LEGO City Undercover Review

Inexactness may make certain jumps a hassle, but for the most part, leaping and soaring through Lego City is free and easy: you press the right buttons at the right time, and Chase shows off his smooth moves, perhaps making a wisecrack in the process. ("I hope my legs don't give out!") And once you have unlocked all the available methods of transportation, moving about becomes even more enjoyable. Some cars allow you a short speed boost, making it hard to resist the urge to hit a ramp and catch air. You might hop into various boats and take on speed challenges, which are fun (if rather forgiving), or fly a helicopter to your destination. The trail of Lego bits leading you to your destination isn't always reliable, but that's a minor gripe when half the joy is getting there.

How can you not fall in love with a grin that cheeky?

Almost everything you do rewards you with a constant supply of colorful little Lego studs. Studs are everywhere: covering the streets, pouring out of the doors you open, and sprinkling from above when you complete tasks. The Lego games have always excelled at drawing your attention with shiny baubles, and Undercover further hones the art of bling temptation. Studs are your fundamental currency, used to purchase goodies like new vehicles to summon, and if you don't spend them frequently, they could number into the millions over time. There is another kind of currency, too: Lego blocks, which you collect by solving environmental puzzles and, to a far lesser extent, by smashing everything in sight with your fists, your jackhammer, or the front end of a sports car.

Such blocks are your gateway to superbuilds. Superbuilds are larger structures and objects, like helipads and sand castles, that you build on predesignated platforms. Not only does crafting a superbuild grant you a convenience (Hey--a new place to summon a favorite police car!) or add to the fun (Hey--a big stunt ramp!), but it results in a dizzying and satisfying hyperspeed assembly of the object in question. It also results in a gratuitous shower of Lego pips to signal a job well done: a reward on top of a reward.

When it comes to boating, Chase really knows how to make a splash.

Superbuilds aren't just open-world comforts, however, but also the crux of many mission goals. While you can find the bricks required within self-contained mission environments, it's usually a good idea to go into a mission with currency to spare. Missions make excellent use of the same mechanics you fiddle with in the open world, but they also include optional side tasks you can't perform the first time through. Wonder what's underneath those jittery tiles? You won't find out unless you play the mission again once you've earned your construction worker disguise. What happens if you water that plant? You have to return once you're a farmer if you want to know. Lego City Undercover is constantly teasing you with the possibilities; it's just one clever carrot-and-stick after another.

Missions (and open-world puzzles, too) make great use of the Wii U's GamePad; you hold it up to the TV screen to scan for brick locations, eavesdrop on private conversations, and take photos of evidence. Lego City Undercover uses these mechanics sparingly, which keeps them from feeling gimmicky. The photography sequences are particularly enjoyable, since they allow you to admire the colorful city on the smaller screen, rather than the map that usually appears there. Unfortunately, the GamePad's screen spends too much time displaying a loading progress bar. Loading times don't intrude when you are exploring the open world, but the ones that occur between missions are frustratingly long.

Chase is remarkably light on his feet. Perhaps because he is made of plastic.

Oh yes--there's combat too. It's such an afterthought in Lego City Undercover that it doesn't often register. Taking a cue from Batman: Arkham Asylum, fisticuffs involve tapping an attack button to punch and a counter button when a particular icon appears above an enemy's noggin. You can also grab foes and throw them, but there's nothing deep or impactful about these slippery-feeling melee battles. The combat's best feature is its visual wit. A little bullet time and a few acrobatic moves give the final punches a bit of Jerry Bruckheimer flair, and then it's off to do something a lot more interesting.

By the time Lego City Undercover's story comes to an end, you have guided Chase through every action-movie circumstance imaginable, and have probably seen the "twists" coming a mile away. And that's perfectly OK. The game knows you know where it's going, and it has fun at its own expense. You can imagine the winks and nods of the voice actors as they deliver their lines; the comic relief is broad, Chase's line readings are beautifully, achingly sincere, and an Arnold Schwarzenegger soundalike sounds more like Arnie than Arnie ever did. There are bigger, more complex, more beautiful open-world games on the market. But none of them are this good at making you feel so young at heart.