Reviews// LEGO City Undercover

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.

All the gamepads feature add up to enjoyable gimmicks rather than important features, however. It's the kind of stuff we've seen before on the gamepad and if Warners wanted to remove the functionality and port the game to other platforms, it wouldn't hurt too much.

The game looks great. As noted, the design's great. There's tons of variety and it's all rendered brightly and vividly. There's a real sense that you're entering a living, breathing world. The LEGO format really helps here, I think. There are none of the bland, dead-looking areas you often get with more 'realistic' open-world games.

There's tons to collect, as well, with plenty of incentive to head back and revisit levels. There are lots of areas and mini-games that you won't be able to complete when you first see them, but coming back with new abilities will open them up to you.

As noted earlier, though, there's a bit of tension between the LEGO City Undercover's level of sophistication and the difficulty level. On the one hand, there are a lot of different gameplay elements. Indeed, it's the interplay between the different sections and abilities that elevates the game beyond the rank of 'generic kids' action game' and makes it a special title. On the other, the game's very easy. You can't die in any meaningful way, puzzles won't slow you down too much and you won't reach an area without the tools you need to complete it. Driving offers a wee bit more of a challenge, but only because the handling is sometimes awkward.

I just can't help but think that a kid who can enjoy and get to grips with an open-world game like this would also handle and enjoy a bit more of a challenge. The game looks set for a PEGI 7 rating, and by that age most of us now in our gaming dotage (20-something +) were playing games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Super Mario Bros. and Zelda. Stuff that, while not necessarily all that complex, was bloody well hard in places.

While I'm well into 'when I were a lad' territory here, I'd certainly back LEGO City's target audience to handle something more difficult. The game style is pitched at kids in the seven and upwards age bracket, while the difficulty level seems to be aiming much younger.

But then, I'm the sort of chap who observes kids with mild interest only if one of my mates has produced them, in much the same way someone might examine a home entertainment system they'd put together. So maybe I don't know what I'm on about.

In any case, there's no denying that LEGO City Undercover is a great family game. I suspect that, due to its young target audience, it's not the system seller Nintendo could do with right now, but that's neither my problem nor yours. What LEGO City Undercover is is a rare thing indeed – a meaty AAA game aimed squarely and unapologetically at kids.

Pros:
+ Huge, vibrant game world.
+ Lots of variety.
+ Solid game mechanics.
+ Eyecandy.

Cons:
- Occasional poor design choices in puzzles.
- Sophistication is somewhat undermined by low difficulty.

SPOnG Score: 8/10