[Wii U] Will I ever update the community list?

Sterica

Join the PA community by having your Nintendo Network ID posted here!

READ THE SPOILER FOR INSTRUCTIONS OR YOU WON'T GET ON THE LIST!

Start by sending a PM containing your forum name/NNID to @ " Rorus Raz " (remove the spaces before and after the " " marks or it won't work) to get added to the list. Please send me your info like it's shown below to make my job easier.

Also, make sure to enable your friend's list. Do this by hitting the home button on your gamepad and selecting the "friend list" icon on the far left OR going to the MiiVerse and searching for the NNID manually (recommended).

PA name/NNID
MNC Dover/MNC.Dover
Professor Snugglesworth/Pols.Voice
HallowedFaith/Cloudbomb
AngelHedgie/NoxAeternum
minor incident/minor.incident
UnbreakableVow/UnbreakableVow
Toldo/Weegian
SirUltimos/SirUltimos
urahonky/Samson
MonkeyConQueso/MonkeyConQueso
Xenogears of Bore/KingSheet
Turkey/TurkeyFried
Cloudeagle/revatt
cabbie98/cabbie98
Reynolds/RadSuit
lpburk2/lpburk2
Brainiac 8/Brainiac_8
Dritz/LostCrescendo
InvisibleInk/InvisibleInk
Khildith/Khildith
The Sneak!/TheSneak
Shadowfire/Windrunner
AbsoluteZero/AbsoluteZero
raziel_pm/RazielPrime
UncleSporky/UncleSporky
Mystic Terrapin/Ghostosaurus
MOVE IT WITH BUNMASTER!!!/spinach
Aiserou/Aiserou
Athenor/Athenor
vamen/vamenn
The_Spaniard/Span_Wolf
Warlock82/Warlock
Variable/Variable
ManetherenWolf/Manetherenwolf
Optimusbry/Optimusbry
Dracil/dracilcegon
grim123/grim123
Man of the Waves/BuckarooHoliday
BebopSamurai/BebopSamurai
maximumzero/maximumzero
Xaviar/Xaviar
OneAngryPossum/oneangrypossum
Geod/Quamel
skeldare/skeldare
Kuribo's Shoe/ShoeVonDoom
Mosez/Stormblessed
imperialparadox / imperialparadox
TheUnsane1/TheUnsane1
Sagroth/Sagroth
Agahnim / AgahnimD
Beltaine/Beltaine
LockedOnTarget/TheKruseMissile
corin7/corin7
pirateluigi/PirateLuigi
SwashbucklerXX/SwashbucklerXX
Karrmer / Karrmer
Draysoth/Draysoth1
Magic Pink/MagicPink
Mblackwell/Mblackwell
azith28/Shodan
mantis23/mantis23
RidleySaria/RidleySaria
Aoi/edison_carter
Beefjerky/Beefjerky
Beefjerky's non-PA girlfriend/Emily-Rose
Infidel/Orokos
Vicious_GSRVicious/Viciousdex
evilive72/strummer7
wallaka/wallaka
V Faction/V-Faction
TimFiji/Archpriest
Draguscloud/Dragus
TehSpectre/TehSpectre
Panax/Panax_1
BigJoeM/BigJoeM
No Great Name/SirToons
Joe Dizzy/JoeDizzy
Damagemanual/damagemanual
plufim/plufim
John Zoidberg/PAJZ83
WotanAnubis/Wotan-Anubis
Morblitz/Morblitz
H*R/WarrenMSP
draklan/Darker-Q
Chen/PAChen
Rorus Raz/RorusRaz
louie/louieuk
dhs/dhs2004
angrysquirrel/angrysquirrel
Musiqua/Musiqua
Tpsou/TPSout
Green/AngryFrog
stlobus/Lobus42
Kafka87/Kafka87

Some important notes/tips from PA posters to help smooth out your initial Wii U experience.

1) Improving Wifi performance
-- It looks like the WII U has some issues with DHCP and automatic configuration of wifi. If you know how, manually enter your IP information into the Wii U, setting the IP Address, Subnet, and gateway to match your DHCP settings but in an area that the modem isn't giving out (up around 240-250 is usually safe). Then manually set DNS - if you don't know it, use 8.8.8.8 (google's DNS). This allowed things to work much better for me.

2) Opting in to friend requests must be done before you can receive friend requests. Do this by hitting the Home button, tapping on Friend List orange button on the left, tap on Settings, enable friend requests.

3) Why the Friends Lists are like they are:

--I wouldn't be surprised if the Miiverse servers really are integral to the Wii U's experience, and timeouts were what was causing the lag.

--Also, I think I've figured out how friend invites work, and why there are 2 different ways to enter them.

--Miiverse: Social integration. You have to opt in to allow friend requests on Miiverse (which at least 4 people in the OP haven't done, *cough cough*) . If you allow friend requests in that, then you'll get notifications when people add you through it, which can be due to profile posts or from playing with other people or all that jazz.

--If, however, you don't want the world to be able to add you, you can just have friends add you via mutual NNID exchange. This is where someone puts in your NNID into their console, and you are not informed about it... But if you put their NNID in as well, then voila! You have each other as friends. (This is how I added the 4 people in the OP who didn't have their friend requests turned on).

--So basically, Nintendo's created two avenues to add friends that are NOT mutually exclusive and can be used as a gatekeeper. If you want the world to be your friend, awesome! If you don't want the world up in your grill but you still want the ability to add friends, awesome! If you want the whole world to leave you alone, go for it.

4) The home button takes a screen shot. Once the home menu is up, you can jump to the miiverse and post it in a comment there. If you don't post it, it's gone as soon as you go back to the game, to be replaced with a new one next time you hit Home.

5) Game updates can be downloaded in the background. If you click the "Start Game" button it will begin background downloading. Then you can do whatever you want while the game update downloads. I don't know if it specifically downloads while you are in the game you're downloading for, but it definitely does if you quit out of it. There is also a "Download Manager" app on the Home button where you can see what it's doing with the downloads.

The Wii U is out! It comes in two delicious flavors: Cherry Pie Deluxe and Humble Pie Basic. If you are in the UK, there is also a ZombiU Edition, which is basically the deluxe version only you get ZombiU instead of Nintendoland, and there is also a Pro Controller included. It's a bit pricier than the Deluxe, but probably THE definitive bundle to snag.

Look at these cool images for the contents of each:



The Wii U is the sixth major Nintendo home console, and the first to feature full HD graphics. Building off of the success of the wildly popular Wii, the Wii U is hoping to pull back in the video game enthusiasts that were lost when Nintendo courted the casual audience. Featuring third-party support from major publishers such as Ubisoft and EA alongside the standard first-party library, Nintendo is hoping to make the Wii U the system for everyone.



At the heart of the Wii U is the new tablet-esque controller that allows the player to free themselves from the cruel tyranny of the TV. The screen is touch sensitive and can be used via stylus or finger. The controller features dual stick controller (and the sticks can click for extra functionality), four trigger/bumper buttons, four face buttons, and both accelerometer and gyroscope for motion control. The Wii U actually streams content to the game pad, meaning that many games can be played entirely on the pad while your TV gets used for other crap. In fact, after you do the initial set up, you don't even need to have the Wii U connected to a TV to play it. Meanwhile, other titles will make use of the controller for a variety of gameplay purposes such as inventory management, aiming weapons, and so forth. These titles, obviously, will require a TV to play.

Another important thing to note: the tablet controller also features a camera and microphone. This will be utilized in things like Miiverse, and the Wii U comes with a video chat program installed. This video shows us some of the ways the GamePad can be utilized.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj_xW6vwK1I

The Wii U can support two of these controllers at the same time, albeit capping the frame rate at 30fps when you do so. The hardware also supports just about everything from the Wii, including the remotes, balance board, motion plus, and so forth. The Wii U also includes a sensor bar for special pointer stuff. There is also a new controller for games that don't require the extra screen. The Pro Controller is intended to be a more comfortable controller for more conventional control schemes.


The GamePad will NOT be available for sale in North America (and probably not Europe). The price in Japan is the equivalent of around $175, so expect a price point of $150 or so. However, until Nintendo decides to stock 'em, you're stuck with the GamePad included with your system. You will be able to call for a replacement, so don't' fret about breaking one. Note that no Wii U games at launch will make use of two GamePads.

The Pro Controller RSVPs for $49.99.


Hey, let's talk about Miiverse

Nintendo is basically diving head-first into online. The Wii U features standard entertainment such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, and so forth. The new thing here is Miiverse, which is a network that shows what people are playing, and allows you to brag, get assistance, offer comments, or post crude drawings of genitals get nailed by the frightfully alert moderation staff. The image above shows the Miis clustering around games they play, be they friends or some stranger from Utah, and comments/drawings will pop up every so often. Miiverse is entirely optional, and you can control whether you get posts from just friends, the whole internet, or nobody at all. It also can label posts as spoilers so your gaming experience is never sullied like when your friend tells you that Bowser kidnapped Peach and ruined the whole plot. There are also communities for each game that kinda act like bulletin boards, and many games will feature Miiverse posts in the game itself.

Friend Codes are dead. You make a Nintendo Network ID, and you're done. You got a friend's list, can send messages to friends, follow friend activity (kinda like Twitter), and so forth.

Here's an annoying video to demonstrate the feature.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXfqtq_Yk0Y

The Miiverse won't just be a Wii U thing. It'll eventually be ported over to the 3DS, and you'll be able to utilize certain parts of the Miiverse on your PC, smartphones, and tablets-that-aren't-controllers.




TVii is a rather ambition system that tries to be an all-in-one hub for couch potatoes. Using the Wii U controller like a remote, you can browse and control various programs at any time. This is completely cross-platform, and TVii will search all of the popular streaming services in addition to live TV. Supposedly, you can control your cable box, DVR, and more with the remote for unfettered touch-based television control.


If you don't have a subscription, you can purchase the episode/subscription from the controller.

How well this works in practice remains to be seen, but Nintendo claims that TiVo support is already in. There's also promise of worthwhile content on the secondary screen while you are watching (notably sports scores and data) and you can set up profiles for each member of the household so there's no scrolling past unwanted crap.

TVii is due to hit at some point this month. We're not quite sure when. The TV remote feature is already a thing at launch for your TV or cable box.


Hey, the Wii U has games. Clearly, this is the future.

What's cool about the Wii U is that it's the first Nintendo home console to allow for digital purchases of full retail titles. It's worth noting that the average size of a Wii U title is 10+ GB, so you will probably need to purchase an external USB Hard Disk Drive if that is the way you want to go. The Wii U supports USB 2.0 HDDs with a maximum size of 2TB, but Nintendo says that a firmware update in the future will allow the hardware to recognize larger drives. HOWEVER, the Wii U will NEVER recognize any storage past the initial 2TB, so...just get a 2TB drive. Honestly, you don't even NEED more space than that.

It's also worth noting that Deluxe Set owners get a deal on the eShop. Every purchase you make on the eShop will give you a number of points back based on a percentage of the purchase. The end result is that you average about 10% off all digital purchases, but since the money you save goes straight into your account it's...not as nice a deal as you'd expect. You still have to spend $59.99 on Darksiders II, you just will have $5.99 on your account for other eShop purchases.

Nintendo has put up its launch titles, but the terminology is a bit...loose. This list is just for the "launch window" and many could be out as late as March 2013. I'll try to keep this list updated so you know what games you get your little greedy bits on alongside that fancy new chunk of hardware.

These are all NA dates. Go...somewhere else, Europe.

OUT RIGHT THE FUCK NOW

Games in PINK are pretty much sure-deals. Games in PURPLE may require consideration, either because there are issues with the port, gameplay hiccups you may or may not tolerate, or there is simply a cheaper alternative on another platform. Everything else is probably trash or I don't know enough about it. An astertisk indicates that the game is fully playable on the game pad. Stuff in gray is shovelware or crap.

Do you just want a few games to buy RIGHT THE FUCK NOW? Okay: New Super Mario Bros. Wii U, Sonic & All-Stars Racing, ZombiU, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Nintendoland.

• Nintendo Land
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii U*
• Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
• Sonic & All-Stars: Racing Transformed*
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2*
• Assassin’s Creed III*
• Darksiders II*
• FIFA 13
• Just Dance 4
• ZombiU
• Madden NFL 13
• Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge*
• Mass Effect 3: Special Edition*
• Tank! Tank! Tank!
• Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition*
• Scribblenauts Unlimited
• Rabbids Land
• Skylanders Giants
• Trine 2*
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2*
• Funky Barn
• Toki Tori 2
• Nano Assault Neo*
• Mighty Switch Force: Hyper Drive Edition* (An HD remake of the 3DS version)
• Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
• Game Party Champions
• Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
  
• 007 Legends
• Little Inferno
• Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
• Avengers: Battle for Earth
• NBA 2K13
• Wipeout 3 (THIS IS NOT THE RACING SERIES)
• Sing Party
• Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts
• Rapala Pro Bass Fishing
• Transformers Prime
• Ben 10: Omniverse
• ESPN Sports Connection

"Launch Window"

• Aliens: Colonial Marines (Feb 12th)
• Rayman Legends (Feb 26th)
• LEGO City Undercover (Q1 2013)
• Wii Fit U
• The Wonderful 101
• Pikmin 3 (Q2 2013)
• Wheel of Fortune
• Jeopardy
• Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
• Zumba Fitness
• Game & Wario (Feb 2013)
• Jett Tailfin
• Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Do not get attached to this thread. At some point after the Wii U launches (probably after the first holiday season), the thread will be retired. I am just saying this now so there's no shock or fainting when the thread rides off into the sunset.

I'd like this note in every future Wii U thread.

Sterica

"I'd like to purchase that new Nintendo console."
"U?"
"Yes, me."
"No no, U."
"I don't understand. Do you have it or not?"
"Yes, we have U."
"What about me? Look, do you at least have any games?"
"Oh yeah, U has lots of games."
"No, that's why I'm here. Because we DON'T have any games."
"Don't be silly; Wii has games."
"Well, now we're getting somewhere. What games do you have?"
"Oh, c'mon, make up your mind on the games. Wii or U?"
"You're not making any sense! What does this have to do with me?"
"Oh you can make Miis on either."
"Make me what?"
"Look, I'm not making you do anything. What exactly do you want?"
"I WANT THE NEW NINTENDO CONSOLE."
"U?"
"I give up."

WotanAnubis

I notice that the list of games that are out right now doesn't include Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper.

Also, doesn't anyone have an opinion on Epic Mickey 2?

Sterica

It's shit.

MNC Dover

Can't make a new thread when the mods are on the case.

UnbreakableVow

The Rayman Legends demo is garbage

Really? Everyone is so about that Castle Rock level?

So you can literally just hold right through an entire level while a classic rock song plays and this qualifies as a good game?

UnbreakableVow

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

The Rayman Legends demo is garbage

Really? Everyone is so about that Castle Rock level?

So you can literally just hold right through an entire level while a classic rock song plays and this qualifies as a good game?

Also it doesn't even do that well, as there are a few spots where it has a very noticeable audio skip.

I'll chalk that up to it being a demo, though

The Murphy segments were a little neat but ultimately a gimmick, diverting my attention between the Game Pad and the TV screen was a little annoying. Using the Game Pad to turn wheels is an okay gimmick.

Sterica

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

The Rayman Legends demo is garbage

Really? Everyone is so about that Castle Rock level?

So you can literally just hold right through an entire level while a classic rock song plays and this qualifies as a good game?

Because people with common sense know that the later auto-scroll segments of Origins were quite hard but Ubisoft is smart enough not to include levels where the classic rock song is constantly interrupted by your repeated deaths. It illustrates the concept of the level and the potential it holds to a broad audience. In other words: the point of a good demo.

Congratulations on being corpselike, however. I hope you can reclaim your pulse one day.

Professor Snugglesworth

Not every level in a platformer has to be challenging or innovative.

Sometimes they just have to be fun.

UnbreakableVow

But it wasn't

Oh well, whatever

Hope we get some good exclusives soon because Rayman and Lego City Undercover really aren't doing it for me

Sterica

If you cannot enjoy the art and music of Castle Rock with the idea that this is a DEMO designed to reach a general audience, then you really don't deserve good exclusives.

UnbreakableVow

It is not just the demo that concerns me

I did not like Origins either

Sterica

Well, now you've really done it.

UnbreakableVow

Oh God

Oh no

Athenor

Oooh.. there's a new status out there? That's AWESOME!

Say what you will about Vow's wrong opinions.. At least he's played the system. I know too many people, both online and in real life, that are dismissing the system and calling for Nintendo's doom without even playing it.

Me? Well, now that I figured out that you down-swipe to get Sonic All Stars on the gamepad... Yeah, it's a little blurry and hard to see at times, but at least I can play it. I wasn't expecting the game to be this damned hard!

RidleySaria

UnbreakableVow just has a different way of interpreting reality. That's what makes him special. Never change, man.

Zephiran

What reality?

UnbreakableVow

You can imprison me

But Rayman games are still bad

skeldare

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

You can imprison me

But Rayman games are still bad

What's it like to have no soul?

Krathoon

The last level in the demo was awesome. Ubisoft has a knack for playing off music.

Also, you cannot hold right through it. You have the jump and attack throughout the level.

I also liked the Murphy parts. It seems like they cram it with lots of things to do.

Mr_Grinch

I am tempted to buy a Wii-U just for Rayman.

H*R

The only thing I don't like about Rayman Legends is that they took the mosquito levels out. Those were a great change of pace.

Big Dookie

Where can I find the pro controller in black? I've seen white ones all over the place, but can't seem to find a black one to match the deluxe system.

Also, I unwrapped it last night, got all the updates installed, then got it re-wrapped. I didn't want to stop playing around with it, but oh well. The update went faster than I expected based on the comments in the previous thread. I thought it'd take all night, but it was done in about 45 minutes. Not too bad. It'll be nice not to have to do it on Christmas morning though when I'm sure everyone else will be.

skeldare

It seems like everyone wanted to get black to match their consoles.

Athenor

My guess is that they are bringing more server capacity online. Downloads seem much faster since I got my Wii U back.

Zephiran

I'm thinking some of the absolute worst updating woes may have passed, but whether that's because of Nintendo bolstering the backbone for their connectivity services or if it's because of radically lowered demand I'm not sure. I'd wager it's probably a bit of both, but I sure hope they pour some more love into their server infrastructure. Lord knows they're gonna need it for later anyway, since games are only going to become bigger the increased bandwidth and capacity will come in handy sooner rather than later.

Linespider5

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

You can imprison me

But Rayman games are still bad

You can have an opinion like this.

But seeing as you're the only person enjoying this opinion, maybe enjoy this opinion on your own?

HallowedFaith

Sonic Racing All-Stars Super Transformed Racing Racer is pretty damn fun.

I like the exp thing and the maps are fun as hell.

skeldare

HallowedFaith wrote: »

Sonic Racing All-Stars Super Transformed Racing Racer is pretty damn fun.

I like the exp thing and the maps are fun as hell.

Yeah it was a big surprise and a steal at $40.

TPSou

I loved the Rahman demo. Two player its ace, the second player doesn't feel useless anymore!

Despite losing my five hours played of Mario, im back to at least the level I was on thanks to stumbling upon two secret exits to levels.

Tallaclassee

So I just downloaded trine 2: director's cut and did so before realizing I'm an idiot. Where are the active downloads? It's purchased, but didn't start downloading immediately.

skeldare

Press the home buttton and it's the last icon on the right.

Professor Snugglesworth

H*R wrote: »

The only thing I don't like about Rayman Legends is that they took the mosquito levels out. Those were a great change of pace.

They got repetitive fairly quickly, and were often too easy that they also felt boring.

I also hope they have a better variety of unlockable characters instead of 90% Teensies.

Tallaclassee

skeldare wrote: »

Press the home buttton and it's the last icon on the right.

Thanks

maximumzero

Big Dookie wrote: »

Where can I find the pro controller in black? I've seen white ones all over the place, but can't seem to find a black one to match the deluxe system.

Also, I unwrapped it last night, got all the updates installed, then got it re-wrapped. I didn't want to stop playing around with it, but oh well. The update went faster than I expected based on the comments in the previous thread. I thought it'd take all night, but it was done in about 45 minutes. Not too bad. It'll be nice not to have to do it on Christmas morning though when I'm sure everyone else will be.

A combination of less people downloading it at this point plus possibly upgraded/updated hardware on Nintendo's end, I'm guessing.

urahonky

HallowedFaith wrote: »

Sonic Racing All-Stars Super Transformed Racing Racer is pretty damn fun.

I like the exp thing and the maps are fun as hell.

Wait... Exp thing?

skeldare

urahonky wrote: »

HallowedFaith wrote: »

Sonic Racing All-Stars Super Transformed Racing Racer is pretty damn fun.

I like the exp thing and the maps are fun as hell.

Wait... Exp thing?

You gain experience after each race. Each time you level up, you gain access to a different Mod.

urahonky

Damn. I shouldn't have heard that.

HallowedFaith

Yeah it's pretty rad.

And the CPU are ASSHOLES on Hard.

maximumzero

HallowedFaith wrote: »

Yeah it's pretty rad.

And the CPU are ASSHOLES on Hard.

You haven't unlocked Expert I assume?

skeldare

LEGO City Undercover: Grand Theft LEGO X Cheesy Cop Movie

Contrary to what you may assume, LEGO City Undercover (the new Wii U adventure heading our way in early 2013), is unlike any LEGO game you’ve ever played. As the first non-licensed title centered on everyone’s favorite building blocks, you won’t find any batarangs, lightsabers or hobbits in this city. This might sound like a questionable proposition for some, especially those who consider messing around as LEGO versions of their favorite properties to be the biggest draw of the LEGO game franchise. Remove that, and is there anything left worth sticking around for?

The answer, somewhat surprisingly, is yes - and that’s thanks in large part to the huge amount of depth and personality the developers put into this title. Without the ability to lean on established franchises, there was a lot more room for creativity in this release. Instead of focusing on jamming in tons of license-specific jokes or trying to tell some weird, truncated version of a movie’s story, LEGO City Undercover instead establishes its own identity, one that is both refreshing and entertaining.

To start - this game is huge. Almost too huge for its own good, in some respects. So far I’ve only had the opportunity to play part of Act 1, and after an hour I had still barely skimmed the surface of what there is to do in this title. You play as hero Chase McCain, who’s running all over creation trying to hunt down the evil Rex Fury. You’ll travel to various locations, many of which are inspired by real-life places (such as the prison island of Albatross… Alcatraz, anyone?).

As Chase, you’ll also drive around in various vehicles trying to destroy innocent LEGO civilians, climb high building, grapple through the air and get thrown from launch pads across the sky. You’ll don various disguises, each of which has a distinct ability to help you progress and access new areas. And all that is just in the first Act. Assuming the rest of the game keeps things as creative as the first chapter, and doesn’t get too repetitive or lost in its own depth, this could easily prove to be the most fully realized LEGO game yet.

The size of the city and the amount of activity contained within already guarantee hours of gameplay, but then there’s the collection aspect. After all, a LEGO game wouldn’t be a LEGO game without collecting - and this game takes that idea to a whole new level of obsession. There are so many things to collect in LEGO City Undercover that the prospect of getting them all is somewhat overwhelming. In addition to your standard hunt for LEGO pieces, you’ll also be hunting down hidden lockers, each of which contains a new disguise for Chase to don. Additionally, there are tons of different costumes you can dress Chase in, as well as a multitude of vehicles to unlock.

Speaking of vehicles, these are certainly a highlight of the experience. Land, sea and air vehicles are all already confirmed, and while the game doesn’t let you actually hurt the LEGO citizens around you, it’s more fun than it should be going off road to scare the heck out of them, or slamming into some street signs or even other vehicles just for the joy of destruction. This is where it really gets to feeling like Grand Theft Auto with LEGOs, as you’re relatively free to explore where you want and cause as much LEGO-fueled trouble as you can. Even if there appears to be only one correct route to progress the story, it’s still a sadistic joy to freely go around messing things up before you get back to the task of bring Rex Fury to justice.

And then there’s the humor. At first it might make you want to cringe, it’s so over the top. But eventually you can’t help but smile at the over-the-top ridiculousness unfolding before your eyes, and before you know it you’ll be cracking up at Chase’s cheesy one-liners. In fact, the whole game feels like a LEGO homage to those cheesy, ‘80s cop movies, from the cranky chief character to the flirtatious receptionist. This is definitely a good thing, and brings a lot of personality to what otherwise, absence any recognizable license, might have been a really bland world to romp around.

But the references don’t stop at cops eating donuts - this game is truly a product of the times, a post-modern free-for-all littered with pop culture references from Titanic to Sherlock Holmes. And in truth, that’s part of LEGO City Undercover’s secret. It traded a specific franchise to build upon for the entirety of pop culture. It traded on-rails progression for a relatively open world. It traded license-specific cheesy humor for totally random cheesy humor. And it traded a crazy collection aspect for an absolutely insane collection aspect.

In other words, this is the LEGO game we’ve been waiting for. Here’s hoping Chase’s adventure doesn’t disappoint - but from what I’ve seen, I’ll definitely be there to see that he gets his gal back from Rex and saves the city come launch day.