I might not have a whole lot of experience when it comes to open-world gameplay, but I have played a good share of games of the sort, including a few Assassin's Creed titles, a decent number of MMORPGs, and a couple of Grand Theft Auto games. With that being said, I can put in the correct perspective the fact that no other world I have virtually visited has ever compelled me as much as Lego City. Maybe it is the light-hearted charm of a city decorated by objects made out of Lego, maybe it is the unreal wackiness of the inhabitants you get to know and places you get to visit, or maybe it is the impressive level of detail employed on the environments combined with the great size of the city; whatever the core reason might be, one thing is for sure: Lego City Undercover amazes.

Countless times, as you move from one place to another in order to do yet another mission of the main story, it is impossible not to feel invited to stop your car or motorcycle and venture into the game's scenario. Sometimes, it is the sight of one of the game's thousands of collectibles; in other occasions, it is a mission indicator or a spot where a Lego structure can be built; and every once in a while, it is simply the feeling that there is something out there waiting to be discovered. As a consequence, a trip through the city that would originally demand a few minutes winds up being a half-hour incursion into some unknown part of town. It's not just about size and unique buildings, there is actually a lot of substance behind the scenario; stopping your vehicle anywhere around Lego City and walking around the range of a few yards will invariably reveal something that you did not know was there.

The variety of the scenario is outstanding in its own. There are islands, a forest, a park, a Chinese neighborhood, an Italian area with locations inspired by Venice, bridges, an airport, a beach paradise, reproductions of San Francisco and New York, and much more, all seamlessly connected and with an uncanny draw distance. Of course, the sheer size of it all requires long load times, but not only are they nothing out of the ordinary - in spite of the complaints floating around, but they also happen very rarely; namely, when the city is loaded once players either start the game, or leave a separate location where portions of the game happen. The game's missions occur both indoors and outdoors; the first kind takes places in locations that are isolated from the city, allowing developers to create something more puzzle-focused and with tighter platforming; while the latter variation tends to include car chases, finding ways to get to the top of certain buildings, and investigations that smartly use the gamepad as a tool to scan your surroundings.

However, two big annoyances harm the game. All of the indoors isolated missions cannot be fully completed in one run. More often than not, a few optional collectible items within them will be locked away by doors or devices that require an ability Chase will only acquire much later into the game, hence forcing players looking for full completion to play the missions more than once. The second issue, and the most significant one because it works against the game's open-world nature - which is where it thrives, is the fact that many of the tucked away optional locations players will find in town are also inaccessible without certain abilities. Due to that, going out of your way to explore - which is something that happens naturally - will probably lead players to find doors or items they cannot reach; something that is awfully disappointing and will eventually make players leave the exploration to the end of the game, therefore taking away a big part of the open-world value.

Yet, those flaws do not come even close to stopping Lego City Undercover from being a fantastic game. The missions are a blast, the city looks absolutely gorgeous, and the game is packed with collectibles, easter eggs, and great funny cutscenes with goofy voice over. Besides, it is probably the first game to display a good portion of the Wii U's power.