Welcome to the first Strider-bot’s Game for Tots column, where I will be looking at titles for young players from a parent’s perspective and that of a life-long gamer who is still a kid at heart when it comes to virtual adventures.
There hasn’t been much of a reason to pop a game into a Wii U since its launch, but if you have kids, Lego City Undercover is one must-have title.
You play as Chase McCain, a full-on Hollywood-esque hero cop who is tasked with taking down Rex Fury, a master criminal from our main character’s past.
The goal is as simple as tracking down Fury and putting him back in the slammer. It’s a basic plot, no more complex than anything that most of us adults who grew up in the 1980s will recall with cheese-gilded fondness. In fact, there’s a whole lot of Hunter and Die Hard in McCain … I mean, Bruce Willis’ character is named McClane for pete’s sake.
Giving kids a full-on action game in which they can play as a cop in an open world environment is something sure to grab their attention. The basic pick-up-and-play controls are another way to ease youngsters into the Lego City, as is the sense of humour on display thanks to a crackling script and some strong vocal performances. British actor Joseph May, a veteran of several video game franchises, clearly has fun giving McCain a voice.
The action basically amounts to a series of missions involving some puzzle solving, typical run-and-jump platforming gameplay and some combat, as well as copious amounts of ‘borrowing’ civilian vehicles whenever you need a ride in the course of your duties.
It’s very much like other Lego titles. Basic combat, cool vehicles, sometimes frustrating platforming level design and collecting Lego bricks and studs to use to unlock and buy extra perks and cheats.
The design team has built in some cool action movie chase scene clichés that will have parents who either watch (or pick up and play when the console is free) chuckling in appreciation of such gimmicky effects as bullet time cutaways and cinematic shenanigans. Kids will just think it’s cool (well, at least until that point comes when they’re tired of the rinse-and-repeat gameplay that mars most Lego titles).
While there are some who will say this is a PG kids version of a Grand Theft Auto game, a kind of gateway drug to more violent and serious open world crime titles, I say relax and take it easy. You can’t change the nature of kids and their desire to play more harder edged titles as they age – the same way you can’t change their desire to do other adult things during their teenage years.
But let’s face it, that’s an adult’s fear and as a parent of two teens, I get it. I do. But stop worrying about what they may encounter and focus on the here and now and the fact that this is a game where your kids get to fight on the side of right and use a little might at the same time. The fact they have to go undercover to do it doesn’t change McCain’s focus on bringing Fury to ultimate justice.
Know that Lego City Undercover is a fantastic tale about a cop chasing down a bad guy, utilizing awesome vehicles, and it’s a blast, to boot.
* Wayne Chamberlain has covered the gaming industry since 2003. Follow him on Twitter @ChamberlainW. He is also co-host of the Star Wars Book Report podcast, available on iTunes.