LEGO City: Undercover - Wii U

LEGO City Undercover stars Chase McCain, a cop returning to LEGO City after leaving under a dark cloud. Chase's former foe, Rex Fury, is on the loose and causing mayhem and LEGO City's police commissioner isn't prepared to admit there's a problem. So, of course, it's down to Chase to deal with the problem.

If you were expecting the linear action/adventure style of earlier Travellers Tales LEGO games rather than the more open world of LEGO Batman 2, think again. LEGO City Undercover is basically Grand Theft Auto for kids.

The player wanders a good-sized map completing missions, collecting things and smashing up large swathes of the landscape from the comfort of any of 100 or so vehicles on offer.

Gameplay chops and changes between puzzle-solving, platforming, driving and light combat. Throughout the whole thing you adopt different identities to make use of different abilities. As a cop, for example, you can use a grappling gun that enables you to access areas your regular 'free-running' abilities won't get you to. Or, as a miner you can break through obstacles that would otherwise be blocking your path.

The Wii U gamepad acts as a map and occasional in-game scanner/tablet device. Using it to take video calls from colleagues and other denizens of LEGO City is a nice touch. Using it to scan for objects or conversations you want to eavesdrop on is also a good feature. Both serve to up your level of immersion, taking the game beyond the screen.

LEGO City Undercover is a sprawling AAA game for kids, with all the love and attention lavished on it that you'd expect from the latest Rockstar blockbuster.