Bridge Constructor (PlayStation 4) Review

Bridge Constructor is the Ronseal of video games. In so much as once you get passed the title you won't discover any hidden twists or surprises within the cartoon atheistic.

An archipelago is in desperate need of Bridges, and absolutely nothing is going to get done until they are built and tested by the bravest truck drivers the nation of Camatuga has to offer. Using wood, concrete, brick and any other material that might fall into the construction bucket, players are tasked to close the gap between two points, making sure they stay in budget and no one dies.

Physics is the dominating factor of the day. Judging where best to place the supports and making sure those bridges are able to the take the weight of oncoming traffic is the best science lesson available outside of school. The game never explains the true mechanical engineering feats behind each bridge you construct meaning that the secret of the weird forces holding up the bridge is never truly revealed. However, this doesn't take away from the obvious satisfaction of being able to master power over gravity and all his weird science buddies.

It's easy to be trite, but that is all Bridge Constructor really offers: the ability to finally live out the dream of taking part in a major construction project on behalf of a local council. There is no intriguing story here, no explanation of the science and no fancy effects. Bridge Constructor is a physics engine trained to do one task, and at times it sometimes struggles with that.

Nothing has been done to Bridge Constructor to make the job as fluid and tactile for PlayStation 4 owners as it once was on Android or iPhone. Moving the cursor around to select objects and manipulate planks of wood to start building bridges is a sluggish and painful process. What should be a pick up and play experience, with planks of wood forming to the flick of a finger, is instead a walk through sludge. Bridge Constructor should be grabbing that part of the collective childhood that wanted to build, create and shape the world but in this port it manages to take all the fun out of the experience.

The slow pace could be averted if the player was encouraged to leisurely deliberate over the science behind what they are doing, but other than being told that 'triangles are good,' the gameplay is meant to be filler for a commute and not a GCSE science paper. The lack of a coherent tutorial is an oversight that compounds the feeling that Bridge Constructor has been a rushed out port with no consideration to the platform it is appearing on. When controls are so limiting and restrictive the earlier levels should have been led by a guiding hand; however, instead players are dumped into construction with no clear idea of what the best practice is and not sure of what the controls really do.

The graphics are simple, and though delightfully colourful, along with the repetitive soundtrack, Bridge Constructor is brick by brick a game made for the benefit of the mobile experience. Of the three options available on the main menu, one is to immediately stop the pallid soundtrack messing up your ears. This goes a long way in further highlighting that this is a game to compliment a podcast or a Spotify playlist featuring Men at Work and Simon and Garfunkel.