LEGO City Undercover faces a burden unlike any previous LEGO game developed by Traveller’s Tales. Not only is this production the first LEGO game by Traveller’s Tales to not feature a major movie or comic book license, it’s the first major Wii U game of 2013 – and the biggest release to come since that system’s launch four months ago. Nintendo fans will not just be looking for a great LEGO game. They’ll be looking for Undercover to deliver a complete and lasting experience that will help end a languishing software drought. In many respects, LEGO City Undercover delivers upon that potential. This is by far the largest LEGO game Traveller’s Tales has produced. Yet, at the same time, it’s held back by a variety of issues, including the fact that its core gameplay doesn’t have much depth.
Undercover’s cleverly clichéd story begins with a quick-witted cop, Chase McCain, returning to his home of LEGO City after an extended absence, tasked with investigating the escape of his arch nemesis, Rex Fury. Ten hours later, the plot more resembles something out of a James Bond film, and the journey to that point is skillfully handled. There’s a strong sense of progression throughout the game, both in terms of the actual plot, as well as a steady unveiling of new missions and quirky costumes and abilities for McCain himself.
Much of Undercover’s entertainment stems from its cast of characters and tongue-in-cheek humor. Similar to the storyline, there’s a strong balance between slapstick humor and the (marginally) more serious police drama. All of the beats are familiar, as they rely heavily on borrowing from pop culture (Starsky and Hutch, Goodfellas, Batman and plenty more). But LEGO City Undercover begs forgiveness in its rampant reliance on old and used ideas because it plays everything up as a colorful, whimsical tribute – and parody. Chase McCain is basically a goofy amalgamation of every determined, noble cop ever – a little bit of Axel Foley and John McClane – mixed with the lovable cheese of characters like Troy McClure and even a bit of Ron Burgundy. Rex Fury is the overly aggressive, muscular bad guy that can’t think his way out of a paper bag – see every action movie ever. Because Undercover never takes itself too seriously, these references somehow don’t feel all that stale. In fact, picking them out is half the fun, even though some references are painfully obvious. There are definitely a few instances where tired references (Titanic) or obnoxious characters (Frank Honey) will prove excessive, though it’s clear Traveller’s Tales is attempting to serve kids and adults alike.
If you’ve played any LEGO game ever, you’ll immediately understand the fundamental approach taken here – which is perhaps the game’s biggest blessing and curse.Undercover’s excellent open world servesmostly as a backdrop to over a dozen individual missions that exist in separate, more focused environments. Within these contained areas, your goal is simple: to break, build and navigate environments and puzzles (which are significantly more logical than past LEGO games) in pursuit of a particular person or object. Like its predecessors, Undercover also layers in secrets and areas that are only accessible by certain personas and their related abilities, which entices players to return repeatedly as they obtain upgrades. The sheer number of items to collect, and relative ease with which you collect them, helps override the somewhat generic nature of the gameplay itself, which lacks diversity or complexity. Whether you’re a thief, farmer or firefighter, you’re basically doing the same thing. And while combat looks good, you’re basically pressing the same button over and over, and don’t have to think about what you’re doing.
In some ways, LEGO City’s post-game experience is better than its main storyline, which is a respectable accomplishment, as the campaign is very good. Finding every secret and tracking down every collectible requires considerable effort and time, and that pursuit comes with a great deal of freedom. The wide world of LEGO City is a vast, sprawling affair, with over 20 distinct districts, including areas inspired by San Francisco, New York City, the United States capitol and more. You can acquire what you want, when you want (provided you have all of your abilities), and the scope of the city allows a diversity of environments necessary to avoid staleness. Above all else, Traveller’s Tales has placed various collectibles and activities cleverly, meaning that exploration is amply rewarded. All told, the number of items to acquire ranks in the hundreds, and there are plenty of ways to move about the world, from quick-travel points to cars, helicopters, boats and… even wheelchairs.
As a Wii U exclusive, LEGO City Undercover is poised to bring with it unique control elements through the GamePad. Undercover does a reasonable job of this, through on-screen maps, Arkham Asylum-esque scanning abilities and taking in-game pictures. Most of this functionality ultimately doesn’t feel too critical to core gameplay however, and while some of it is creative, none of it changes the way the franchise would operate going forward.
A few other problems work against LEGO City Undercover. Loading times are not only too frequent but too long. It is not uncommon to endure several half-minute or minute loading screens within a very short timeframe. And nothing to mask this, whether through pre-loading or basically anything other than a horrifically dull white progression bar on the GamePad. Undercover isn’t exactly pushing cutting edge graphics, in fact it suffers from a somewhat inconsistent framerate, so the presence of this recurring issue is more than bothersome.
LEGO City Undercover also omits any sort of cooperative experience, something that had very much been emphasized by past LEGO games. Though the story doesn’t exactly lend itself to a co-op setting, this franchise is essentially built around engaging families and couples. The omission of that option here is discouraging, and could be a deal-breaker for many. The fact that Undercover lacks any sort of off-TV play option is also a significant issue.
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