How hard can building a bridge be? It seems like a relatively simple concept – you span a river/chasm using steel supports and a road – and if Bridge Constructor for the Xbox One is to believed then anyone will be able to become an architect using the power of triangle structures and monotonous gameplay.
• Developer: Clockstone STUDIO
• Publisher: Headup Games
• Reviewed on: Xbox One
• Also Available On: PC, Mobile
• Release Date: Available Now
Bridge Constructor is a game that gets right to the point in the title. You’re going to be building a lot of bridges. After an island chain suffers an earthquake and all of the bridges collapse – presumably because they were made of tissue paper – you’re tasked with rebuilding from the ground up.
Gameplay is rather barebones, you’re given a selection of wood, steel, concrete pillars and suspension cables to build your bridge with on a limited budget. The game will sometimes only allocate you certain resources – such as building an entire bridge out of wood – but after the first couple of levels you begin to realise that it’s relatively easy to cheese every level using one simple tactic. Building your bridges out of triangles is the easiest way to complete a level and I managed to complete multiple levels using exactly the same design over and over again. Triangles are the ultimate way to beat almost every level in Bridge Constructor.
Bridge Constructor doesn’t provide any incentive to build bridges in silly ways. You can definitely do it if you want, but there’s really no point when there’s a sure-fire way to complete each level. It gets really stale and boring almost instantly.
The gameplay however isn’t the only gripe I have with Bridge Constructor. The game is a blatant iOS port to the Xbox One – which actually costs more for some bizarre reason. The touch screen buttons and interfaces are still intact with Xbox One buttons plastered over them. In-game music is turned off by default – and for good reason. It’s absolutely dreadful and the sound effects are nothing to get excited over either.
Bridge Constructor doesn’t work particularly well with a controller either. The game has obviously been designed for use with a touch screen or a keyboard/mouse. It’s clunky and results in deletions galore from bridge supports being placed in the wrong place.
The game is obviously designed to be played in small increments, it’s just not suited for the Xbox One. It’s a mobile game through and through. It can provide small amounts of amusement here and there but it’s ultimately boring, uninspired and monotonous. I’d wholly recommend that if you’re going to pick up and try Bridge Constructor then it would ideally be better to do so on a mobile platform. You’ll save money and you’ll probably have more fun with it. Overall, I just can’t find a reason why you’d want to purchase the console version.
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