Lego City Undercover | Xbox One

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Here we are again. Only a couple of weeks since LEGO Worlds graced our gaming screens, we have LEGO City Undercover. “How many LEGO games do we need?!” I hear you cry - don’t dismiss this due to the crammed spring release schedule, as in the absence of any licensed LEGO releases coming up, this could be the perfect plug to fill the brick-shaped hole in your life.

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​by James Michael Parry

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@james_parry

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Developer: Travellers Tales, TT Fusion
Publisher: WB Games
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, WiiU
Players: 1-2

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t’s take a minute to consider the achievement which is the LEGO games series in general. Since 2005, when LEGO games as we know them today began with Travellers’ Tales giving us LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, there have been no less than 18 titles and they are still going strong.

Undercover is something of a different beast however, in that it isn’t based on an existing property (e.g. Star Wars) and comes from TT Fusion, a team who were acquired shortly before TT Games became part of Warner Bros. Not only that, but Undercover was originally launched on the Wii U back in 2013, meaning this remaster comes from a time before President Trump and Brexit, when PJ and Duncan were at number one in the carts, thanks to a re-release of their own (seriously).

So, does it hold up? Despite all the things you could choose to hold against it, this is, actually, a very well put together and fun game. Returning to an earlier time had us longing for features now standard in more recent games (such as the arcade shooter sections I lauded in LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens), but there’s a refreshing simplicity here which the game enjoys, despite having an open world.

You are Chase McCain, a cop who’s been out of town for two years, before returning to take on a foe he’d previously put away. The story isn’t too important in a game like this, but to have a quippy, fun character to follow around makes a big difference, and the supporting cast members all own the same self-aware, distinctly British humour. There’s fistfulls of parody on show here as well, from The Shawshank Redemption to Dirty Harry to The Matrix to name but a few.

The general vibe is that of a campy 70s cop show, complete with the extremely addictive, funky soundtrack, as you begin exploring LEGO City - a strange mixture of San Francisco and British oddities, like traffic cones and speed limit signs.​

Series regulars will be familiar with the overall goal of collecting gold bricks, which serve as rewards for missions and challenges, and collecting studs by smashing everything in sight. Here though, there’s another type of pseudo-currency - blocks. These allow you to complete super-builds, which allow you to create huge, complex structures to help you complete missions or unlock new ones. In hindsight, ‘Master Builds’ may have been a more fitting title, thanks to the hugely successful LEGO Movie, but the remaster changes here appear to be purely cosmetic.

Technically the game handles itself well on Xbox One, though - in a phrase which I fear is destined to become overused around here - it will be interesting to see how it translates on the Nintendo Switch. Being an open-world game, there’s still the tendency to fall off things and end up in the middle of nowhere, or get stuck between rocks on a beach as Chase can’t find his footing.

The rest of the gameplay is largely familiar, though there is an emphasis on Free Running which is largely absent from other LEGO games, and is fun, albeit fiddly and frustrating at times. Progressing through story missions gives you access to specific disguises, each of which have abilities. Switching between these is a simple shoulder button press, though there are far more cosmetic disguises (read: characters) available, which are purely superficial - don’t go hunting around for Batman, this is an entirely LEGO affair.

crashing your vehicle will cause it to steadily fall to bits in stages, often exposing the inner workings of the engine beneath - all in accurate, one-for-one LEGO construction.

Driving around the city there’s a definite Grand Theft Auto vibe too, as pedestrians dive out of the way and crack out cheesy, often pun-tastic, one-liners. A particularly nice touch is that crashing your vehicle will cause it to steadily fall to bits in stages, often exposing the inner workings of the engine beneath - all in accurate, one-for-one LEGO construction.

Much of the game boils down to smashing things, building things and finding things, but by now, if you’ve played any of the previous titles you’ll be expecting that. The developers have got the balance just right here, giving you a rich open world which isn’t too vast or complex, to make it accessible and fun for big kids and youngsters alike.

While it may not truly break the mould, it’s a strong example of what a good LEGO game should be, and that’s something to be excited about.

​Pros

• Engaging open world filled with things to smash
• Likeable characters and a fun story to follow
• Great sense of humour with some clever set pieces (no pun intended…)

Cons

• Being a great LEGO game might not be enough for some
• Gameplay can get repetitive
• Lots of travelling around, despite a well-proportioned map

Score 8/10