When the endless sea of indie 2D platformers gets you down,
occasionally something different comes along to snap you out of your
doldrums. This week’s shining beacon of
indie innovation is Bridge Constructor – a physics-based puzzle game where you
build bridges. A fantastic concept,
right? Too bad the execution is a
little weak. See all of the details in
our full review.Game Details
- Publisher: Headup Games
- Developer: Clockstone Studio
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Building / Puzzle
- Pros: Satisfying when everything works; easy to use interface
- Cons: Not a lot of room for experimentation so it gets old
- MSRP: $10
Bridge Simulator is exactly what the name implies. You build 2D bridges and then test them out
by having cars and trucks drive over them.
You build and test and build and test until the vehicles can pass
safely. Each level has a slightly
different layout of anchor points and spans to cover, budget, and different
materials to use to build, so every level is a new and interesting
challenge. The Xbox One version of the
game also comes with a SlopeMania expansion, which adds much more difficult
levels with more extreme elevation changes.
Gameplay is surprisingly simple here. The game is viewed from a 2D “side scroller”
angle, and the building mode is set up in a grid pattern. You start by placing a piece on an anchor
point, and then continue building from there.
The physics are actually fairly realistic, so real world knowledge of
construction and engineering actually does help quite a bit. The game does a great job of showing you how
weight is transferred through your structure, but knowing how to fix it is
where the challenge comes in. Each
level only gives you a limited budget for materials, and some levels only let
you use certain materials. You start
our with wood and then move on to steel beams and eventually concrete pillars
and cables and figuring out how to use them properly is all part of the appeal.
My main issue with Bridge Constructor, however, is that
there really isn’t any room to actually have “fun” with the game. The best solution to pretty much every level
is to be as straightforward and simple as possible. You never, ever, ever have enough budget or materials to actually
build anything crazy or interesting, so the game starts to lose its luster
fairly early on. There is so much
potential here to just goof off and build crazy stuff to send cars flying all
over, but the game doesn’t let you do it.
A sandbox mode or creative mode or something would have gone a long ways
towards making Bridge Constructor more enjoyable in the long term. As it is, you get tired of it pretty
quickly, which is a shame.
Presentation here decidedly bare bones. The game was originally a mobile title, and
those roots still show here on Xbox One.
The menus are simple and clunky, the in-game graphics are bland, and
there isn’t much variety to the environments.
The sound is also very understated and in a bizarre move, the game
starts with menu music disabled so you boot the game to total silence.
Disclosure: A review code was provided by the publisher.
