I havent seen anybody post a long(er) review of Lego City Undercover, so here is my $0.02:
Overall, it is really good. I can understand why it got an 8/10, but I think it probably rates more like an 8.5 or 9/10. It doesnt break any new ground, but so far (five hours in, 5% of the game unlocked), what it does do, it does extremely well.
The plot is part tongue-in-cheek send up of a classic 70s/80s cop show/movie, part homage to these same flicks. The lead character is brought back to Lego City to re-apprehend the escaped criminal he had caught years before. As he starts off, he finds he has to up his game to meet the new challenges of his criminal nemesis, Rex Fury. So, you have to perform various tasks on your journey to the eventual showdown, i.e., investigate the cell he escaped from an Albatross Island, meet informants to gather information, and after getting his butt kicked in a fight, go to the local dojo to get trained in karate. Clues dry up? It is time to go "undercover."
I was worried that the jokes would get old (warning: lots of cheesy jokes and puns, the kind I like
), but the writing and acting is top-notch. There are gags galore for both kids and adults; in a way, it reminds me of a Pixar film in which there is something for all ages. Part of the fun is recognizing what movies or shows they are spoofing. Having lived through the Sega CD and nightmares of video game/interactive movie integration disasters, I have to say what I have seen recently has been very well done, and Lego City does this perhaps better than the rest. There is a price to pay for this, and there is sometimes some lengthy exposition you have to sit through (and if you save, end the game, and return, you may get some of it again), but for people like me who play for several weeks, put it down, and then return to games, this may be a blessing. It does help keep the plot tight, and the action moving.
Despite the story and scripting, you get a lot of opportunity to run around and explore, which I love. People have complained about the load times
when starting the game, you first get the boot up of the WiiU, then you get about a 30 second load as the game boots, and then after pressing start, you are treated to a 60 second load. At least it has a rocking, 70s style police-show, guitar-band theme to listen to. Once that is loaded, you have the entire Lego City exterior to run around in. I went from the Station Dock to Albatross Island, back to the dock, and then out to Bluebell National Forest without any loading, which was impressive for such a large area. Once I went inside a building, however, you get another 30-40 second load, and the same when exiting and getting back into Lego City.
Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend it to anybody. I dont know why, but driving the police car around with the lights and sirens on is a blast. People have compared it to a pro-social GTA, and that isnt a bad comparison. The worst thing I have done is a figure-8 skid mark in the middle of an intersection
. It is Lego City, so it is going to be G-rated, but that shouldnt be used to knock the game. It appears to be of really high quality, and given the relative WiiU game dry-spell, should be seriously considered. The lack of a multiplayer game will be an issue to some, but not to me.
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