➤ The city of whim 🎮

In many ways LEGO City Undercover was a genius exclusive to Wii U, bringing to this a very special interpretation, in perfect LEGO style, of the open world action game in the style of Grand Theft Auto (in a very broad sense). , a genre notoriously quite distant from the Nintendo console catalog. Four years later, the title also arrives on other platforms and it is a positive thing, considering the goodness of the game in question and its particularities.

Warner Bros. has linked the success of its LEGO video games to partnerships with important names, usually belonging to the cinema sector, thus proposing "constructive" themed interpretations of well-known series and characters in other fields, from Star Wars to Marvel super-heroes and DC Comics. The peculiarity of LEGO City Undercover is instead its being disconnected from this concept, being based precisely on the universe of toys and thus proposing a story and a world of reference free from ties with consolidated licenses. This does not mean that you have lost your typical humor and parody verve, on the contrary The opportunity was taken by Traveller's Tale to put together a zibaldone of quotes, from those explicitly taken from crime films and TV series to those implicitly linked to the parody of the open world action game and criminal setting whose mechanics are taken here, disassembled and reassembled to apply them to the typical LEGO spirit. In short, it is an important title in the ecosystem of building bricks, because it demonstrates how the game structure has its validity regardless of the various important names to which it is usually associated, from time to time.

After four years in exile on the Wii U, Chase McCain is back on track on all platforms

City of bricks

Undercover also fits perfectly into the classic canon of LEGO games, so those who have already tried any of the previously released chapters will already have a pretty clear idea of how it works. It is an action adventure that includes action phases and a large number of puzzles of varying scope, focused on mechanics that have to do with constructions and therefore on the destruction and recomposition of elements of the scenario or on the exploitation of different skills for different characters (in this case linked to different costumes for the same protagonist).

The distinctive element, in this case, is provided by the presence of a vast freely explorable world, which exponentially expands the possibilities of exploration and interaction with the scenario and the characters, also allowing the use of a wide variety of vehicles drawn from tradition. LEGO. It is not the only chapter to present such a solution, which is shared by the almost contemporary LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, but while the latter's New York seemed more like a huge scenario capable of spectacularizing and giving more free rein to the powers of the super heroes, in this case LEGO City appears as a denser and more vivid setting, more cohesive and full of secrets, side missions and hundreds of collectibles, although there is also in this case a real level structure that marks the progression in history, interspersed with raids inside this large sandbox made of bricks. On the history and details of the game, we refer to the same review of the Wii U version to which we referred earlier, because essentially nothing has changed from that to these new versions, while we take stock of the innovations introduced.

Double Chase

After four years and a semi-generational transition, it could be the occasion for a profound renewal for LEGO City Undercover, which in fact did not happen. The game content is exactly the same as the original, with the addition of a cooperative multiplayer mode which was in fact a major lack on Wii U, being a fundamental element of the entire LEGO series. A second character can now be brought into play at any time, with a simple drop-in / drop-out mechanic, even if the implementation appears extremely simplified: the new character is nothing more than a clone of Chase with staggered colors and its placement does not find a particular justification in the story and in the situations of the game.

The missions and puzzles are the same as in the original version, so there is no structure actually designed for cooperative multiplayer game, which thus extends the fun to two players in the most basic sense, without specifically designed solutions. As this is a product aimed at a wider audience, however, it is a particularly welcome addition to the classic family dynamics of parent-child or multiple-child play. Note that the Switch version, reviewed here, requires two "full" controllers to start the multiplayer, ie it is not compatible with the use of the two Joy-Con as a pair of mini-controllers. As a good Wii U exclusive, the original version was heavily focused on the use of the GamePad, which in fact still appears in the game as a special device provided to Chase, and in the transition to the other consoles the feature of the double screen has disappeared with a good reorganization of the interface that has made everything more fluid and comfortable, although obviously less particular. In this regard, we note the total lack of use of the Switch motion sensors: despite the game situations have been transposed directly from Wii U and could therefore in some cases take advantage of the accelerometer and gyroscope also on the new Nintendo console, the developers have decided for exclusive use of analog sticks.

Streets cleaned up

The game has obviously been polished and now appears more in keeping with the standards of PC, PlayStation 4, Switch and Xbox One even if the distance from its original version is not abysmal. The resolution has been raised to 1080p and the enrichment of elements on the screen is visible with an overall increase in detail and wider shots that return a more lively and animated image of LEGO City, but we certainly can't expect this to represent some sort of benchmark on the most modern hardware.

The work done to make a game of four years ago that came out on a console with lower characteristics current is visible and LEGO City Undercover is perfectly enjoyable in these new versions, but being sold practically at full price, an additional commitment would have been appreciable, perhaps aimed at to the solution of a couple of problems that already plagued the original between fluidity and loading times. There are still various frame-rate drops clearly visible in the open world sections, which on Switch are more frequent in the portable version, a sign of a not simple adaptation of the original code since the polygonal size should not be burdensome for the hardware. Reduced, but still significantly present, also the long loads in the passages from external to internal and vice versa, even if in the vast outdoor sandbox the game flows without interruptions. For those who have played the original on Wii U there is obviously not enough reason to consider a new immersion in LEGO City, given that the contents are identical beyond the multiplayer and the technical changes made, which in any case do not distort the appearance and experience of the game released in 2013. The excellent localization in Spanish is also confirmed, both as regards the texts and dialogues, a particular to take into consideration since not all LEGO games are equipped with them.

Comment

Tested version Nintendo Switch Digital Delivery Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Price 59,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

7.8

Readers (15)

7.1

Your vote

LEGO City Undercover deserved to be made available to a wider audience, representing the most particular meaning of the LEGO videogame universe seen so far. Free from any burden linked to high-sounding licenses, this chapter demonstrates how the game mechanics developed by Traveller's Tales have reached an important maturity and can support a completely new story set in the universe of construction, which in fact offers ample opportunities for deepening. . The occasion was well used to make fun of both television and film crime action and videogame, making the raids on the streets of LEGO City even more enjoyable. Beyond the addition of multiplayer, however rather simplistic, the adaptation work could have been more profound, also given the price at which it is sold.