Construction Simulator 4 Review (Mobile & Switch)

In spite of all my best efforts to learn how to build a home from scratch, it pains me to admit that, from a builder’s perspective, I’m still about as useful as a paper napkin in a hi-vis jacket. Don’t get me wrong, I did study the intricacies of the tutorials as depicted in games like House Flipper and Builder Simulator, and yet, when it came to transporting that knowledge over to a real-life situation, I still couldn’t for the life of me differentiate between brick and mortar. As a result of that experience, or there lack of, I figured that I’d be one of the worst possible candidates to throw into the confines of Construction Simulator 4. However, for the sake of giving myself a few new milestones to work towards, I figured, you know  — what’s the worst that could happen? *cough* famous last words.

As the title implies, Construction Simulator 4 is a building and business management sandbox sim in which you take to the picturesque Canadian landscape of Pinewood Bay—a stunning locale that’s weirdly in dire need of alterations and terraforming. If that sounds all rather straightforward, well, that’s because it is — at least on paper, anyway. With that said, when it comes to putting the hammer to the stone, so to speak, such tasks will suddenly become perplexing—frustratingly difficult, even. Again, I’m speaking on behalf of someone who’s, let’s just say, intolerant of anything even remotely DIY-based — so it’s best to take a lot of these words with a minor pinch of salt.

Still here? Well then, you ought to stick around for a short while as we unpack the latest sandbox sim on Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. Readying your tools? Then let’s get to work, folks.

Workin’ Hard or Hardly Workin’

If you’ve ever taken the opportunity to sink your teeth into the likes of House Flipper, Hotel Renovator, or Hometopia, then I come bearing relatively good news: Construction Simulator 4 isn’t all that different. Well, it isn’t all that different in the case that, as a building contractor, you create structures from the grassy roots up and fasten a few loose screws and what have you. What’s different here, of course, is that you don’t spend quite nearly as much time allocating spaces to various pieces of furniture and knocking down walls, but rather, securing raw materials in one of several transporter vehicles, and bringing said pieces to certain locations on a building site to then use for some overarching purpose. If that sounds boring to you, then wait till you get a load of the other tasks.

Construction Simulator 4 features several jobs, all of which come with a selection of to-do lists, vehicles, materials, and avenues to explore. The goal of the game, in a similar fashion as most, if not all building-type sandbox sims, is to gradually sift through the objectives on your docket, and earn a mixture of in-game currencies and skill points to either acquire more vehicles for the sake of making jobs easier, or to aid your efforts to make niche tasks seem a little less, well, daunting. At the heart of all of this, however, is a simple game, and one that doesn’t ask much more of you other than to drive from point A to point B, and to utilize a series of different strategies to achieve your goals, whether it’s transporting cargo, or purchasing newer trucks, bulldozers, and other modes of transport to whittle down on manual costs.

Two Jackets Are Better Than One, I Think

In addition to the offline single-player mode, there is, weirdly enough, a multiplayer mode, too. Saying that, the co-op mode doesn’t offer a great deal more in comparison with its solo counterpart by way of adding additional objectives to shovel through. Like before, you utilize a few tools and a banquet of vehicles from a nifty selection wheel, collect cargo, and transport various goods from one location to the next whilst simultaneously earning a wealth of perks and currencies to splash out on other items of local value. But that’s about it. To say that it’s better in co-op wouldn’t be totally accurate, but in ways, it does help to alleviate that boredom that ties in with repeating the same chore core work several times over for small gains.

It feels almost unfair, to compare Construction Simulator 4 with other building games of its kind, as it is indeed a mobile sandbox with roughly half of the same assets as those in its peers’ caskets. However, I’m struggling to let it slide, either, as, at this moment in time, at least, there just isn’t enough to keep me hooked. Case in point, the opening tutorials and jobs had me carrying out a few of the same deeds, but after that, I felt as if I had seen all there was to see and had done all there was to do. Sure, I had a few more things to buy from the catalog, but it honestly felt as if I had bled the game completely dry after an hour or two, which meant that I had little more to look forward to.

A Few Loose Screws

I’m not going to say that Construction Simulator 4 is a pretty game, because it isn’t; in fact, it suffers from some pretty atrocious frame rates and graphical bugs—so much, that it often struggles to maintain its consistency and quality without jittering or breaking. As it is, of course, a mobile sandbox sim, I can’t say that I had high hopes, to begin with, but I’d also be lying if I said that I wasn’t shocked by the sheer volume of jagged edges and half-baked backdrops that made up the vast majority of the interface, too. From the trees forever shifting in and out of view, to the wheels snapping to different angles without a smooth transition to accompany it, and just about everything between — the game, as a whole, simply failed to grasp that immersive feeling that it should’ve had right from the beginning.

There isn’t really any music to embellish the journey, nor are there any special effects to compliment an otherwise monotonous experience, at that. For the most part, the soundboard is comprised of mechanical components ticking over, winches winding up and down, and wheels crossing over various types of terrain and whatnot. But that’s about it as far as FX go, and so, unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot to unwind to, nor are there any special incentives for those who’d soon rather sport a pair of headphones than the standard audio output alternative. Point is, Construction Simulator 4 is, even when it’s running at its best, a very mediocre, bare-bones experience that’s a little too softly spoken for its own good. It isn’t a dreadful game, but it’s certainly no match for the likes of its fellow competitors, either.

Verdict

If the mere thought of hauling cargo from one anchor point to the next is enough to get your inner cogs in motion, then there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy taking a lot of the world that makes up Construction Simulator 4 into your own hands. For the record, I didn’t find it enjoyable — but that’s simply me summarizing the few hours taken from my personal experience, and therefore you should definitely take it with a sliver of salt. It is worth pointing out here, however, that while the game does make a few loose connections to the likes of Builder Simulator and other sandbox-type sims, it isn’t quite as engaging as them, nor is it in receipt of anything even the slightest bit wacky or uncommon.

To put it bluntly, it is, for better or worse, a textbook emulation of a building site sim, which means, if you are looking for a post-House Flipper alternative to help scratch that one itch, in particular, then it’s safe to say that you probably won’t find a second home here — or anywhere in the Construction Simulator series, for that matter. Even still, they say that there’s honor in a hard day’s work, and so, if you’re the sort of gamer who enjoys reaping the benefits of your labor, no matter how small the duty, then you should be able to find a slight glimmer of happiness in the core of this relatively mindless husk of a world. Aside from that, though, there isn’t a whole lot more I can say about it.