Hands down one of my favorite games of all time, Constructor is a unique hybrid of city-building and management simulation (think SimCity) and real-time strategy (such as Age of Empires), all wrapped in a peculiar dark sense of humor and an incredibly deep, fast-paced gameplay.
I first discovered the original 1997 release back in 2005, when it appeared among a collection of budget PC titles in my country, and I've loved it ever since. Constructor Plus is essentially the original game on steroids. While the original offered only a handful of game modes, this version expands the experience considerably with fifteen new missions, the classic Constructor mode, customizable scenarios, and the return of multiplayer.
One of the biggest improvements is the amount of new content. The original featured only a few houses for each of the five building tiers, whereas Constructor Plus greatly expands the roster, adding far more architectural variety across every level. The interface has also been modernized without sacrificing functionality. Hotkeys are now clearly displayed, idle character classes are much easier to locate, and managing your growing empire feels considerably smoother than in the original.
The game also introduces several new landmark buildings with unique mechanics, such as casinos that generate income from your tenants, alongside additional park variants and other structures that create more strategic possibilities. There are also many new scenarios and 15 missions to play through.
The audiovisual presentation has been completely remastered. The game remains faithful to the cheesy live-action cutscenes and overall tone of the original, while adding full VA for elements that previously had none, including the announcer and tenant complaints. Fortunately, the iconic voice lines for workers, hippies, gangsters, psychos, and the rest of the original cast have been preserved.
That said, I'm not entirely convinced by the new visuals. While they're perfectly functional and generally faithful to the original style, they lack some of the personality of the 1997 release. The comparison that always comes to mind is Theme Hospital and Two Point Hospital. The latter is technically more modern, but the former possesses a distinctive visual charm that's difficult to replicate. I feel something similar happened here. Constructor Plus still looks good but some of the original's unique identity has been softened by the new art style and color palette.
Gameplay, however, remains as brilliant as ever. Gangsters, hippies, psychos, clowns, ghosts, and all the other classic "undesirables" return and function exactly as fans would expect.
Newcomers should also be warned that Constructor is an extremely difficult game with a notoriously steep learning curve. You're not simply constructing buildings and balancing finances. You'll constantly deal with rival companies sabotaging your progress, demanding tenants who expect better houses, lower bills, or new appliances, and increasingly complex objectives that often require completely different strategies. One mission may ask you to build three identical luxury homes with fully upgraded interiors and gardens, while another has you dealing with giant insect infestations or zombie outbreaks. Many objectives are timed, forcing you to plan efficiently under pressure.
For that reason alone, I'd strongly recommend starting on Easy difficulty until you fully understand the game's many interconnected systems.
Once everything finally clicks, though, Constructor Plus becomes one of the most rewarding strategy games I've ever played. Despite the occasional difficulty spike, I never felt the game was "unfair", especially since it offers multiple difficulty settings. Every successful mission feels genuinely earned.
If you've played the original, this is an easy recommendation. Besides adding an enormous amount of new content, Constructor Plus also fixes numerous bugs from the '97 version (such as the infamous fence reconstruction bug), and throughout my playthrough I didn't encounter the crashes or technical issues that occasionally plagued the original releaseso far.
Pros
* Massive amount of new content and replay value.
* Countless creative ways to sabotage your rivals using gangsters, psychos, clowns, hippies, ghosts, and more.
* Huge variety of buildings and strategic possibilities.
* Excellent dark humor that still feels unique today.
* Numerous quality-of-life improvements over the original.
Cons
* Extremely steep learning curve that can overwhelm new players.
* The remastered visuals, while competent, lack some of the charm and personality of the '97 original.
Conclusion: An outstanding remake that successfully modernizes one of the most original strategy games ever made while remaining faithful to its identity. 9 out of 10 easily.
