Impatiently waiting for LEGO City Stories

Does a LEGO video game not based on an existing licence sound like your thing? Because that’s exactly what Traveller’s Tales, the developer who has relaunched the LEGO gaming series so successfully, have up their sleeve.  Not only that, but it’s based on LEGO’s most successful home-grown theme. Read on for a few bits of info about where gamers will be collecting studs next…

LEGO Star Wars kicked off Traveller’s Tales run of high-quality, commercially successful LEGO video games. The title currently in development could be seen as a risk for the two companies; it’s the first that won’t be based on a licensed property, but based on one of LEGO’s own themes. Although when it’s based on one of the two best-selling themes (the other being Star Wars) it seems like a safe bet.

For a while the title was rumoured to simply be LEGO City: The Video Game, although it was officially announced as LEGO City Stories earlier this year. This is perhaps too similar to titles in the Grand Theft Auto video game series - especially as LEGO’s new game could be described as like Grand Theft Auto, except you don’t deal drugs or beat up hookers. The exploration of an entire city environment is the similarity, although in LEGO City Stories the lead character will enter the game as a Police Officer rather than a ne‘er-do-well. Like in other LEGO video games, you can build up a collection of characters which we can assume will all have their own unique abilities.

Whispers that might disappoint much of the LEGO and gaming communities are that the new video game will be available exclusively on Nintendo consoles in order to support the launch of their new platform, Wii U. Owners of the Playstation and X-BOX will have to hope that these rumours prove unfounded, as it would be a shame to miss out on the first non-licensed LEGO video game. Perhaps there’s a limited period of exclusivity, and later the game will be available on other platforms.

It has also been suggested that this could be the silliest LEGO video game yet, with lots of unusual abilities for the characters and even more jokes than previous releases (and these are gag laden video games as it is). A farmer who flies around using his chicken?!
It sounds like exciting times for Traveller’s Tales line of LEGO games, and would be wonderful if it could lead to more games based on LEGO’s own themes… Castle, Pirates, Space all give lots of scope in the TT Games format.

So there’s a lot to look forward to in LEGO City Stories, but if you want to play it then maybe it’s time to start saving up for Nintendo’s Wii U. Thanks to a delayed estimated release date of August 2012, there’s some extra time to be counting those pennies. We only have a brief sketch of the game here, and there will be plenty more for us to find out in the coming months. But if a friendlier, more constructive Grand Theft Auto sounds like your thing, then it’s time for anticipation to start building...