Docked was provided by Saber Interactive for review. Thank you!
If Docked looks familiar to you in some way, it's quite possible you are familiar with the game RoadCraft, which we covered last year. While docks were merely a passing feature in RoadCraft, Docked puts you in charge of an entire docking area, which means lots and lots of moving containers from one place to another.
If repetitive tasks aren't your thing, then you can probably dismiss Docked right now, but there is a sense of satisfaction you get from familiarizing yourself with your machinery and becoming proficient at moving containers around your shipping yards. Which is just as well, because that's pretty much all you'll be doing in Docked.
The game begins when your port is struck by a storm, leaving machinery broken and cargo containers strewn over the yard, not to mention a stricken cargo vessel in your dock. There is some storyline that accompanies this, but it's very much in the background and quite shallow.
Using a variety of machinery, such as ground-based Reach Stackers, large shipping cranes, and smaller tractors, you ensure your shipping company runs smoothly. You'll do this by unloading ships, moving cargo containers around the yard, and clearing up debris left over from the storm.
The structure of Docked is separated into missions, which are of a nice length; they'll take you around 10-20 minutes each, depending on your skill, so they don't overstay their welcome, and they break up the somewhat monotonous job. The missions are casual/relaxed in their nature; there are no time limits, and pretty much the only failure condition is causing damage to your vehicles or cargo. While I appreciated that, fans of the genre may be disappointed by how basic the requirements for success are, with no bonuses for doing very well and essentially no penalties for performing somewhat poorly.
With the game being mission-based, there is also an "end" to the game. Docked is not a sandbox experience, so you should go into it with the idea that it will be a 20ish-hour experience and likely not replayable.
Between missions, you'll be managing your dock itself. This does break up the constant loading and unloading on containers, but it's a little on the shallow side. It mainly consists of upgrading your facilities, which either expands your cargo shipping capacity or garage capacity, allowing you to accept more shipment orders or purchase new vehicles, respectively.
While there is some logistics management, in that you have to sign contracts for shipment orders and then make sure you have enough vehicles assigned each day to take care of shipping enough to fulfill the orders, that's pretty much as deep as the management goes. I would have liked this process to be a little more involved, as the game essentially boils down to "cargo movement simulator", rather than a full-on dock simulator. And with the cargo movement portion being so forgiving, there wasn't much of a challenge, merely just ticking off a checklist of jobs.
Hurting the game's repetitive nature is the environment. It remains largely unchanged throughout the game, with the entire game taking place within the same dock area. Any variety comes from unlocking new vehicles and trying out their different methods for transporting containers around the yard.
Visually, Docked doesn't disappoint, even on the lower settings, the game still looks decent, complete with ripple effects in puddles as you drive through them. The audio presentation is basic, largely made up of engine sounds and vehicle alarms as you move through the dock, but it works well enough for its purpose.
Docked runs surprisingly well on the Steam Deck. There are a lot of controls, but they're all plainly laid out for you and aren't too difficult to get used to on a controller. The game also supports 1280x800 as a resolution, so we have no black borders.
As for performance, we have to run at the Very Low preset to maintain a stable 30 FPS, but it is stable regardless, which is a positive for modern titles.
Power draw does vary a lot depending on the mission type; being close to the ground uses more power than using the crane, for example. But generally, expect a drain of about 17-21W on the battery, with some spikes up to 23W. For a Steam Deck OLED user, expect around 2.5 hours of battery life; for Steam Deck LCD users, expect around 1.5 hours.
Docked features subtitles for all voiced dialogue and rebindable controls. There are no other accessibility options.
Docked presents a unique opportunity to manage your own shipping company; unfortunately, it ends up being more focused on moving containers than actual management, and a more balanced approach would have opened the way for a deeper gameplay experience. Unless you get a thrill out of moving container after container around the same dock area, this one may not be for you.
Docked is playable on the Steam Deck, though you will be limited to low graphics settings and 30 FPS. Given the nature of the game, though, the experience isn't hurt too much by this.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
Docked is playable on the Steam Deck with some visual compromises, but fans of simulators may find the gameplay somewhat shallow, and the average player somewhat repetitive.
