Review by Ian Abbott
Available on the Nintendo 3DS, LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins is a gaming prequel to the recently released Wii U game LEGO City Undercover that sees rookie cop Chase McCain earn his police stripes, solve crimes and duff up bad guys whilst policing the entire Lego City single handedly. The sandbox style game also marks a significant departure by the developer TT Fusion, part of the TT Games group, as it has created a new IP based on the LEGO® toy range rather than rely on adapting existing entertainment franchise to adapt like Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman or Harry Potter like it has done in the past.
Following the narrative, clambering up buildings and tearing up the roads in a diversity of automobiles my aim was to dethrone my nemesis Rex Fury who was a constant menace on the town as he and his henchmen set fire to fire stations, kidnapped news anchors or blew up bridges. I played it in short one to two hour bursts and felt this was the optimum amount of time as each of the level designs are similar with only the environment changing each time whilst the fetch this, fight these, unlock that, rescue this formula was repeated each time. With the 3D qualities of the system on fine display and the lower screen mainly used for a map to orientate myself in each of the areas, I completed the joyful main story in less than 10 hours on the original smaller 3DS which also delivered a mighty bout of aching hand claw with prolonged playing, though the game is aimed at and appeals to both the targeted hand sizes and age range of 10+ and adults.
As I progressed through the levels, I unlocked extra disguises which offered Chase differing abilities to advance through the game. There was enough diversity in the disguisable characters with their particular abilities needed to finish each area to ensure interest in Chase and his quests was maintained; from the Spaceman who could warp between landing pads to the Farmer who carried a chicken around with him, just in case he needed to glide in between roof tops. Personally, I think there is simply nothing more fun than riding a pig through a forest, clutching on to their porcine bristles with one hand and waving with the other to a sprightly hill-billy tune as the sun dapples through the leaves. The audio design for each area is spot on; it’s light, dainty and captured the jolly mood and the environmental surroundings successfully.
The trademark witty and sharp writing that we’ve come to expect from a TT product was present; however there was a lack of vocal delivery within game and so there was limited chance for character development or attachment. My favourite was the droll take on a set of lazy builders who, in game, spend an inordinate amount of time trying to create measures to avoid having to do their own actual work and Chase has to pick up the slack and complete all their tasks for them. One of a only few gripes I had with the game was the excessive loading screen times as you travelled between areas; it was verging on thirty seconds and broke the rhythm and immersion of the game badly.
LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins is a game full of merriment with all the hallmarks of a LEGO game shining through on the 3DS and exists happily without its bigger brother on the Wii U. With baddie bashing, environmental demolition, stud collection and pig riding, this is a little piece of LEGO joy.
LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins is out now on Nintendo 3DS