Believe It Or Not, I Think GTA 6 Could Learn a Few Things From Lego City Undercover

GTA 5 has 3 playable characters. Nice one. Lego City Undercover has over 300. Look, my lingua is firmly wrong my feature here; I don’t really judge that Rockstar’s much-heralded efforts were surpassed by this erstwhile Wii U exclusive Lego crippled that came retired conscionable months earlier Michael, Franklin, and Trevor’s story. But portion Undercover is by nary means a masterpiece, determination are immoderate areas wherever it genuinely shows ambition beyond Rockstar’s. Please instrumentality with me. I haven’t gone mad.

Yes, we’re each clinging connected done this multifaceted apocalyptic contiguous to marque it to GTA 6, and you’ll nary uncertainty person respective recommendations astir what to play successful its spot implicit the months preceding its launch. Red Dead 2 is my favourite crippled ever, but that’s an evident one. The Saints Row games are fun, but we’ve already got a caller Scary Movie coming this twelvemonth if you privation to revisit that puerile spot successful time. Sleeping Dogs volition everlastingly beryllium the hipster prime acknowledgment to its stylish Hong Kong action, but person you played it recently? It’s fine. That’s wherefore I travel present bearing the acquisition of Lego City Undercover — a good, if not rather great, instrumentality connected the open-world metropolis genre, but 1 that was forgotten each excessively quickly.

GTA 4’s Four Leaf Clover, you are not going to get here, with Rockstar’s trademark sprawling, cinematic missions not portion of Undercover’s offering. Missions alternatively are constricted successful scope, with chases abbreviated and seldom taking vantage of the scope of the larger metropolis map, alternatively taking spot successful tiny puzzle-filled pocketed environments extracurricular of the free-roam area. The aforesaid limits tin beryllium seen successful combat, which astir wholly consists of hammering down the onslaught fastener and putting integrative fist to face. In that regard, though, it's precise akin to a Rockstar game; Let’s look it, you’re not playing GTA for its rudimentary cover-based gunplay, but for those high-stakes set-piece events that you seldom find elsewhere.

Whether it’s Grand Theft Auto oregon Red Dead, the precise archetypal gunfight oregon car pursuit volition yet consciousness astir identical to its first, albeit with somewhat much exotic weaponry. What you volition observe successful Lego City, though, is greater systemic progression erstwhile it comes to problem-solving than that recovered successful immoderate Rockstar game. Abilities unlocked passim the communicative mode tin past beryllium taken vantage of erstwhile exploring the unfastened world, providing the cardinal to unlock its galore secrets. This attack gives you a genuine crushed to power up which minifig you’re playing as, since each harbours its ain unsocial skill.

What you volition observe successful Lego City, though, is greater systemic progression [...] than that recovered successful immoderate Rockstar game. “

GTA 5 whitethorn person had 3 protagonists, but extracurricular of each having their ain communicative missions, determination was small crushed to power betwixt them. Sure, they each had peculiar abilities, specified arsenic Franklin slowing down clip portion driving, but those skills weren’t efficaciously integrated into the gameplay. Lego City Undercover, meanwhile, makes large usage of characterful, unsocial abilities which are straight tied to problems and objectives. There are immoderate genuinely nifty detective-like quirks, specified arsenic scanning vigor signatures successful a surrounding country erstwhile searching for suspects. Could the bank-robbing clown beryllium the orangish silhouette sporting an oversized curly wig hiding successful a shed? Probably. In that sense, its crime-stopping borrows arsenic overmuch from L.A. Noire arsenic it does GTA, conscionable without the often unintentionally hilarious interrogation sequences wherever you tin falsely impeach overseas diplomats of large offences involving minors. That wouldn’t rather acceptable the happy-go-lucky Lego mould, I guess.

Undercover, conscionable similar each different introduction successful TT Games’ library, is made for the full household to enjoy, and truthful takes that rock-solid Rockstar unfastened satellite basal and tweaks it with each property of subordinate successful mind. There’s a charm to each interaction, specified arsenic a movie noir-ish, jazzy treble bass being plucked portion you expanse an country for footprints utilizing a UV light. Nearby chattering NPCs, meanwhile, supply a PG mentation of what you whitethorn perceive connected a Los Santos thoroughfare corner. In large Lego fashion, each point you collide with on the city’s roads is packed afloat of studs, conscionable similar the backstage country of a Magic Mike show.

With hundreds of aureate bricks, disguises, and vehicles to unlock crossed its map, the collecting successful Lego City Undercover seemingly ne'er ends. It’s thing GTA has ne'er rather cracked. Yes, immoderate of Rockstar’s games person had their database of collectibles, specified arsenic Liberty City’s horde of mislaid pigeons, but they ever consciousness similar stumbled-upon surprises, alternatively than rewards hidden down puzzles successful the benignant that the Batman Arkham games kicked disconnected with their Riddler trophies. Perhaps this makes the metropolis consciousness a small excessively artificial for Rockstar’s tastes, but Lego City’s embracing of each things integrative means its metropolis is stacked afloat of things for its 300 minifigs to find.

I’ve ever had a brushed spot for the Lego Games. Indeed, Undercover’s precursor, the Lego Island series, formed galore of my earliest gaming memories, arsenic pizza lad Pepper Roni tussled with The Brickster successful precise constricted unfastened worlds. Lego City Undercover feels similar the earthy improvement of those turn-of-the-century adventures; a grown-up mentation of that thought — not needfully tone-wise, but surely mechanically. It was besides an accidental for developer TT Games to archer a communicative and physique a satellite extracurricular of established licenses, similar Star Wars, Marvel, oregon Harry Potter, and portion I’m not going to unreal Undercover is simply a transgression opus akin to GTA's finest, its coagulated archetypal communicative does assistance marque it a genuinely morganatic GTA clone for each ages. Even its titular metropolis is simply a mishmash of American cities specified arsenic New York and San Francisco — thing Rockstar has been doing for decades with Grand Theft Auto.

Beyond the information that this is simply a Lego crippled we’re talking about, determination are reasons wherefore Undercover isn’t typically discussed alongside much enduring open-world transgression games. Lego City Undercover came retired successful the Spring anterior to GTA 5’s release, and it shows. 13 years on, it's possibly casual to hide conscionable however acold guardant Rockstar’s masterpiece pushed the open-world genre. Instead, it would beryllium acold fairer to comparison this integrative metropolis to earlier Grand Theft Autos specified arsenic the PS2’s Vice City and San Andreas, and 2008’s GTA 4. In fact, it commits galore of the aforesaid crimes arsenic those present somewhat dated cities do. Perhaps the astir egregious is the information that the full of its representation isn’t unfastened from the get-go, gated disconnected until definite events successful its communicative hap successful an effort to forestall you from seeing each of its galore locations consecutive away. It’s somewhat frustrating, especially, I tin imagine, if you’ve got a younger kid who conscionable wants to thrust astir it each without worrying astir story. Thankfully, this attack is thing open-world games person astir wholly enactment down them successful the years since.

Something much affirmative Undercover takes from the 2000s “3D universe” epoch of GTA games is their larger-than-life tone, which, portion remaining somewhat intact crossed 4 and 5, was overmuch little nuanced backmost successful the day, resulting successful their caricature-led stories. Its transgression communicative crucially puts you connected the different broadside of the law, but is likewise cartoonish, playing retired similar a Lord and Miller instrumentality connected The Departed arsenic performed by the formed of Anchorman. It goes large connected laughs portion not truly attempting to propulsion immoderate different emotion retired of you, which is nary atrocious happening astatine all. Whereas Rockstar opts for classy homage, TT Games spell for whole-hearted integrative parody: little satire, much spoof. That quality successful comedic values possibly astir emphasises the quality successful the games, with GTA the memorable cinematic acquisition you’d beryllium down to ticker with popcorn, and Undercover feeling much similar the snackable popcorn itself: saccharine and fun, but with nary existent nutritional payment extracurricular of the moment.

Undercover archetypal came retired conscionable six months anterior to Marvel Super Heroes, which I’d reason approaches its open-world adjacent better, but different doesn’t subordinate to GTA anyplace adjacent arsenic much, truthful we’ll parkland it to 1 broadside here. It was a existent aureate property for Lego Games, though, and 1 wherever it truly felt similar TT Games had cracked the look arsenic to however to battalion unfastened worlds with collectibles and opportunity, portion besides making getting astir them a joyousness successful itself, whether it beryllium via police-issued grapple hooks oregon superheroic flight. It’s thing I’m hoping the imminent Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight tin recapture successful its Gotham setting. Would I beryllium truthful brave and bold arsenic to suggest that it could eclipse GTA 6 this year? No, the lone mode that could realistically hap is if the second doesn’t really deed its November date.

Could GTA 6 larn from Lego City Undercover’s attack to packing each playable quality with unsocial skills that unlock antithetic aspects of its world?“

Do I honestly deliberation Lego City Undercover is amended than immoderate modern GTA game? No — there’s a pure, undeniable, blockbuster consciousness of cinema to Rockstar’s creations that’s hard to resist, particularly successful the mode they archer their stories. Would I really similar to play it successful 2026 implicit Vice City? Maybe. It’s surely much ambitious erstwhile it comes to ngo design. So, could GTA 6 larn from Lego City Undercover’s attack to packing each playable quality with unsocial skills that unlock antithetic aspects of its world, improving the prime of its collectibles, oregon possibly adjacent introducing co-op? I’d beryllium surprised, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t similar to spot it. Imagine if Lucia were an explosives expert, but Jason specialises successful safecracking, and depending connected who you prime to play arsenic connected a definite mission, it dictates the events of each.

More than anything, I conscionable privation to fto you cognize astir this crippled that didn’t get rather the magnitude of emotion it deserved erstwhile it archetypal arrived 13 years ago. If you request immoderate much convincing, you tin cheque retired our afloat deserved 8/10 reappraisal it got astatine release. It’s present connected your radar successful lawsuit it passed you by. Embrace the brick. Thank maine later.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.