You’ll see where your bridge is weakest, but if you’re unfamiliar with the nuances of balance and tension the feedback isn’t all that helpful. Numbers would have presented a more tangible puzzle to solve, which is why I have never been so desperate for more math problems in a video game.īridge Constructor Medieval does allow for some planning, as with the graph paper overlay that makes it possible to gauge structure, but the clues you do get assume you already know how bridges behave. Again, bridges are complicated, and some of the designs at the end of the game don’t resemble anything I’ve ever seen over a river. Withholding that information seems like an arbitrary way to lengthen the gameplay since it’s not so obvious that anybody could be expected to figure it out. Unfortunately, the puzzle called for a suspension bridge, a concept that had not yet been introduced within the game. At one point I ended up wasting half an hour building truss bridges that immediately collapsed at the start of every simulation. As much as the developers know about bridges, they don’t seem interested in sharing their expertise. I feel like that deskwork would have made for a more compelling game, or at least a more accessible one. The actual problem solving takes place at a desk long before construction. You have to find a perfect solution – one that you are positive will not fall down – before breaking ground. In the real world, bridge construction is an exercise in logic. I know so little about bridges that any right answer is as much luck as my own initiative. It doesn’t feel like solving a puzzle so much as it feels like banging your hands against a keyboard until it looks like Shakespeare. If you don’t, then your only recourse is to keep guessing until you find an approximate version of the answer. The game expects you to know what kinds of bridges to build and when to build them. After a few brief tutorial missions that do not even remotely cover the necessary range of bridges, the instructions are basically ‘wing it’ for every single puzzle. Most engineers have to study for years before anybody will let them build a real one of any scale, largely because there are a mind-boggling number of factors that can cause a bridge to collapse if not properly accounted for.īridge Constructor Medieval has absolutely none of those variables. Bridges are incredibly intricate architectural structures. Though the physics are precise, that doesn’t always work in the game’s favor as a piece of entertainment. You build bridges using medieval materials in medieval settings. Of course a game called Bridge Constructor Medieval cares about bridges, especially when the title so perfectly reflects the actual content. A Bridge Too Far?Īnd yes, I know that sounds like I’m missing the point. It cares more about bridge accuracy than it does about the player experience, which serves to distance the player from the challenges presented. Yet while it does what it needs to do, playing Bridge Constructor Medieval ultimately feels more apathetic than engaging. The system is intuitive and the tools are easy to use, while the puzzles incorporate many different types of bridges and objectives. Bridge Constructor Medieval – What We Thinkīridge Constructor Medieval has pretty much everything you’d want from a physics-based puzzle game.
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