Lego City Undercover is a 2013 action-adventure game created by TT Fusion and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It was released again in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game is based on the Lego City toy line. The story follows police officer Chase McCain as he returns to Lego City to stop escaped crime boss Rex Fury. Players explore the open world of Lego City and complete separate levels with puzzles and combat.
The first prototypes for the game were made in 2010, and development began in 2011 after Nintendo asked TT Games, the parent company of TT Fusion, to create a game for the Wii U. At the time, it was the first Lego video game to use voice acting and the first in the TT Games series not based on a movie or comic. The script, written by Graham Goring, included many jokes and references to other media. The Lego City hub was inspired by real-world locations. Nintendo did not interfere much with the development but received updates and suggested changes.
The game was first announced at E3 2011 as Lego City Stories for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. More details were shown at E3 2012, when the title was changed to Lego City Undercover. The 3DS version became a separate prequel called Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins. The game was released in most regions in March 2013, with Japan getting it in July. A remastered version with two-player local multiplayer was announced in 2016 and released in April 2017. Critics gave the game mostly positive reviews, praising its story, humor, and improved gameplay, but noted the lack of co-op options and technical issues like long loading times. As of December 31, 2022, the original Wii U version sold over 1.15 million copies worldwide.
Gameplay
Lego City Undercover is an action-adventure game where the player controls an undercover cop named Chase McCain. His mission is to stop a criminal named Rex Fury. Chase can perform moves like swinging across poles and jumping off walls. The game takes place in Lego City, a main game world divided into 20 districts. Each district has levels with specific tasks to complete, such as solving puzzles, building or breaking Lego bricks, and overcoming platforming challenges. Chase fights criminals by pressing buttons in certain combinations. As the game continues, Chase gains new abilities called "disguises," which let him take on different roles. These disguises help him complete tasks and explore areas he couldn’t reach before. For example, the miner disguise lets Chase break boulders with a pickaxe and grab dynamite from machines, while the criminal disguise allows him to break doors with a crowbar and open safes.
In the main game world, players can find hidden puzzles, collectibles, and challenges like timed races or car chases. Players can use any vehicle in the environment, such as boats, helicopters, or cars, to move around. Lego studs are the game’s currency, found by solving puzzles or exploring the environment. Studs can be used to buy new vehicles. A rarer type of currency, Lego bricks, is harder to collect and requires solving difficult puzzles or platforming challenges. Lego bricks are used to build special structures, such as ramps or vehicles that help with missions. The Wii U GamePad has tools like scanning for brick locations, taking photos of evidence, and listening to secret conversations. When not in use, the GamePad shows a map of the area. A 2017 version of the game added local multiplayer, allowing players to compete or cooperate together.
Plot
Police officer Chase McCain returns to Lego City after being sent away two years earlier. Mayor Gleeson tells Chase that Rex Fury, a criminal Chase helped arrest, has recently escaped from prison. Chase works with rookie officer Frank Honey and police technician Ellie Phillips to catch Rex. However, Chase's return upsets Natalia Kowalski, his former girlfriend, who was placed in witness protection after Chase accidentally revealed her identity during Rex's trial. It also upsets Marion Dunby, the city's new Chief of Police, who had Chase sent away for this mistake.
After handling smaller cases, Chase finds clues that lead him to Bluebell Mine, where he meets Rex but is unable to arrest him. Pressed by Mayor Gleeson, Dunby sends Chase undercover to work at a limousine company owned by Chan Chuang, the leader of a crime gang. Chase works as a driver for billionaire Forrest Blackwell and steals a car for Chan. He meets Natalia, who is searching for her missing father, and learns that Chan is working for a crime boss named Vinnie Pappalardo, who does not trust outsiders. To gain Vinnie's trust, Chase must steal a prison transport truck and use it to free Vinnie's cousin, Moe DeLuca, from jail. In return, Moe helps Chase join Vinnie's gang by having him steal a truck filled with color guns and deliver them to Vinnie's ice cream parlor. Chase is later asked to steal a valuable stone called the Bell Pepper Emerald and a Moon buggy for Chan.
While investigating, Chan captures Natalia. Chase rescues her, which makes Natalia agree to help him find her father but angers Dunby when Chan hides. After rescuing Natalia from a group of unknown men and partially reconciling with her, Chase learns that Vinnie is working for Rex. Vinnie is ordered to steal more items for Rex but refuses. Rex's men attack Vinnie's ice cream parlor, and Vinnie is locked in a freezer. Chase saves Vinnie and learns about Rex's plans by questioning the attackers.
Chase enters Rex's secret hideout and hears Natalia's father, Henrik Kowalski, being questioned by Rex. He learns that Blackwell organized the crime wave and kidnapped Natalia to force her father to help with his plans. Chase calls Ellie, who tells him that Blackwell recently announced plans to change Lego City forever. At Blackwell's mansion, Chase finds evidence of Blackwell's crimes and locates Natalia. He discovers that Blackwell wanted to build an apartment complex and shopping mall in Bluebell but was stopped because of a rare squirrel species in the park. Angry at being denied, Blackwell planned to build a Moon colony and converted his tower into a rocket that would destroy Lego City. Chase helps Henrik and police officers build a force field to stop the rocket.
Chase chases Blackwell through space but is left behind when the shuttle is destroyed. He defeats Rex in a final battle, and Blackwell sends both into space. Chase skydives to Natalia's prison in the rocket and saves her by activating the parachute. Back in Lego City, Mayor Gleeson praises Chase for saving the city. Dunby offers Chase the chance to oversee Rex's arrest, but Chase declines, choosing instead to be with Natalia. They start a new life together.
Development
The development team at TT Fusion had wanted to create a video game based on the Lego City theme for a long time. The Lego franchise also wanted this, but the technology available and the fact that many staff were working on other projects made it difficult to create the game. Prototyping for what would become Lego City Undercover started in 2010 and lasted about twelve months. In 2011, Nintendo showed the team the Wii U hardware and asked if they would like to develop a game for it. Because they had worked well with Nintendo before and liked the hardware’s features, the team agreed to work with Nintendo. Creating a game not tied to a movie license gave the team more freedom, but also made it harder to design the story, gameplay, and game mechanics. Because the team’s ideas matched well with the Wii U hardware, they did not seriously consider making the game for other consoles until years after it was released. They also used the GamePad’s features in the game. Nintendo let the team work freely on the game, but they checked in regularly to see how the project was going. Development was done by TT Fusion and the Traveller’s Tales Knutsford team.
At first, the team did not have a clear idea of what the game would be. They started by creating a small environment with drivable vehicles and Lego buildings. They tried many gameplay ideas, such as a city builder like SimCity, but quickly abandoned a fixed camera angle. One challenge was designing combat that fit the story of the main character, a policeman. Instead of a simple fighting style, the team created a battle system that allowed for defensive moves without using deadly actions. While some critics compared the game to Grand Theft Auto, the lead designer said the game was not inspired by that series. Instead, the team focused on new ideas for a Lego video game and how to use the Wii U GamePad. The game’s tone was not inspired by other open-world games, but instead followed the Lego City franchise’s upbeat and positive style. The game’s story included criminals committing non-serious crimes, and the undercover disguise allowed the main character to act in a way that was morally justified.
When designing the game’s setting, the team used elements from real places like New York City, San Francisco, and London. The game includes references to real-world landmarks, such as Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz. The space station on Apollo Island was inspired by the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Because the game was made for a Nintendo console, the team added Nintendo-themed Easter eggs for players to find. The team had to create a new game engine because old ones could not handle the game’s large environments. The new engine was made from scratch and handled memory, object physics, and traffic systems. An executive producer said this was the hardest part of development because the team kept running into memory limits on the console.
The team wanted the main character to feel real because both children and adults would play the game. Lego City Undercover was the first Lego game to include full voice acting. A voice casting company called Side UK helped with the process. The team invited comedians to record funny parts of the script. A writer named Graham Goring, who was also a stand-up comedian, joined the team later. He filled in the story’s gaps and added humor. His jokes were meant for both children and adults, and the game included parodies of movies like The Shawshank Redemption and The Matrix, as well as TV shows like Starsky & Hutch. The story took time to write because the team wanted it to be detailed. The game also included Easter eggs referencing the Super Mario series.
Lego City Undercover was announced in June 2011 during a Nintendo press conference at E3 with the name Lego City Stories. In June 2012, the game was renamed Lego City Undercover. A trailer showing gameplay was shown at that event. In September 2012, more trailers were released, and it was announced that a Chase McCain minifigure would be included as a pre-order bonus in North America and Australia, and in the first copies sold in Europe. A toy with a code for extra in-game content was also released. Nintendo published the game in Japan on July 25, 2013. At the time, the Wii U had few major games, so Lego City Undercover was the first big release for Nintendo in 2013. The game’s creator called it the best Lego video game and the best Wii U game at the time.
In November 2016, Warner Bros. announced a remastered version of the game for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, which was released in April 2017. This version added split-screen cooperative play. Most Mario Easter eggs from the original game were kept in the Nintendo Switch version, except for the Mario Hat, which was replaced with a generic helicopter.
In December 2020, the Wii U version of Lego City Undercover and its 3DS prequel were removed from the Nintendo eShop.
Reception
The Wii U version of the game received a score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic, a website that collects reviews from critics. This score means most reviewers had positive things to say about the game. When the game was released again on other consoles and computers, the new versions received scores between 77 and 80 on the same site.
Many reviewers compared the game to the Grand Theft Auto series, but they said it was more family-friendly and playful. Critics also liked how the game included references to popular movies and other media, such as The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, and the Mario franchise. However, a review from Edge said the game lacked originality because its city settings were repetitive, and some references to pop culture did not fit well with the game’s theme.
Gameplay received mixed opinions. Some critics said the combat was not very exciting, but they praised the game’s humor and clever use of disguises. Disguises helped players try new ways to solve problems, but some said the game required too much switching between disguises with little variety. The Wii U GamePad, a special controller, was called an "ingenious little plot device" by one reviewer, but others said it was used too little or in a forced way. Technical issues, such as slow loading times, poor frame rate, and bad camera control, were also mentioned as problems. Some reviewers said the game’s format was similar to other Lego games, but they did not think the gameplay itself was a major issue. Vehicles in the game were generally liked, but some said they were hard to control.
Reviewers praised the game’s unique theme, which helped it stand out compared to other Lego games. They also liked the humor, which included jokes, funny characters, and references to other media. The story was said to have a clear and satisfying progression. Characters and their interactions were described as fun and family-friendly, with slapstick comedy and exaggerated personalities. Some reviewers said the game’s writing reminded them of comedy films by Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker, known for using clichés and jokes.
The game’s world was described as colorful and detailed, making it enjoyable to explore. Critics said the environment was dynamic, and the large, open world encouraged players to drive and explore freely. Collectibles in the game were seen as a way to keep players interested after finishing the main story, but some said the hidden items were not important to the overall experience.
Cooperative multiplayer was added to the new versions, which some reviewers liked. However, one critic said the lack of online play was a downside. The Nintendo Switch version received lower scores than the Wii U version because of noticeable frame drops. The PC version was praised for its presentation and story but criticized for not supporting a mouse. The PS4 version was called high quality but said it lacked content that would appeal to older players.
In the UK, the game reached number 12 on the all-formats chart, number 8 on the individual-format chart, and number 1 on the Wii U chart. In Japan, it sold more than 18,000 copies in its first week, entering charts at number 9. By December 31, 2022, the Wii U version had sold 1.15 million copies worldwide.