Lego City Undercover (WIIU)

Day 2 of  the Lego Video Games marathon 

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Game of the Day

Name: Lego City Undercover

Released: 2013

Developer(s): TT Fusion, Nintendo and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Platform: Nintendo Wii U

By the time this game had been released, the Lego video game series had established that it was good at turning successful franchises into successful video games. But the creation of Lego City Undercover sought to change all that. The first Lego game in about a decade that wasn't from a franchise, the expectations for this game were set quite high. And boy did they deliver. Starring cop Chase McCain, McCain is assigned the task of taking down his nemesis Rex Fury with the help of the bumbling police force. There's a good storyline which is logical and easy-to-follow, the mechanics are simple but effective and it incorporates the Wii U game pad nicely. But I think what made this game excel and is so appealing is how light-hearted and non-serious the game takes itself. In particular the ridiculous amount of pop-culture references incorporated into the game (my personal favourite was the homage to The Shawshank Redemption - my favourite movie ever). While it didn't add anything new to the Lego formula, that doesn't necessarily mean that's a bad thing. As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". It was a sign that they could make their own game and I would love to see them tackle another one in the future.