Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 (Xbox Series) Review

From Games Incubator, comes Ship Graveyard Simulator 2, a relaxing simulator game in which you step into the well worn shoes of a scrapyard operative at a potentially lucrative graveyard for the steel casualties of the Seven Seas.

I had the pleasure of reviewing the first Ship Graveyard Simulator game last year and I was delighted to find that some improvements had been made for the sequel. Having already amassed just over ten hours on Ship Graveyard Simulator 2, I am here to share my thoughts before diving back into the ship-smashing simulator.

The Relaxing Vibes Continue in Ship Graveyard Simulator 2

Despite it’s one-year tenure, I still remember the relaxing approach to gameplay offered in Ship Graveyard Simulator. It was one of those games that I could load up with the intention of killing an hour, before finding hours had passed and I still had deadlines to meet. Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 continues to offer the same relaxing and immersive gameplay but with a handful of new features and even a slightly different way to play the game.

The furnace that I so fondly spoke of in last year’s article has been cast aside for the sequel but has been replaced with an equally useful counterpart, in the guise of a scrap sorting yard in which to sort your spoils. The minigame involves using machinery to slide four differently colored dumpsters under a conveyor belt to catch falling piles of scrap. The aim is to align the corresponding colors of the dumpsters and piles of waste up to sort the correct items into the correct containers. However, there’s a only a very minimal penalty of ten percent for missed items, devoiding the minigame of any real feeling of stakes.

There’s No Rest for the Wicked

On the theme of lacking penalties, Shipyard Graveyard Simulator 2 doesn’t allow you to go to sleep at night. There’s a bed back at base camp, but the ladies and gentlemen of Games Incubator clearly live on the age old adage of “There’s no Rest for the Wicked”. After all, sleep is for the weak and not scrapyard operatives, right?

While this caused a mild sense of irk, a diet of Red Bull and coffee meant that I could work right around the clock and hammer, burn and saw away without the worry of running out of time. Games Incubator have here sacrificed a little realism for the sake of further immersing the player, and for that I can’t fault them.

Gameplay

Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 brings far more destruction to the table than its commendable predecessor. Where in the first game, we were limited to smashing and collecting items from on and around our ships; the sequel offers a deeper destruction element by allowing you to tear down the walls and infrastructure of your doner vessels. The walls are now held on with connectors that you need to knock out with your mighty hammer, before knocking them down to collect the resources. To see stairwells, chimneys, floors, ceilings and more crash around you as you whittle away the ship into lucrative scrap is a treat in itself.

To get the most out of your ships, you can complete contracts that come with the ships and set by those wanting their share of the spoils. Your neighbors are often on the lookout for certain items, metals and liquids and pay you generously to procure whatever is on their lists.

A Delightful Sequel to a Commendable Game

Considering the hours I have lost playing Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 it’s clear that this is a sequel that I have thoroughly enjoyed. While many indie studios are quite happy to reskin early successes and bring more of exactly the same to the table, Game Incubator look at how to improve on their games and Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 stands as a shining testament to the fact.