LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins

 3DS
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 82 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 82
  3. Negative: 18 out of 82
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  1. Ukrainian_Gamer
    Apr 23, 2013
    7
    This game is very well done. It ambitiously attempts to recreate the large open-world experience which was seen in the Wii U game and does so quite well. I do have a few complaints about the game however. The loading screens; they are few and far apart but when you do get them, they take entirely too long. The combat; all the combat is in this game is "press X to win" which I am not a fanThis game is very well done. It ambitiously attempts to recreate the large open-world experience which was seen in the Wii U game and does so quite well. I do have a few complaints about the game however. The loading screens; they are few and far apart but when you do get them, they take entirely too long. The combat; all the combat is in this game is "press X to win" which I am not a fan of although I realize one of this game's primary demographics is children, so I can't get too upset about that. The vehicle controls; the vehicles in this game are rather wild, difficult to handle, and turn too abruptly which takes a while to adapt to. And finally, the disappointing lack of voice acting; The voice acting in the cut scenes of the game is very well done, but throughout the other 98% of the game when the characters are communicating there is only on-screen text and no voice which leaves the character interaction feeling somewhat empty. Other than those minor problems, Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins is a solid, extremely entertaining game if you are looking for some light-hearted humorous game time.… Expand
  2. GoombaJMR
    Jul 4, 2015
    6
    A prequel game to the Wii U game - it does an okay job telling the story of how things came to be, but the technical side of this game was rather poorly handled. I'd have to say that while the game can be fun at times, the flow and fluidity of the fun is interrupted very often with long loading screens, low quality (quality itself) music, and lag present in most all areas. I've gottenA prequel game to the Wii U game - it does an okay job telling the story of how things came to be, but the technical side of this game was rather poorly handled. I'd have to say that while the game can be fun at times, the flow and fluidity of the fun is interrupted very often with long loading screens, low quality (quality itself) music, and lag present in most all areas. I've gotten through 12-15 missions so far (7 hours ish) and it's definitely going to require some willpower to finish. However, it's not exactly a bad game either, so if you're a lego fan looking for a good lego game - this one won't disappoint you too badly.

    Gameplay: 7/10
    Story: 7/10
    Music: 6.5/10
    Presentation: 5/10
    Length: 8.5/10
    Overall: 6.5/10    … Expand
  3. DrPebba
    May 16, 2021
    6
    its surpsising that his is a sort of open world in a 3ds, the world is really big for what it is, and i really like to explore the city, the problem is that the world is flat and you cant to anything, the graphucs look really bad even for a 3ds game, the driving is kinda odd, i dont like that you cant repeat missions, cause the main story its probably the best part of the game, and youits surpsising that his is a sort of open world in a 3ds, the world is really big for what it is, and i really like to explore the city, the problem is that the world is flat and you cant to anything, the graphucs look really bad even for a 3ds game, the driving is kinda odd, i dont like that you cant repeat missions, cause the main story its probably the best part of the game, and you cant make the missions again, the vehicules and character to unlock are way to expensive, i could barely buy anything with the little ammount of coins the games gives you, and you cant replay missions so you cant get coins easy. the main story can be fun, but the game has a lot of flaws, but well its a port of a great game as the original lego city undercover so dont expect much.… Expand
  4. pikachu713
    Sep 16, 2022
    7
    it is a good lego game for 3ds, but it has really bad graphics, small fps and you can't see far. it has strange car gameplay. but company is tipical lego game
  5. mattsgonnamine
    Oct 23, 2022
    6
    Ah lego city undercover, whether you played the original on wii u or the remasters you cannot deny that that games was a masterpiece. The charm that that game exuded was immeasurable and they used the console to it's fullest. On the 3ds though, it barely works. I played through the game and found myself unable to fo back for months all because of long loading times, that on the originalAh lego city undercover, whether you played the original on wii u or the remasters you cannot deny that that games was a masterpiece. The charm that that game exuded was immeasurable and they used the console to it's fullest. On the 3ds though, it barely works. I played through the game and found myself unable to fo back for months all because of long loading times, that on the original 3ds, are over a minute long and there are major pop in, slowdown and fog effects that greatly affect immersion.

    Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins is an open world game (I know, on the 3ds, impressive) where you take on the role of rookie police officer Chase McCain where you detain all the trouble making crooks terrorizing Lego City including the big boss Rex Fury, all the while figuring out how to best get Natalia Kowalski, Chase's love interest. However the most egregious thing that the chase begins doesn't do well is the traditional lego charm, there are less than 10 fully voice-acted cutscenes and and that takes away from the jokes that aren't voice acted, along with no new major reoccurring characters leads to a recipe for a worse game than the original.

    I've ripped on this game long enough, time to sing it's praises, the graphics in this game can be INCREDIBLE at times, specifically the building scenes, those look almost HD. The 3d effect is used pretty well in most cases (apart from when you have something too close to the foreground) and the animated cutscenes are no joke either. I mentioned the long loading times earlier but the main story is structured in a way that they never get in the way during story missions. Each area has its own criminal gang wreaking havoc on an area of lego city and its up to you to stop them. The game also does a great job at sprucing up the side missions. You know those binoculars you would drive into or smash in the home console version, that's now a mission to take a postcard. While I miss the car chase quests the loading times would make me hate them. Some streets and iconic buildings have more to them now like the car garage and the red brick road from the console one, those now have missions and cars driving through them.

    The worst problem is the fact that once you beat the game, there is no way to replay levels, you have to restart the game which is just kinda bad design. Also there are builds that don't give you anything other than a completion percentage that doesn't give you anything at 100% either. This game is an odd one with the freedom it gives you along with the restraints, the costume ones and the car graphics are understandable but the absurd loading times and fog really throw me off. Couple that with a lackluster final boss that feels like all the others and an ending that i did not feel like was over until the credits rolled and all you have me with is disappointed. All in all it is an interesting and impressive for the system. If you love Lego games than you should definitely give it a try, if not than stay FAR AWAY.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Best 3DS Game of 2013
21
#21 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2013
26
#26 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 44 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 36 out of 44
  3. Negative: 2 out of 44
  1. Level7.nu
    Sep 10, 2013
    50
    The Chase Begins makes an effort of being like the Lego City game for the Wii U. Sadly it is quite obvious that the 3DS can’t realise the LEGO universe as well. The city is in itself nice but empty and desolate. Discovering secrets is still as fun as always but the lack of personality and humour halts the Lego games otherwise great sense of immersion.
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  2. Gaming Nexus
    Jun 10, 2013
    70
    There's plenty to do in LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins, but a lot of it feels like padding for a somewhat disappointing story that will really only appeal to kids.
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  3. Critical Hit
    May 30, 2013
    65
    While technically impressive that so much can be done on the 3DS, Chase Begins covers familiar territory far too soon, the missing touches from the Wii U glaringly obvious.
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