‘Lego City Undercover’ returns with a remastered multiplatform release in 2017

By Danny Cowan November 22, 2016

lego city undercover returns with a remastered release in 2017 legocityu — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Warner Bros’ acclaimed Wii U title Lego City Undercover is getting a second chance in the spotlight with a remastered release for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2017.

Developer TT Games is also producing a Windows PC version in preparation for a Steam release next spring.

Lego City Undercover is an open-world game that replaces the genre’s traditional shooting mechanics with kid-friendly melee combat and driving sequences. The game features a lengthy single-player campaign that expands on the gameplay seen in previous series releases like Lego Batman and Lego Star Wars while presenting a fresh take on open-world exploration.

Despite winning over critics, Lego City Undercover underperformed at retail and big-budget early Wii U releases like ZombiU and Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition ultimately shared the same fate due to the console’s poor initial sales. After struggling for years to find its niche, Nintendo recently revealed that it is ending production of the Wii U as it shifts focus toward its next console, the Nintendo Switch.

Though Lego City Undercover was a commercial failure, the former Wii U exclusive attained cult status in recent years. As aftermarket copies began to fetch high prices at online auctions, Lego City Undercover was reissued as a budget-priced Nintendo Selects title, spurring a new wave of popularity more than three years after its initial release.

Publisher Warner Bros. intends to capitalize on this newfound popularity with a remastered version of Lego City Undercover hitting retail next year. The remastered port of Lego City Undercover is currently one of the few games that was officially announced for the Nintendo Switch, joining other expected launch-window titles like Just Dance 2017 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Lego City Undercover will premiere for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in spring 2017.

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R improves an already great fighting game

Jotaro Kujo stands before a battle in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R.

While Street Fighter 6 was the talk of the show floor at Summer Game Fest Play Days, another fighting game also managed to impress me at the event. That title was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R, a fighting game based on the popular and heavily-memed anime and manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The original JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle was first released in Japan in 2013, scoring a rare perfect score from the popular Japanese outlet Famitsu. Anime fighting games vary wildly in quality, but this was considered one of the better ones thanks to its thoughtful and rewarding gameplay.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R continues that game's legacy as an enhanced remaster that does more than visually update the game and turn servers back. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R adds in new characters, voice acting, and gameplay tweaks that almost make it feel like a different game. In the years since the 2013 game this is based on came out, both JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and the fighting game genre got a lot more popular. Thankfully, my demo showed that this fighting game has only gotten better with age.
To be continued
Although JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R didn't get a remake-level visual overhaul, fans should still appreciate many of the graphical tweaks and just how pretty this game is. Even though I was playing a PS4, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R was one of the best-looking games at Summer Game Fest Play Days. The anime already has an extremely distinct art style and features a cast of overly-muscular characters, so it transitions to a fighting game almost perfectly. Pulling off special moves that you've seen in the manga and anime or calling out a stand yourself is super satisfying, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R will show them in all of their extremely detailed glory.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R - Early Access Demo
Even the voiceovers and character models got updates to match the voice acting and styles fans will remember from the anime. We don't get many video games based on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, so it's nice to see this one put in extra care to respect the source material and improve upon the original release. That said, graphics will only get you so far in a fighting game. It's the gameplay mechanics that really ensure a fighting game lives or dies.
Thankfully, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R is a lot of fun to play.
The 2013 original was a 3D fighting game that plays more like Virtua Fighter than Jump Force. The standard attacks, combo, block, and dodge moves to be expected from fighting games are here, but characters can also summon their stands and basically get a second fighter to attack and zone with. Fights also have some other cute oddities, like having an assist character to strengthen some of your attacks or being able to taunt the other player when they are knocked down to take away some of their special meter gauges. That taunt feature specifically is not only hilarious but feels very JoJo and adds palpable benefits to what's usually just a visual gag in fighting games.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R does add a couple of new gameplay additions that players will definitely notice, including hit stops and jump dashes that give that game more competitive depth, as well as flash cancels that let players quickly cancel their current combo if they don't want to change their approach or the moves they are using

I didn't have enough time to kit out and learn combos and how to string them together, but I can clearly recognize just how these features will positively deepen JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R's meta. With auto combos for new players and revitalized online play too, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R hopefully won't have a problem attracting new JoJo's Bizzare Adventure fans to this fighting game. Whether you enjoyed the original release or want to see what a good JoJo's Bizarre Adventure game looks like, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R should be on your radar. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on September 2. If you want to try it before then, a demo is available on PS4 and PS5 until June 21.

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Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga isn’t just for kids

Promotional art of Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga.

Before Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, I had fallen out of love with TT Games and WB Games' Lego titles. The Lego Star Wars, Batman, and Indiana Jones series helped make me passionate about video games as a kid as I spent endless fun (and sometimes frustrating) hours playing them with my brother.
Over time though, I aged out of the series and grew more disappointed with the basic open-world formula the series settled on after great games like Lego City Undercover. I was no longer smitten with one of the series that helped cement my love of video games. That’s why The Skywalker Saga’s bold new direction excites me.
It not only revisits the films behind some of my favorite Lego games, but builds on top of them with more expansive hub worlds, mission variety, and deeper gameplay than previous Lego action games. While The Skywalker Saga’s multiple delays and development issues concerned me, my hands-on with an early build of the game managed to engross me just like the original Lego Star Wars did 17 years ago.
A New Hope for the series
My demo took me through the first 90 minutes of A New Hope, one of the nine Star Wars films represented within The Skywalker Saga. Like every Lego game before it, this segment of the game followed the events of the film it was based on. It features full voice acting (from soundalikes, not the film cast), though I appreciated the inclusion of a “mumble mode” that makes the characters grunt and pantomime as they did in early Lego games.
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga - Gameplay Overview
TT Games also experiments with the iconic opening of A New Hope. Many jokes are present to keep kids entertained, but it also intertwines with the end of Rogue One. The first character I played as was actually Princess Leia, who has the Death Star plans and is trying to escape Darth Vader as he boards the Tantive IV. Somehow, this Lego game made this oft-adapted and parodied plot beat feel fresh.
This mission also served as a tutorial and a demonstration of how The Skywalker Saga differs from previous Lego games. Yes, there are still combat, exploration, and puzzles, but those are deeper than before. A cover-based system has been implemented to make shootouts more involving. Meanwhile, players can now string together melee combos with different moves and counter enemies' attacks, making melee battles more enjoyable than before. Character classes and abilities also ensure fights in this game are more than simple button-mashing affairs.
Missions often give players multiple options to complete objectives, whether that’s because of a specific Lego build players can create or the abilities of their playable character. It’s no Devil May Cry, but these deeper gameplay systems made sure my eyes didn’t gloss over out of boredom within the first hour, something I can’t say for the last couple of Lego games I played.
The Skywalker Saga made a strong first impression on me and excited me to see how the rest of A New Hope would unfold. I was able to play as Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, recruit Han and Chewbacca, and explore the Death Star before my demo ended. While this is the second time TT Games is adapting this material, it feels completely new because of the revamped approach to storytelling, level design, and gameplay design.
All grown up
During my demo, I only scratched the surface of what the game had to offer. The Skywalker Saga seems to be the most densely packed Lego game yet, as all nine mainline Star Wars films have been recreated here. Not only are there linear levels based on the main plot points and set pieces of each film, but there are large hubs on planets and areas in space that players can explore and complete side missions within.
As players complete the stories of more films and gain access to more characters, ships, and planets, the amount of options players will have at their disposal will only continue to grow. The Skywalker Saga also has a progression system to back that amount of content up ,as missions reward players with Kyber Bricks that players use to unlock and enhance abilities on skill trees.

Yes, this game has skill trees to complement the aforementioned classes -- which include Jedi, Smugglers, and Protocol Droids -- and their abilities, which is useful during and outside of combat. Systems like this bring TT Games’ Lego series more up to par with its action game peers and make it feel like the franchise has finally grown up. As The Skywalker Saga will be the first Lego game in years to appeal to those with nostalgia for the series' earliest game, it's a relief to see that it won't disappoint.
Of course, The Skywalker Saga still will be approachable enough for kids thanks to its visuals, humor, and approachable gameplay basics, but it finally doesn’t seem like that’s coming at the sacrifice of engaging gameplay for older players. While I thought I had aged out of ever liking a Lego game again, this demo of The Skywalker Saga revealed that I could still love these games -- they just had to catch up to me first.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch on April 5, 2022.

Gaming

OlliOlli World: 4 tips and tricks for beginners

The player character gets nervous while skating down a hill in OlliOlli World's cinematic trailer.

OlliOlli World is easy to pick up and play. At its core, players just press one button to push themselves forward and move the left stick to perform tricks. Still, it has a high skill ceiling thanks to its deep move pool and scoring system. As OlliOlli World tracks scores and features multiplayer leagues where players can compare them, some important tips will give players the edge over the competition.
This game gives back as much as players put into it. So whether it comes to move variation, challenges, or the routes taken in levels, there's a lot to sink into even after players beat OlliOlli World's six-hour campaign. Keep these four tips in mind, and you'll be at the top of those leaderboards and have the best time experiencing one of February 2022's best games.
OlliOlli World – Official Cinematic Trailer ESRB
You can pull off every trick from the start
OlliOlli World drip-feeds mechanics and new tricks to players through tutorials. It'll even teach players new things in the final world. Despite that, all of the player's moves are usable from the start of the game. While some early levels might not have rail grinding or wall riding, players can still pull off grabs, manuals, and other more complicated tricks from the get-go. Those who played the first two OlliOlli games can jump right in, and might even appreciate that a level run doesn't end if they don't land correctly.
Of course, new players probably won't pull off advanced tweaks and manuals from the start, but OlliOlli World naturally gives players ample time and space to learn these moves. Those that want to maximize their score totals on early game levels should take a look at the Tricktionary, OlliOlli World's move list glossary, in the game's main menu and discover all the cool moves that players can pull off as soon as they start.

Don't use the same trick over and over again
Players going for the top spots on leaderboards or playing score-based side missions need to keep this in mind. If a player repeats a trick during a combo, they'll get fewer points than they did the first time. Players will want to build combos by constantly linking different moves together between grinds, wall rides, and manuals to get a big high score. Varying up movements also makes the game feel more refreshing and fun as a deeper appreciation is gained for OlliOlli World's easy to pick up but hard to master gameplay.