Dealing With Undesirables in Constructor HD

Dealing With Undesirables in Constructor HD

6
Richard Walker

I've never really been one for strategy games. I'm far too impatient a player to be fiddling with the minutiae of base building and resource management, although I can totally see the appeal of constructing a sprawling war effort or a city, before zooming out to admire your efforts. Back in 1997, a time when Command & Conquer was still a massive deal, System 3 brought a unique construction and management simulation title to PC (and later PSone) aptly titled Constructor.

Eighteen years on, and Constructor HD is a complete overhaul of the original title, retaining the very same gameplay that made the game such a popular game in its heyday (it sold over 5 million copies worldwide at the time), while doing away with the now incredibly dated visuals. Constructor HD looks like a modern RTS title, with graphics brimming with charm and character. Fans are going to lap it up.

Once again, Constructor HD involves fulfilling the role of property tycoon, managing your own construction firm and making moves to drive rival companies out of business. That means building yourself cheap, affordable housing for the best tenants you can find, and then keeping them happy so they don't want to move out and go elsewhere. It's a lot harder than it sounds, however, as to start with, your cheap accommodations will attract only low-tier tenants.

As the quality of tenant goes up, so too will your costs and the demands placed upon you to provide stellar property, while the presence of Undesirables is always a looming concern. You'll have to deal with these Undesirables as they look to undermine your construction efforts, but you're able to hit back with your own army of reprobates, using thugs to terrorise tenants and drive them out of the neighbourhood, or send gangsters in to set up a protection racket and issue threats.

Hippies can also be used to squat in the empty properties of your rivals, clowns can be deployed to scare enemies, or good old Mr Fix It, the cowboy builder can be sent in to a property to tinker with the plumbing or the gas pipes. Of course, you'll want to keep your tenants happy, so that they produce babies who'll then join your work force, but sometimes a tenant's incessant complaining can be become a burden and a money pit, meaning you'll need to drive them out yourself.

That means sending Undesirables into your own properties to sort out certain situations that have spiralled beyond your control, enabling you to take back a house occupied by a difficult tenant to get someone in who's easier to deal with. There are far more elements than quickly constructing houses and keeping tenants happy in Constructor HD; you'll also need to keep a healthy stock of timber, steel and other building materials with which to assemble and maintain your burgeoning neighbourhoods.

Just like the 1997 classic, original developer System 3 has left no stone unturned in Constructor HD, ensuring that the same brand of in-depth strategy and uniquely British charm (including poo jokes) remains present and correct. Fans of the original Constructor are undoubtedly going to fall in love all over again with Constructor HD, while for newcomers, it's a game that comes from a whole different era, representing an unusual, but wholly inviting kind of challenge. That's assuming you're a strategy fan, of course. And enjoy poo jokes.

Constructor HD will be building a home on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC from 29th January 2016.

Comments
6
  • This should be a fun kid kind of game. One for the family to play together for game night. I liked the original, i will give this one a try if the price is not crazy.
  • Defiintely not on PS4. Hate the controls and this is perfect example of why some games should just stay on PC. Didn't like Tropico and I doubt I will like control scheme for this either. It just doesn't feel natural to me, though I would imagine it's the other way around if you started playing strategies like this on console LOL
  • @2 plug a mouse and keyboard into the ps4, should help
  • I played the original on PC and it was fun; although I was 14 at the time. Might have to pick this up to appease my nostalgia
  • great game, nobody will give a shit this gen for it tho. shame
  • OMG. I loved this game back on the PS1. I bought it again a little later on PC when I got one. I also bought it again on the PS3 through PSN. Definitely be doing it a fourth time. :D
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