LEGO Theft Auto

LEGO games are somewhat a guarantee for any gaming system out there, not that people complain. The LEGO games seem to get better and better with each attempt. The humor and fun, taking off some of the biggest movie franchises in the world is second to none. LEGO City Undercover is a remake of the classic Wii U title, one of the few games on the Wii U that got a lot of praise. It’s now been given a polish and re-released on the PlayStation 4 (Xbox One and Switch versions also available) with the hope that much more people can sample it. Do you know what? It’s pretty good, simple and funny. Yet another successful LEGO title then….

As with my tagline above, LEGO City Undercover basically takes off Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto from the outside, but obviously with a huge LEGO block, making it the game that LEGO fans can be proud of. This LEGO title in particular is aimed at the younger and more casual of gaming audiences, but I do feel even hardcore gamers can get something out of it if they decided to buy it.

The story for LEGO City Undercover is pretty simple, nothing that will confuse you. If you’ve played the Wii U original, you’ll know exactly what to expect. For those who haven’t you play in the role of police cop, Chase McCain, who is tasked with bringing back in villain, Rex Fury, who has broken out of jail and is causing yet more mayhem all over LEGO City. It’s a simple story, but it has a lot of humor attached to it. Yes it is very much aimed at young children, but some of the references are very funny, but ones that only older people would get.

The humor comes thanks to the funny narrative and voice acting attached to LEGO City Undercover. The writing throughout the game is really quirky, something you definitely come to expect from LEGO games this generation. This game has no intention of getting serious any time soon, but it’s a nice distraction from all the negativity going on in the world at the moment. This is a game you can just sit back for a couple of hours, have fun and generally have a laugh with it.

The gameplay in LEGO City Undercover is pretty simple, again, something you would come to expect from games in this genre. If you have played the Grand Theft Auto games, it pretty much follows on the same formula in which you drive to a mission, do a few things and then off you pop to the next one. However, LEGO has their own way to give this a LEGO stamp and the gameplay features on offer are pretty cool.

One of the gameplay features that you’ll come across in LEGO City Undercover is that you will have a number of disguises for Chase McCain to turn into throughout the story. You will have to turn into different disguises through the story in order to complete certain mission elements throughout the game. For example, if you want to break into a cell or safe, you’ll need to disguise yourself as a robber in order to complete a certain section. Again, if you want to break some mine boulders, you will have to disguise yourself as a miner in order to chop them down. As you get to each point in the mission, it will explain what you need to disguise yourself in to complete that part and move on to the next section or mission.

Of course, LEGO is all about building, and you’ll be doing a lot of that in LEGO City Undercover. Throughout the game, you will have to gather the broken LEGO pieces and put them all together in order to create a object for which to use to progress further. Don’t worry about having to do that manually, in most cases you’ll just have to press the O button down for a period of time and the building will automatically be done. You’ll also have to build special objects, such as cars or bridges in order to progress through. For this, you’ll need to have to collect special bricks, with are located throughout the island. You do have tools at your disposal to see where this is though, and will put a waypoint on your map when it has located the special brick. It can take some time to get the amount of bricks needed, so you’ll need to collect them throughout the game.

Collecting is a big part of LEGO City Undercover. With over 60 vehicles and over 400 golden bricks, LEGO City Undercover is not just about finishing the story and then putting the game to one side. If you’re a completionist, you’ll definitely want to spend those extra hours collecting everything and trying to get that coveted platinum trophy for your collection. Who doesn’t like collecting platinum trophies?….

A PlayStation 4 Review copy was provided by Warner Bros.