Lego City Undercover Review – Wii U LEGO Game Comes to PS4

Adventure, check. Brick building, check. Puns galore, check. LEGO City Undercover puts you in the shoes of city cop Chase McCain as he drives, flies, fights and builds his way across city regions in a bid to restore peace. Originally launched in 2013 for the Nintendo Wii U, does this LEGO game hold up to current standards?

If you have played other LEGO titles you are unlikely to find much new here to excite you. The standards are there such as brick breaking and building, searching for hidden gold bricks, and 100’s of playable characters with different outfits and skills. What LEGO City Underground adds is a semblance of an open world with 20 different districts filled with side quests and secrets to uncover.

Taking on the role of police officer Chase McCain you find yourself in suddenly crime ridden LEGO City. Unlike other LEGO games that draw from popular movies, this entry is an all new original story, and one of the best in any LEGO title. By beating up bad guys and solving puzzles you begin to gradually clean up the streets while trying to rekindle a relationship with your ex, Natalia Kowalski. True to TT Games’ style you will find no shortage of jokes, puns, and one-liners as you fight to restore peace to the city.

Expect plenty of companions along the way with nearly 300 playable characters in the game. McCain has several outfits with different abilities allowing you to play as a cop, firefighter, or even an astronaut. Collected bricks are used to construct super builds allowing you to summon any unlocked vehicle. With about 15 hours of main story and an additional 10 hours in side missions there is plenty to do in LEGO City Undercover.

Bringing City Undercover in line with other LEGO titles, TT Games has added split screen co-op this time around. Unfortunately, the co-op feels like an afterthought, by not being integrated into the story or missions in any meaningful way. The game runs at a smooth 30 fps but is plagued by long loading times, even on the more powerful PlayStation 4. Loading screens occur frequently, about every 10 minutes, and can last for a minute or longer.

Does LEGO City Undercover hold up nearly four years after its initial release? Tons of side quests and open areas filled with hidden goodies along with a fun story, silly characters and jokes at every turn will keep you or the kids entertained for hours. Though, you won’t find much new to build on other LEGO games as the formula remains much the same. Unfortunately, due to this game being a port from an older console you would expect more from TT Games. LEGO City Undercover runs smooth on PlayStation 4 but fails to address the long loading times seen on the Wii U and provides us with a co-op add on that fails to capture the magic of playing LEGO with a friend.