Lego City: Undercover is not just a family-friendly Grand Theft Auto. It elevates the Lego series out of the shadow of movie licences and empowers the Wii U gamepad as a means of wish-fulfilment...

LEGO City Undercover carries the weight of the Wii U on its shoulders. It's an unfair position to be in. Other than the odd eShop game or random port here or there, Nintendo's newest console hasn't seen a worthy title since the day it released back in November.

A game on the scale of Grand Theft Auto; but appropriate for all ages; It's really the culmination of all of the previous LEGO franchise games; featuring bits and pieces from previous entries; while creating its own identity; LEGO City is huge ; with tons of stuff to do and items to find; Its sense...

Controls - driving; especially - are still as unrefined as ever; LEGO games are way too easy; and this is no exception; It can be a little tricky juggling so many costumes at once; AI is dumb as plastic bricks; Loading can take up to a minute - or more

LEGO City Undercover, which is exclusive to Nintendo's Wii U, was one of the driving forces behind our purchase of the console and it has been a long and much anticipated wait since first seeing its demo at a preview event late last year.

After 10 years of adapting movie and comic book properties, Lego is finally letting its own original products tell a story. Just as you would use your imagination to conjure plot lines with your Lego playsets, Lego City: Undercover takes a ton of familiar Lego City toys and presents a comedic tale...

Pop culture references; Inventive use of occupations; Rewarding puzzle solving

Long load times; Limited backstory; No co-op

As long as you're cool with waiting for it to load, LEGO City is a cool place to be.

Extremely well polished; Great presentation; Lengthy; fun campaign; Lots of collectables

Shallow gameplay and exploration; Stupidly long; recurring load times

Breathes new life into the Lego series, and a much-needed quality title for the Wii U library.

Packed full of jokes from start to finish; A pleasing mix of new and familiar; Plenty of collectibles and side-missions

Signposting is too vague at times; Loading times can be excessive; GamePad scanning isn't fun

An ex-police officer has returned to his hometown, his former flame is in witness protection and an old foe has escaped prison. It has all the makings of a gritty cop drama, but is built out of colourful plastic pieces.

A humorous treat for all ages; Good mixture of missions and free-roaming; Using the GamePad feels natural

Long load times; Minor graphical issues

It may not have a big-name sci-fi or fantasy licence to hang its hat on, then, but it turns out Traveller's Tales has itself been working undercover for a while on that front, lurking behind the smokescreens of Gotham City and the galaxy far away as it evolved into an accomplished developer capable...

Chase McCain, the game's central protagonist, is a man of many talents. The most immediately obvious of them is his ability to deliver cheesy one-liners. He starts as he means to go on; it's an unrelenting stream of puns, gags and sarcastic quips.

LEGO City Undercover faces a burden unlike any previous LEGO game developed by Traveller's Tales. Not only is this production the first LEGO game by Traveller's Tales to not feature a major movie or comic book license, it's the first major Wii U game of 2013 – and the biggest release to come since...

Huge open world; Great characters; sense of humor; Tons of collectibles

Frequent and lengthy load times; Fairly generic gameplay