LEGO city Undercover
Developer: TT Fusion
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: 28/03/2013
Format: Wii U
Travellers Tales have dipped into a number of film franchises, by recreating them in cutesy LEGO form. From Star Wars to Lord of the Rings, the team has spent just short of a decade, moulding and crafting LEGO adventures with whimsical and humorous results. Now the team has broken away from licenses, poised to deliver a distinctive LEGO game set in a GTA-style open world. Is this ambitious adventure worthy of piggybacking this monolithic game genre on the Wii-U? Or is it destined to be a flying pig?
Lego City tells the tale of Chase Mccain, a stylish and swanky cop, out to capture a crime kingpin known as Rex Fury. He's initiated into a Police-Academy-like force, where he befriends a lovable idiot, and is constantly a thorn in his captain's side. He also has a blonde love interest, who becomes overly concerned with the wellbeing of her father, after Rex captures him. Mccain is also worried about her safety, and sternly warns her to stay out of trouble. Then we have Mccain's associate, who sounds like Lerline Lumpkin from that Simpsons episode. We don't see much of her other than video calls, and she takes a backseat to other characters, but her and Mccain are closely associated. The story is made for its humour more than anything, but it's hard to care for any of the characters because of their buffoonish mannerisms.
Undercover may not have the burden of a singular license under its uniform, but instead carries inspiration by dishing out a plethora of chuckle inducing one-liners, and repurposing settings from numerous films. Film influences include Shawshank Redemption, GoodFellas, The Matrix, Starsky and Hutch, Clint Eastwood, Terminator 2 among others. Undercover's comedy also extends to instances within cutscenes in patented TT style. The light- hearted humour is peppered in throughout the adventure, and it's irresistibly charming to watch cutscenes to see what hilarity will ensue next. It's LC:U's biggest hook, and is thankfully supported well enough to see you through to the end. If only the rest of the game managed to be this absorbing.
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: 28/03/2013
Format: Wii U
Travellers Tales have dipped into a number of film franchises, by recreating them in cutesy LEGO form. From Star Wars to Lord of the Rings, the team has spent just short of a decade, moulding and crafting LEGO adventures with whimsical and humorous results. Now the team has broken away from licenses, poised to deliver a distinctive LEGO game set in a GTA-style open world. Is this ambitious adventure worthy of piggybacking this monolithic game genre on the Wii-U? Or is it destined to be a flying pig?
Lego City tells the tale of Chase Mccain, a stylish and swanky cop, out to capture a crime kingpin known as Rex Fury. He's initiated into a Police-Academy-like force, where he befriends a lovable idiot, and is constantly a thorn in his captain's side. He also has a blonde love interest, who becomes overly concerned with the wellbeing of her father, after Rex captures him. Mccain is also worried about her safety, and sternly warns her to stay out of trouble. Then we have Mccain's associate, who sounds like Lerline Lumpkin from that Simpsons episode. We don't see much of her other than video calls, and she takes a backseat to other characters, but her and Mccain are closely associated. The story is made for its humour more than anything, but it's hard to care for any of the characters because of their buffoonish mannerisms.
Undercover may not have the burden of a singular license under its uniform, but instead carries inspiration by dishing out a plethora of chuckle inducing one-liners, and repurposing settings from numerous films. Film influences include Shawshank Redemption, GoodFellas, The Matrix, Starsky and Hutch, Clint Eastwood, Terminator 2 among others. Undercover's comedy also extends to instances within cutscenes in patented TT style. The light- hearted humour is peppered in throughout the adventure, and it's irresistibly charming to watch cutscenes to see what hilarity will ensue next. It's LC:U's biggest hook, and is thankfully supported well enough to see you through to the end. If only the rest of the game managed to be this absorbing.
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Upon exploring Lego City, you’ll come to realise that
GTA is its focal inspiration. You can go about your business, hijacking
vehicles, crashing into other vehicles and driving like a maniac. The main
difference is that cops won’t hunt you down and arrest you. You can’t
mindlessly start scraps on the street either, so you’ll have to fight crime the
moral way- by busting crooks. The nature of Undercover lies in letting the player
run amuck in a sandbox with no consequences. You won’t die, and the worst that
can happen is that you’ll lose a few collectible studs. This is all within a
child-friendly manner, as LEGO City is as welcoming to children as it is to
adults.
The campaign mode in Lego City also defines the unification between LEGO and GTA. There will be missions where you’ll clamber up skyscrapers catching criminals, and evading the cops when you steal vehicles whilst undercover. You’ll engage in combat frequently on your misadventures, though the lack of interaction becomes sloppy and rote. When engaging the enemy, you can pull off comical stun manoeuvres by just tapping a button. You can also perform a timed counter- both of which require you to tap A to arrest the perp once addled. Whilst these moves play on the game’s comedy, and they are insanely simple, they just become boring once you realise this is the extent of physical challenge in the game.
The puzzles are a little more brain taxing though. You have access to a variety of costumes to help solve puzzles in Lego City. Each one can be unlocked in the story, and are all very basic and easy to use. Abilities include being a fireman, a thief, a builder, an electrician/spelunker, an astronaut and a farmer. Each grants you specific abilities, which are prompted by on-screen icons- telling you which ability you need to use to progress. Some of the acumen are less obvious to find. For instance, you may need to a different colour of paint for your gun. In these instances, you’ll find that smashing up the environment and assembling structures from scrap is the best way to find answers.
You’ll be rewarded at the end of each level, with a completion rating. This rating factors in how well you have performed, and counts in any collectibles you may have retrieved. Secret objectives, such as smashing a set number of specific objects are one such fulfilment, as you gain a golden fraction of a police badge, if you successfully bash the key items in the levels. Golden bricks will also be acquired every time you complete a story mission or an activity within the city. There are roughly 450 of these bricks, which unearths how alike Lego City is to GTA. There’s also another variant of brick, which allows you to create Super Builds- vehicles and structures you’ll need to forge throughout the story, and build to gain that 100% completion rating to best the game. The only problem is that constructing these are a frequent necessity during missions. So you spend a lot of time traipsing around in a mindless stupor looking for these sparkling bricks- keeping you locked out of progressing any further.
The campaign mode in Lego City also defines the unification between LEGO and GTA. There will be missions where you’ll clamber up skyscrapers catching criminals, and evading the cops when you steal vehicles whilst undercover. You’ll engage in combat frequently on your misadventures, though the lack of interaction becomes sloppy and rote. When engaging the enemy, you can pull off comical stun manoeuvres by just tapping a button. You can also perform a timed counter- both of which require you to tap A to arrest the perp once addled. Whilst these moves play on the game’s comedy, and they are insanely simple, they just become boring once you realise this is the extent of physical challenge in the game.
The puzzles are a little more brain taxing though. You have access to a variety of costumes to help solve puzzles in Lego City. Each one can be unlocked in the story, and are all very basic and easy to use. Abilities include being a fireman, a thief, a builder, an electrician/spelunker, an astronaut and a farmer. Each grants you specific abilities, which are prompted by on-screen icons- telling you which ability you need to use to progress. Some of the acumen are less obvious to find. For instance, you may need to a different colour of paint for your gun. In these instances, you’ll find that smashing up the environment and assembling structures from scrap is the best way to find answers.
You’ll be rewarded at the end of each level, with a completion rating. This rating factors in how well you have performed, and counts in any collectibles you may have retrieved. Secret objectives, such as smashing a set number of specific objects are one such fulfilment, as you gain a golden fraction of a police badge, if you successfully bash the key items in the levels. Golden bricks will also be acquired every time you complete a story mission or an activity within the city. There are roughly 450 of these bricks, which unearths how alike Lego City is to GTA. There’s also another variant of brick, which allows you to create Super Builds- vehicles and structures you’ll need to forge throughout the story, and build to gain that 100% completion rating to best the game. The only problem is that constructing these are a frequent necessity during missions. So you spend a lot of time traipsing around in a mindless stupor looking for these sparkling bricks- keeping you locked out of progressing any further.
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The Wii-U’s gamepad is put to moderate use in LEGO
City. You’ll receive calls from contacts, and view the layout of the map on
there. There are also unique situations, which call you to use the device to
scan objects and hunt for criminals, and search for sound frequencies by waving
it around in the comfort of your living room. You can additionally use it as a
tool to hunt down collectible items strewn around the city.
Lego City looks the part on the Wii-U, with the plastic figures coming to life with humour and vibrancy. The city takes on a duel identity, as there are LEGO defined structures and typically animated structures jarring the illusion of the LEGO world. The ambience is also a dry playing field, as sound is minimalistic in the environment. An orchestral or instrumental score, or even a soundtrack would’ve embellished this playful world. But alas it’s disappointing that attention in these areas appears lackadaisical. The voice acting and the cast do a fantastic job however, where Tt found some of the magnificent voice parodies we’ll never know. LC suffers typical sandbox ailments like frequent pop in and disappearing vehicles and objects in plane view. And the less said about the intrepid loading times the better. But Lego City: Undercover does a fine job of immersing you in a distinct LEGO world.
Lego City isn’t without its quirks or blemishes. The repetition, needless collectible find and open world gremlins are hard to ignore- as they damage what makes the world unequivocally LEGO. However, the joyously funny script and the amalgamation of cheesy and hilarious film references give buoyancy to the stylish representation of Tt LEGO adventures. If you happen to own a Wii-U and are looking for that one exclusive that you’ll dig your time into- LEGO City is undoubtedly your biggest and best bet.
James Davie 7/10
Lego City looks the part on the Wii-U, with the plastic figures coming to life with humour and vibrancy. The city takes on a duel identity, as there are LEGO defined structures and typically animated structures jarring the illusion of the LEGO world. The ambience is also a dry playing field, as sound is minimalistic in the environment. An orchestral or instrumental score, or even a soundtrack would’ve embellished this playful world. But alas it’s disappointing that attention in these areas appears lackadaisical. The voice acting and the cast do a fantastic job however, where Tt found some of the magnificent voice parodies we’ll never know. LC suffers typical sandbox ailments like frequent pop in and disappearing vehicles and objects in plane view. And the less said about the intrepid loading times the better. But Lego City: Undercover does a fine job of immersing you in a distinct LEGO world.
Lego City isn’t without its quirks or blemishes. The repetition, needless collectible find and open world gremlins are hard to ignore- as they damage what makes the world unequivocally LEGO. However, the joyously funny script and the amalgamation of cheesy and hilarious film references give buoyancy to the stylish representation of Tt LEGO adventures. If you happen to own a Wii-U and are looking for that one exclusive that you’ll dig your time into- LEGO City is undoubtedly your biggest and best bet.
James Davie 7/10
