LEGO City Undercover (PlayStation 4) Review

Chase McCain, the Troy McClure-sounding hero of LEGO City, returns to deal with the comeback of Rex Fury, a villainous fiend that he had previously apprehended, but has since broken free from prison to wreak havoc on the populace once more. Queue what is a great excuse for some Grand Theft Auto style vehicular shenanigans, undercover espionage, and action-packed missions, complete with some of the cheesiest and funniest LEGO humour to date.

Traffic can be halted with ease and Chase will commandeer whatever has been chosen all in the name of a police emergency, and then players can proceed to drive haphazardly around the city, mowing down anything in their path, be it just for kicks, heading to the next checkpoint, or when trying to evade being caught by bad guys (or sometimes the authorities when doing undercover work). Missions are thankfully always clearly signposted via Sat-Nav studs on the road, as well as a handy directional line on the mini-map featured on-screen that redirects if alternate routes are taken. It removes any potential frustration of forgetting where to go next, and keeps the focus on the madcap happenings. This is what some would call Grand Theft Auto: Lite Edition, but do not be fooled into thinking this is a wafer-thin experience, as all it really removes is the bad language and violence - this is still packed full of gripping content.

The pace of riding around may not be the fastest, nor is running on-foot, but that is not the meat of LEGO City Undercover anyway, merely a means to traverse from location to location. Switching between numerous disguises, each with special abilities, is the actual core component, and becomes so engrossing very early on. There are also so many extra elements dotted around, aside from the main story-led chapters, meaning that anyone hoping to take a break from the central tale can easily do so without growing bored, rather like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to some extent, in that the story can actually be left for quite some time and forgotten about. Instead, players can just attend to collecting more LEGO studs (in-game currency) and special blocks that allow for the construction of new features (stunt ramps, police vehicle collection points, ships, and more - some useful for the main adventure, others purely for fun), use new abilities to open up previously locked off areas, complete side missions, wander around, soaking up the sights, and much, much more.

It is such an open-ended experience, throwing more content your way than imagined, and the hours will fly by, meaning that the long loading screens between key story sections will easily be forgiven, helped by the next chuckled-filled, quirky line delivered by the amusing cast, and the array of intriguing new discoveries made on a constant basis. This updated version may keep certain references to its original Wii U form, such as the GamePad making an appearance, interestingly enough, but it adds an extra sheen, as well as something fans were very eager to see patched in to the original Nintendo release: drop-in / drop-out co-operative play, a key feature in most other LEGO releases. This is easily the definitive version of LEGO City Undercover and it can only be hoped that a remake of 3DS prequel, The Chase Begins is currently getting the remake treatment.