REVIEW: Bridge Constructor – The Walking Dead

Do you remember completing a huge task? Any task that involves a lot of detail and painstaking work. One mistake can bring it all down. While I cannot speak for everyone, I know that I have been able plan large events and complete large projects without any problems. I also remember feeling the same way when Bridge Constructor is played. That's what I felt, at least with Bridge Constructor The Walking Dead, the latest Bridge Constructor collaboration.

This is how I will frame it: I am not a Walking Dead fan. There's nothing wrong with the show. I couldn't get into the show myself so I don’t know much about it. Daryl was Sam Bridges when I first saw him (now there's a collaboration DS x BC). It was a relief to learn that the Walking Dead IP exists solely to showcase zombies and to give each level the same goal: to get your party to safety. Although it isn't the most exciting goal, it's enough for you to keep going. The Walking Dead universe is filled with a dark atmosphere in which people struggle to survive in a new harsh world.

It's simple: Build bridges to lead Walkers (zombies), away from your party, into traps, or use them to move your party from one end of the level to another. Each puzzle is complex and difficult because of the use of vehicles, crashing objects and button pressing. These wooden and sometimes steel creations will be well-rewarded by the game's physics. Although the idea is solid and easy to understand, everything starts to crumble once you hit play. These are the only positive aspects I can say about Bridge Constructor, The Walking Dead.

The UI is the first thing I need to focus on. Bridge Constructor is a 2D game where you can see the entire action from a plane. You connect wire cables and struts to create and design your own bridge. You will be constantly looking at the menu screen to select materials and where they should go. It can put a damper in the gameplay experience if the UI isn't clean, simple to use, slow, intrusive, and not helpful.

You'll need to spend an additional hour and a half to fix mistakes that you missed because your cursor was in front of the screen. It's also a lot of fun to switch between sub-menus and jump between joysticks for different inputs. This made it difficult for me to know what I was supposed to use for certain menus, and caused me to lose my screen position quite often. There are no settings for it to adjust. I had another issue with the game not fitting my screen perfectly. Setting aside, you can't adjust the settings when you hit the pause button in the middle level. You will have to return to the main menu to change the settings. This detail is actually the problem with Bridge Constructor, and it's why you have to exit back to the main menu to adjust settings.

Bridge Constructor The Walking Dead is too shallow to be released on consoles. This game would be great as a mobile or discount game for PC. Players are closer to their screens. It doesn't feel like there's much to keep console players entertained unless they are huge fans of physics-based puzzles. If you are, then I don't understand why you don't play more of them on mobile or PC.

Fans of The Walking Dead won't find much here. The artwork doesn't do justice to the characters and the dialogue is a bit boring. Although I don't consider myself a big Walking Dead fan, the art style does give the game an atmosphere and zombies. There is not much else for fans. While cameos are fun, they don't match the complex and intense stories The Walking Dead is famous for. They could have created a more fun and quirky story with zombies and bridges, and I believe that could have allowed for more creativity.

It's not a game that lends itself to console gaming. My Xbox is currently in my living room, where I can play my games from a more comfortable position. To be able see what I was doing, it was necessary to constantly look closer at the screen. I couldn't tell where my cursor was hovering over. I finally had to move closer to the TV and set up a second chair. It doesn't work, and it causes annoyances that can put a damper in your enjoyment of the game. This is most likely not an issue with mobile or PC. Worse, it caused performance issues such as stuttering, huge delays between button presses, and low throughput on the screen.

Bridge Constructor The Walking Dead is a fun and clever game that uses physics to solve complex puzzles. It is a real pain to get to this point and I wouldn't recommend it for consoles.