2013 Lego video game
2013 video game
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
is an
action-adventure
video game
developed by
TT Fusion
and published by
Nintendo
for the
Nintendo 3DS
. It was released in April 2013.
[1]
The game is based on the
Lego City
brand
. It serves as a prequel to
Lego City Undercover
.
Gameplay
[
edit
]
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
is an
open-world
action-adventure
game in which the player fights crime in
Lego City
as police officer Chase McCain.
[1]
[2]
The player targets gangs by chasing after criminals, building
LEGO
objects by breaking apart and repurposing other objects, and finding collectible items like outfits. The world is generally split into various sections which are locked off until the player defeats a boss of a gang in a certain section.
[3]
With each section, a new gang is introduced, and the player unlocks a new outfit which helps navigate the environment.
[3]
[4]
The missions usually involve fighting characters,
platforming
sections, and
fetch quests
. The player can drive vehicles across the map, and helicopters are used to
fast travel
between different locations.
[5]
[6]
Plot
[
edit
]
Two years before the events of
Lego City Undercover
, Chase McCain, a rookie cop working for the Lego City Police Department, is tasked with arresting the city's most wanted man, Rex Fury. To find Rex, Chase must explore the city.
As far as story connections go, it was Chase who accidentally revealed that Natalia Kowalski, his girlfriend who previously worked as a news reporter turned out to be the secret witness in the Rex trial, which forced her to go under witness protection. As a result, Chase was eventually exiled from Lego City, but not before he attempted to fix his mistakes by pursuing Rex and the criminals that work for him. It also outlines how Chase managed to arrest Rex Fury. Furthermore, the game reveals that Mayor Gleeson, a character also featured in Lego City Undercover, was formerly the chief of police, and how Chief Dunby was just a deputy officer.
Development
[
edit
]
The game was announced during Nintendo's press conference at
E3 2011
on June 7, 2011, with the tentative name
Lego City Stories
. On January 17, 2013, the game was revealed to be
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
, and that it would be a prequel to the Wii U game.
[
citation needed
]
Reception
[
edit
]
The game received "mixed" reviews according to the
review aggregation
website
Metacritic
.
[7]
IGN
called it a "decent" game that is marred by "a lot of fog, a lot of loading, no voice acting and a jarring framerate".
[14]
In Japan, where the game was ported for release on 5 March 2015,
Famitsu
gave it a score of 32 out of 40.
[10]
Chris Scullion of
Official Nintendo Magazine
commented on the amount of cutbacks from the Wii U sequel (
Undercover
), stating that "
The Chase Begins
has far less funnier bones than Undercover. The silly jokes, clever spoofs and brilliant dialogue between the characters have been replaced with a handful of average cutscenes and loads of text-heavy dialogue which, while functional, are rarely amusing and never hilarious. Loading times were frustrating enough in
LEGO City: Undercover
but are even more infuriating here considering the game's running off a cartridge and is designed for handheld play. It's lacking visually, too. Thick fog (to hide having to render distant buildings) smothers the city and roads and pavements are far less crowded, making it feel like you're wandering around a post-apocalyptic LEGO City. The characters' faces don't move, making in-game cutscenes feel awkward and the frame rate is clunky if you're playing in 3D. It's technically impressive(ish), but not as fun or funny as the Wii U game."
[17]
Chris Vandergaag of
Toronto Sun
gave the game three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that it "might have too many imperfections to be the standout masterwork its console big brother was, and given the choice, you should play that one rather than this one. But it's still worth picking up and playing, especially if you love Lego, have younger children who need something to keep them busy in the car, or generally lean towards cute rather than blood-soaked."
[21]
Peter Nowak of
The Globe and Mail
gave it a similar score of seven out of ten, saying, "The repetition turns tedious when the goon fights take place almost every step of the way. These fights are not challenging in the least ? even to kids ? with McCain merely tossing the bad guys around for a while before cuffing them. I won some of the fights without even looking at the screen."
[22]
Liam Martin of
Digital Spy
gave it 3 out of 5 stars, commenting on the game's lack of appeal but praising the game's visuals and stating that, "Unfortunately, where
LEGO City Undercover
referenced movies and used voice acting to great effect, hardware limitations have forced TT Fusion to keep spoken cutscenes to a minimum, something which ultimately detracts from the hilarity. Despite its flaws,
LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins
is a charming release, packed with diverse missions, mostly impressive visuals and a great cast of characters."
[19]
Chad Sapieha of
National Post
gave it a score of 5.5 out of 10, saying, "If you imagined the Wii U's excellent
Lego City Undercover
and the Nintendo 3DS's
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
as actor siblings, the former would be
Alec Baldwin
to the latter's
Daniel
...Not
Stephen
, and not even
William
...Daniel."
[23]
However, Mike LeChevallier of
Slant Magazine
gave it two stars out of five, saying, "With a full-bodied hike in attention to detail,
The Chase Begins
could have been a satisfying alternative for Lego fans who haven't yet obtained a Wii U, or simply gamers who've been bellowing for a well-made 3DS addition to the franchise. Disappointingly, what they've been allotted is a tattered set of hand-me-down Lego blocks, mismatched and marked with the fingerpaint smudges of those who've grown up and moved on to
Minecraft
."
[24]
David Jenkins of
Metro
gave it a score of three out of ten, saying, "The Wii U game was just a few flaws short of a minor classic, but this joyless companion piece is only a couple more problems shy of a complete disaster."
[20]
On 12 September 2013, Nintendo announced that the game has sold 264,000 units in North America.
[25]
As of December 31, 2020, worldwide sales reached 2.04 million copies,
[26]
making it the
34th best-selling game for the Nintendo 3DS
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
East, Thomas (March 19, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover 3DS release date confirmed"
.
Official Nintendo Magazine
.
Future plc
. Archived from
the original
on October 24, 2014
. Retrieved
March 20,
2013
.
- ^
Kain, Erik.
"
'LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins' Review (3DS)"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
May 9,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
George, Richard (April 24, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins Review"
.
IGN
. Retrieved
May 9,
2024
.
- ^
"Review: LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins"
.
Destructoid
. Retrieved
May 9,
2024
.
- ^
Jenkins, David (April 25, 2013).
"Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins review ? bricking it"
.
Metro
. Retrieved
May 9,
2024
.
- ^
Miguel Concepcion (April 21, 2013).
"Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins review"
.
gamesradar
. Retrieved
May 9,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins for 3DS Reviews"
.
Metacritic
.
Red Ventures
.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Carter, Chris (April 23, 2013).
"Review: LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins"
.
Destructoid
.
Enthusiast Gaming
.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Whitehead, Dan (April 19, 2013).
"Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins review"
.
Eurogamer
.
Gamer Network
.
Archived
from the original on September 17, 2014
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"レゴシティ アンダ?カバ? チェイス ビギンズ"
.
Famitsu
(in Japanese).
Enterbrain
.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Cork, Jeff (April 21, 2013).
"Lego City Undercover [The Chase Begins] Review"
.
Game Informer
.
GameStop
.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Schaller, Kevin (April 20, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins Review"
.
GameRevolution
.
CraveOnline
.
Archived
from the original on August 26, 2022
. Retrieved
March 19,
2022
.
- ^
Workman, Robert (May 4, 2013).
"Review: Lego City Undercover Serves Up Adequate Justice On the Nintendo 3DS"
.
GameZone
.
Archived
from the original on May 7, 2013
. Retrieved
March 19,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
George, Richard (April 24, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins Review"
.
IGN
.
Ziff Davis
.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
April 24,
2013
.
- ^
Mason, Mike (April 18, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins Review"
.
Nintendo Life
. Gamer Network.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
April 24,
2013
.
- ^
Bonds, Curtis (April 20, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins"
.
Nintendo World Report
. NINWR, LLC.
Archived
from the original on March 19, 2022
. Retrieved
March 19,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Scullion, Chris (April 29, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins review"
.
Official Nintendo Magazine
. Future plc. Archived from
the original
on June 6, 2013
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Rose, Mike (April 22, 2013).
"Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins"
.
Pocket Gamer
. Steel Media Ltd.
Archived
from the original on January 25, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Martin, Liam (May 5, 2013).
"LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins review: An inferior 3DS edition"
.
Digital Spy
.
Hearst Communications
.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Jenkins, David (April 25, 2013).
"Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins review ? bricking it"
.
Metro
.
DMG Media
.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Vandergaag, Chris (May 1, 2013).
"
'Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins' packs sizable fun into small package"
.
Toronto Sun
.
Postmedia Network
.
Archived
from the original on June 27, 2013
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Nowak, Peter (April 22, 2013).
"Lego City Undercover laugh lines missing in action on 3DS"
.
The Globe and Mail
.
The Woodbridge Company
.
Archived
from the original on May 1, 2013
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Sapieha, Chad (April 23, 2013).
"Why does Lego City Undercover for 3DS remind us of Daniel Baldwin?"
.
National Post
. Postmedia Network.
Archived
from the original on January 20, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
LeChavallier, Mike (April 29, 2013).
"Review: Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins"
.
Slant Magazine
. Slant Magazine LLC.
Archived
from the original on March 18, 2022
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
Makuch, Eddie (September 12, 2013).
"Pikmin 3 US sales reach 115,000 units"
.
GameSpot
. Red Ventures.
Archived
from the original on August 24, 2019
. Retrieved
March 18,
2022
.
- ^
2021CESAゲ?ム白書 (2021 CESA Games White Papers)
.
Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association
. 2021.
ISBN
978-4-902346-43-5
.
External links
[
edit
]