Ports. They’re not quite front-page news, let’s be honest. Delays, staffing issues, containers piling up – it’s all a bit of a logistical nightmare. So, if you’ve had enough of real-world supply chain headaches, Docked from Saber Interactive looks to give you control of the madness, putting you in charge of your very own harbour operation.
Before you dive in, though, much like any sim-style title, if you’ve played any of Saber’s other games like Expeditions: A MudRunner Game or RoadCraft, you’ll already have an idea of what this game is all about – getting behind the high accurate controls of some heavy machinery.
Docked isn’t about globe-trotting fleets or massive international trade networks – it’s a far more contained experience. You play as the son of a longshoreman returning home to the family business.
Hands-On
You’ll be tasked with getting hands-on in the daily operation and expansion of your father’s dock in the wake of a devastating hurricane that left the place in a bit of a mess.
The gameplay loop sees you, at its core, taking a job, completing it, and then reinvesting your earnings back into the port. But this simple format quickly evolves with more layers as you tackle new jobs, which introduce new mechanics.
Read More: RoadCraft review – Craft Works
You’ll get to know the tools of the trade well in Docked, as you’ll be using them across different jobs. There’s a real sense of control that you’ll master over time, and jobs that once took 30 minutes quickly take 10 as you learn to handle loaders and cranes with ease.
There are two main difficulty settings: Normal, where you’ll learn the ropes and get to grips with things, and Hard, where the game puts on its “big boy sim” pants. Here, you’ll have to truly go to work, with more realistic limits and a strict timeframe introducing a meaningful fail condition.
Port Management
When you’re not getting your hands dirty, there’s a small amount of management to handle, with your main goal being to return the port to profitability. It’s a fairly slick system that interconnects well as you juggle jobs and loads across the dock.
Visually, the game does a solid job. The port is, admittedly, a bit lifeless and dull – but show me a port that isn’t. It’s not groundbreaking, but it feels grounded in reality, with a clean and functional presentation.
Read More: Expeditions: A MudRunner Game review – Mod and Plod Gladly
Overall, Docked is a focused and fairly accessible sim. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it delivers a steady, engaging experience that’s easy to get into and gradually ramps up. It is a little limited in long-term depth, and the theme won’t be to everyone’s taste, but as a break from the norm, it does the job.
- Docked review – Different Kind of Port
- Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition [Switch 2] review – Fit and Finish
- Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss review – Thinking Sim
