THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013

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Wii U software drought ends with charming Lego City Undercover

Lego City Undercover is the latest in developer TT Games series of Lego video games, and one of the few to not feature a licensed property. Honey idolizes Chase. Chief Dunby loves taking all the credit of others hard work. Since releasing last year Gangster Vinnie Pappalardo Nintendos new Wii U conis an impatient fellow. sole has struggled to gain The script is well writmomentum due to a lack ten and features numerof games after launch, and ous movie tie-ins like owners have been The Matrix, painfully waiting Titanic and my GAME for fresh content. personal favorite, That wait finally The Shawshank REVIEW ended with the fun Redemption. The and charming Lego City music also plays off these Undercover, which released movies perfectly . The youngMarch 18. er audience may not get all An open-world game like the references, but adults the Grand Theft Auto will surely chuckle a lot. series, you could call this Lego City may not be one Grand Theft Lego, huge, but is filled to the brim only youre playing as good with details and begging to guy Chase McCain, a superbe explored. Its populated star detective for the Lego with many Lego people drivCity Police Department. Evil ing vehicles and walking mastermind Rex Fury is on around, who hilariously the loose again, and its up to dive away in fear if youre Chase to end a crime wave close to running them over. taking over the city by going Driving controls take time undercover in the criminal to get used to and vehicles world. handle differently, but after The story never gets dull, a while I had no problem thanks in part to a wonderweaving my way in and out ful cast of characters and of traffic during police chastop-notch voice work. The es and timed missions. Dont clumsy but lovable Frank worry about crashing into
For Heritage Media

By Jeff Hoard

other vehicles - the citizens dont mind, and its funny to see Lego bricks fly off their vehicles. Controlling Chase during platform sections is good, although some parts on top of buildings get a little dicey . Combat is nonviolent and taking down baddies is simple. Most missions will take you inside buildings of the city including a bank, museum and prison. These separated levels are colorful and filled with many secrets. Part of the fun of Lego games developed by TT Games is smashing everything in sight. Youll be doing that a lot here. Returning to these levels is encouraged since some things can only be accessed when you have the proper abilities unlocked later in the story . Undercover takes about an hour or so to really pick up before you start getting access to unique abilities and GamePad capabilities. Disguises include a robber where Chase breaks into doors and safes, and a miner

to smash boulders and blow up objects with dynamite. As the story progresses more abilities become available, and you simply switch them Lego City Undercover breaks Nintendos dry spell of games for its recently launched WiiU console. using the ZL/ZR buttons. Thats a good thing since later missions feature screen has a nice musical puzzles that require constant 100 vehicles from cars to beat, but youll shortly boats can be purchased as disguise changes. well as a variety of differbecome tired of it. The GamePad is utilized ent looking disguises. The Wii U owners have been well, too. The controller GamePad displays how waiting a while for new can be faced up toward the games. Rayman Legends television to scan the city for much is hidden in each portion of the city, so its easy was expected last month hidden items, like special to get distracted from the but got delayed to later this Super Bricks used to build main mission. The story year. Thankfully, Lego City call-in points for vehicles or takes between 12-15 hours Undercover puts an end to stunt ramps, among other to complete, but with so the software drought. Super Builds as they are much to do from robbing called. During certain misvehicles to time trials - and 3 1/2 stars out of 4 sions the GamePad is used a whopping 450 Gold Bricks to eavesdrop on suspects to collect - you could easily A copy of Lego City from a distance. Chase will Undercover was supplied receive incoming video calls double, even triple that time by Nintendo for this review. to complete everything. from other characters, who However, I have to knock show up on the screen. The the game for its loading Jeff Hoard writes about map of the city is easy to times. Even just starting it video games for The read on it, and pictures can up from the menu, it takes Oakland Press. He can be be taken and saved. reached at jeff. around a half-minute to get It wouldnt be a Lego hoard@oakpress.com. going. Starting up missions game without collecting, Follow him on Twitter takes about just as long, and and Undercover has tons occasionally cutscenes will @JeffHoard921. His blog is of collectibles. Using the take longer to begin than www.yay4videogames. millions of studs youll no they should. The loading blogspot.com. doubt pick up, more than

Lost Voices concert benets kids at risk

On Saturday, April 13, in the Towsley Auditorium at Washtenaw Community College, some of Michigans most respected musical performers will be on stage to raise the money they need to fund their work helping incarcerated and at-risk youth in Michigan. Folk music legend Josh White Jr., Irish-inspired singer/songwriter Kitty Donohoe, blues master Reverend Robert Jones, and other stars yet to be announced will join award-winning humorist and singer/songwriter Mike Ball on stage in the Spring Concert for Lost Voices. Lost Voices is a Michigan nonprofit that conducts music writing and performing workshops with incarcerated and at-risk youth. Growing up is about choices, and sometimes young people make bad ones, said Ball, who founded Lost Voices. We work with kids who are in trouble, most of them locked up, because of bad choices they have made. We help them learn how to express their feelings in ways other than the destructive patterns that have been their way of life. Lost Voices was born in 2006 when Ball, an author, syndicated humor columnist, and folk musician, started a creative writing class for the young men at the W. J. Maxey Boys Training School in Whitmore Lake. With initial funding from the Michigan Humanities Council, Balls work quickly evolved into a music writing program

We work with kids who are in trouble, most of them locked up, because of bad choices they have made.
MIKE BALL Lost Voices founder
in which the kids write the lyrics, and Ball, working in tandem with folk and blues musicians like White, Donohoe and Jones, collaborates with them to transform their thoughts into music. At the end of the workshop, the kids go on stage, backed by the professional musicians, to perform their work for their peers, teachers, councilors, and parents. Ball and his Lost Voices teams mostly work with incarcerated boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18. These are really talented children, Ball said. Granted, many of them have done bad things, or they wouldnt be locked up. But they are still kids, and beneath it all they are not all that different from your kids or mine. I always find it pretty amazing how much they are willing to dig down into their deepest feelings, how much they are willing to reveal in their songs. At the April 13 Concert, guests will hear some of the songs written in the Lost Voices program. We cant bring the kids out on stage for you to meet them, but we can do the next best thing - we can sing you their songs, Ball said. Josh, Kitty and Robert and I have all worked on the front lines with the kids, and we all have songs from them that we are moved to perform. The concert is a major fundraiser for the group, the latest in a series going back to 2007. In past years, Lost Voices Concerts have featured acts like Peter Madcat Ruth, Matt Watroba, Charlie Allen Martin, Cats & The Fiddler, Jen Cass, Salem Witchcraft, Annie & Rod Capps, Shari Kane and Dave Steele, and others. This year, in addition to White, Donohoe, Jones and Ball, there are one or two headliners yet to be announced. Updates will be posted at http://lostvoices.org. The concert kicks off at 6:30 p.m. in the Towsley Auditorium in the Morris Lawrence Building on the WCC Campus (4800 E. Huron River Drive, Ann Arbor) with an opening act of students from the Washtenaw Community College Performing Arts programs. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, with student tickets available for $15 and Gold Circle Reserved Seating for $50. Purchase tickets online at http:// LVSpring2013.brownpapertickets.com.

An April 13 concert at the Towsley Auditorium on the Washtenaw Community College campus in Ann Arbor will benet Lost Voices, a Michigan nonprot that conducts music writing and performing workshops with incarcerated and at-risk youth.