Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins

Hot on the heels of the Wii U title is this 3DS prequel, following Chase McCain at the beginning of his career. He starts out as a rookie cop, dealing with the sour Deputy Dunby and making a name for himself by solving whatever criminal cases come his way.

You begin by dealing with the small-town criminals, such as the Knuckles gang, who are stealing pets and cars. But behind the scenes there’s the inevitable criminal mastermind: Rex Fury. It’s cheesy and clichéd (one of your first tasks is to do a doughnut run!) but completely tongue in cheek. Some of the police are publicity-hungry fools, the criminals are cartoon bad guys with attitude, and the citizens are all pretty helpless.

Along the way Chase acquires new skills through disguises. The construction worker get-up allows you to drill through the ground; the thief disguise gives you the ability to crowbar open doors. The disguises are essential if you want to progress in the game’s story, although you can still wander Lego City and save random citizens from thugs.

The combat is typically over the top, Matrix -style moves. A few button presses and you're ready to slap the cuffs on your target. The bosses are a little more difficult to overpower, but they can usually be made quick work of.

The Chase Begins suffers a little compared with its Wii U predecessor. The graphics pop-in is irritating, with characters and vehicles suddenly appearing on a previously empty street. Load times could also be better. It's also a shame that the voice acting is limited to cut scenes again; the in-game characters are still mute.

But although it may not be perfect, it's a interesting addition to the Lego City line-up. Just try to play it before the Wii U version if you can.