Construction Simulator 2 US
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : weltenbauer Software Entwicklung
Published By : Astragon
Category : Simulation
Release Date : Nov 6, 2019

We all remember those moments in our childhood where we played with our toys, sometimes quite vividly. Often these toy sessions would reflect the dreams we had at the time of what we wanted to be when we grew up. Maybe we lined up our stuffed animals dreaming we could be the vet fixing them, or out in the yard with dump trucks and the like running some sort of imaginary construction job. Now, there’s a plethora of video games that offer simulation-style experiences for a lot of these dream jobs, and Construction Simulator 2 on the Nintendo Switch is one such experience.

Here, there is no story except the one you decide to lay out for yourself. The game begins with you expressing your desire to own and run your own construction company. However, you are just getting a fresh start in the game, and the best way for you to grow is going to be taking on contracting jobs for others until you slowly build up your own reputation.

The jobs you can accept are always recycling, so if you don’t like the offers on the table you can always wait a short while and see what new ones roll in. When you work these jobs, you’ll always need the use of at least one of the vehicles the game has to offer. Luckily, Westside Plains has a dealer available where you can rent these vehicles or, if you have made enough, buy them outright for yourself to focus on the profits.

While there are a few dozen vehicles on offer, they break down into having a focus in one of a small number of areas, such as digging, carrying specific loads for different materials, picking up materials, and more. When you take a job, the specific type of task you’ll need to perform will be highlighted so you can easily determine if you already own the necessary vehicle. If not, the vehicles at the dealer can be filtered by the task(s) they perform to help you speed things along.

After you’ve selected your job and vehicle, the only things left to do are travel to the job and complete it. One thing to note is an option you have on whether or not you’ll need to obey traffic laws. Yes, in-game traffic laws. The city you’re in has plenty of traffic lights, speed traps, and other vehicles. If you leave this option on, you’ll need to watch your speed limit, avoid collisions and stop when the lights are red. However this is something you can toggle, so if you want to run your construction company like it was in the GTA universe, have at it. One other thing worth noting is you’ll typically have the option to fast travel to the locations you need to, only suffering a monetary penalty if you do.

Obviously though, the real pull of this game is working the jobs, and its really where all the fun lies. Since each vehicle doubles as the tool you’ll need on the job site, they all come with two modes, driving and function. In driving mode you’re just piloting the vehicle itself, either navigating it down the streets or specifically around the job site. In function mode is how you’ll get to use the tool portion of the equipment.

Construction Simulator gives you access to tons of different stuff like dump trucks, back hoes, excavators, and more. Some of the functions of these can be used while in drive mode, like the plow on the front of the dump trucks. Most of the time you’ll need to get into place and let the vehicle lock down so you can use it’s tool. The reason your vehicle needs to be in a set position is that most of the functionality for these tools is done with right joystick, which in drive mode acts as your camera for looking around.

The jobs are broken down into individual tasks, so you always know what you’re doing and where. If a hole needs to be dug, you’ll have the dig zone marked off, as well as cones set up for where to dump the dirt off to the side. Equipment needs to be picked up? Just direct the boom of your crane over to it and then set it down either on the flat bed of your truck, or in the marked zone on the site. You’ll always know what you need to do and have plenty of guides and markers to help you along the way.

Lately, I have really gotten into playing this simulation style games, but in doing so I have learned that some either really nail their subject matter, while others completely flop. Since the last one I covered on this site was a complete flop, I was extremely happy when this game was a ton of fun to jump into and played just as well. This version also comes with an expansion that offers the ability to repair and pave roads for the first time, which I can honestly say is an area of gaming I never thought I wanted to exist. But having played it…it’s existence is perfectly warranted.

Even though all of the vehicles use the same buttons for their tool-controls, they all felt very independent from one another, which was a very nice touch. Working the dump truck was vastly different from using the scoop on the backhoe, which is how you’d expect it to be in real life. It’s a nice game where you can build up your own company from the ground, but whether you do that or just continually take single and simple jobs, Construction Simulator is a very fun play and easy to get addicted to.