEGO 3D platformer, only with a lot more freedom. The city harbours hundreds of gold bricks and unique character models, as well as dozens of vehicles. Like the best sandbox titles, the player is rewarded for following their nose. If an area looks like it might be climbable, smashable, rebuildable or in some way feature an interactive element, chances are there’ll be a reward for checking it. This is one sandbox game that significantly benefits from its platforming background, as you’re able to drive places, hop out and seamlessly transition into exploration within the overworld. One good example is the chance to scale a castle’s walls, which have definite shades of Uncharted. In addition to speed-platforming challenges, you’ll find a host of time trials metered to test your driving (and navigation) acumen, whilst also introducing the player to new, fun sections of the city.
You never need to travel far to find fun and engaging distractions, whilst collecting studs allows the player to build and reassemble parts of the city via a myriad of cool extras. This includes creating new stunt ramps, vehicle spawn points and even elaborate structures such as a rideable rollercoaster. You can even buy a helicopter, and this in turn grants the opportunity to visit previously unreachable areas. This ever-evolving, carrot-and-stick ecosystem retains its addictive allure for a sustained period, and it’s easy to play for hours on end.
You never need to travel far to find fun and engaging distractions, whilst collecting studs allows the player to build and reassemble parts of the city via a myriad of cool extras. This includes creating new stunt ramps, vehicle spawn points and even elaborate structures such as a rideable rollercoaster. You can even buy a helicopter, and this in turn grants the opportunity to visit previously unreachable areas. This ever-evolving, carrot-and-stick ecosystem retains its addictive allure for a sustained period, and it’s easy to play for hours on end.
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LEGO City Undercover makes extensive and effective use of the Gamepad, most notably keeping track of Chase’s real-time position via a map. Additionally, it allows you to take calls from the various mission protagonists, who offer a recap of the current standing of the story. There are various audio hacking and photography sequences that require the directional aiming of the pad. It’s impressive how many different ways the Wii U’s controller is incorporated into the gameplay. Visually the game fares reasonably well, roughly what you’d expect of a LEGO game on Wii U. The standard is perhaps comparable with the seventh generation instalments, with similar 3D assets but a notably bigger, busier playing space. Story sequences see a big step forward, both creatively and in terms of their fluid, character animations. A few lengthy loading times notwithstanding, the city runs pretty well, suffering just a trace of slow-down here and there during driving sections.
Structurally, the campaign levels closely mimic past LEGO games, but the experience as a whole is elevated by the chaotic, ad-hoc joy of its storytelling. A frenetic, madcap nature ends up a major plus, providing a platform for a wonderful array of level locations including a dinosaur museum, a dojo, a space shuttle’s launch bay and a mine. As ever, there’s the usual collection of bricks to unearth for finding/smashing X-number of a certain item, reaching a specified stud total, or finding hidden areas. It’s incredibly absorbing, though between the platforming levels and the city itself, the first 10 hours can cause frustration due to the sheer wealth of interaction spots that cannot be accessed more or less all of the story has been finished. This is a familiar mechanism to encourage replaying levels and revisiting parts of the city, but it’s exasperating to be told so repeatedly, and for so prolonged a period, to return later.
Structurally, the campaign levels closely mimic past LEGO games, but the experience as a whole is elevated by the chaotic, ad-hoc joy of its storytelling. A frenetic, madcap nature ends up a major plus, providing a platform for a wonderful array of level locations including a dinosaur museum, a dojo, a space shuttle’s launch bay and a mine. As ever, there’s the usual collection of bricks to unearth for finding/smashing X-number of a certain item, reaching a specified stud total, or finding hidden areas. It’s incredibly absorbing, though between the platforming levels and the city itself, the first 10 hours can cause frustration due to the sheer wealth of interaction spots that cannot be accessed more or less all of the story has been finished. This is a familiar mechanism to encourage replaying levels and revisiting parts of the city, but it’s exasperating to be told so repeatedly, and for so prolonged a period, to return later.
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There's all sorts of everything to see and do in LCU's marvellous sandbox
The story levels will feel very familiar to those who’ve battled through every instalment because, whilst there’s no shortage of interactions, puzzles and distinctive locations, the LEGO games barely stray an iota from their established structure. If you love your LEGO games, then this isn’t a deal-breaker, as the standard of the levels remains consistantly very good. Just don’t expect it to reinvent wheel. In another overspill from older titles, the combat remains lacklustre and in desperate need of renovation. Likewise, as has been the case dating back to the early LEGO Star Wars entries, jumping isn’t as clean or responsive as it might have been. TT should have addressed these qualms by 2013.
Is LCU the best LEGO game? Very possibly. I’d started to tire of a series that, for all it worked to draw attention to changes of license and theme, had started to embody a sense of: same present, different wrapping paper. LEGO City Undercover represents a breakthrough that’s more routed in thematic evolution than quality-of-life, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling like a breath of fresh air. Finally freed from the shackles of nostalgia-trip storylines, Undercover crafts its own heartfelt and genuinely amusing narrative that helps inject fresh impetus into the series. Its 25-hours-plus of quality gameplay stretches far beyond what many would have expected, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted how much craft has gone into this title. Deeper, funnier and more rewarding than any LEGO game to precede it: for those who aren’t fatigued by the series’ rigid platforming philosophy, there’s simply no reason not to give Undercover a try.
Is LCU the best LEGO game? Very possibly. I’d started to tire of a series that, for all it worked to draw attention to changes of license and theme, had started to embody a sense of: same present, different wrapping paper. LEGO City Undercover represents a breakthrough that’s more routed in thematic evolution than quality-of-life, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling like a breath of fresh air. Finally freed from the shackles of nostalgia-trip storylines, Undercover crafts its own heartfelt and genuinely amusing narrative that helps inject fresh impetus into the series. Its 25-hours-plus of quality gameplay stretches far beyond what many would have expected, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted how much craft has gone into this title. Deeper, funnier and more rewarding than any LEGO game to precede it: for those who aren’t fatigued by the series’ rigid platforming philosophy, there’s simply no reason not to give Undercover a try.
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VERDICT
"...a breakthrough that’s more routed in thematic evolution than quality-of-life, but LCU is like a breath of fresh air. A wonderfully silly storyline and a fantastically rewarding sandbox experience, it's easily among the finest LEGO games." OVERALL: 8/10 |
OTHER FUN LEGO GAMES REVIEWED
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (2008, Xbox 360)
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LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (2017, Xbox One)
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