Lego City Undercover is basically PG-rated Grand Theft Auto

Fusion Traveller’s Tales, TT Nintendo, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, DreamCatcher Interactive PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC Rs 4,538 It may have been less than a month since the last Lego game ( given an impressive 4/5 by The Independent), but it’s never too long to wait for the next one in this prolific series, and it comes in the form of

No doubt by the time you’ve got to the end of this review, it will have been replaced by an even newer game in the franchise.

is a port of the exclusive from 2013. Widely regarded as one of the console’s better games, it’s now everyone else’s chance to give it a go, with a release on most other platforms.

Gameplay is essentially PG rated Grand Theft Auto, although rather than playing as a morally ambiguous protagonist with a shady past, you’re placed in the tiny plastic shoes of Chase McCain, a wisecracking good guy cop tasked with taking out the villainous Rex Fury. The large Lego city acts as the hub world, with the actual missions taking place in self-contained areas (which you can revisit once you’ve finished, to pick up those essential collectables). As this is a Lego game, you’re not plugging bad guys full of holes, but having a bit of a tussle with them before slapping the cuffs on.

So what’s changed? Well, very little actually. The game looks sharper than it’s original Wii U incarnation, the loading screens are faster, and a two player co-op mode has been introduced, but that’s about it. Disappointingly, some of the frame rate issues are still apparent, as well as the occasional pop-in, and while it’s by no means a deal breaker, it is sur- prising that these issues weren’t addressed on the more capable hardware.

The difficulty is squarely aimed at younger players, and anyone with more than a passing inter- est in video games will be able to glide through the game with one yellow plastic claw tied behind their back.

With the game focusing on the world of Lego, rather than a movie license like so many of its other titles, it has a chance to find its own voice and sense of style. What you end up with is a game that is richly packed with humour, with every cut scene a chance for the writers to flex their comedic muscle. Most of the gags are pretty good, although some of the references were out of date when the original game was released in 2013, and in 2017 aren’t getting any fresher. One of the early levels is a pastiche of The Shawshank Redemption, complete with a Morgan Freeman impersonator (which is pointed out with one of the games many fourth wall breaking moments).

It’s difficult to know how many kids will catch these references. I played large chunks of the game with my three-year-old in the room, and while he became obsessed with finding the many, many collectables, the Shawshank reference in question flew over his head. To be fair though, he’s always been more into French art house cinema.

We should probably talk about those collectables. If you’re a completionist, prepare to clear your diary. The Lego games have always come with huge replay value, and Lego City Undercover is no exception. From the off, many areas are blocked off in the city, with tantalising collectables just out of reach. THE INDEPENDENT