After playing so many pretty generic and weakly-implemented sim titles in this generation, most of which have chosen pretty menial and uninteresting jobs to boot, I’ll admit I’m feeling pretty run down about them. If the problem were just that they focused on a limited number of pretty simple actions, I don’t think there would be an issue. There truly can be a sense of comfort and relaxation when performing repetitive tasks, and I get that. The core problem just tends to be that the effort and focus put into making so many of these games more playable and engaging simply isn’t apparent, which leads to lackluster results like Ship Graveyard Simulator 2.

After enduring some time with the original Ship Graveyard Simulator, I can’t say that I walked away with the impression it was in need of a sequel. Perhaps there was a cliffhanger somewhere in there that I missed? Anyway, so loading it up you’ll once again be dropped off at a huge ship graveyard, armed with a variety of tools that you’ll need to slowly begin to break down some large structures, collect the scrap, and throw it all in your truck. From there it’s really just a matter of lather, rinse, and repeat, with little room for surprise.

Aside from the fact that I have some real questions about why the original title was in need of a follow-up, when perhaps time would have been better spent chipping away at the general glitchiness of the original, I’m also baffled by the utter lack of meaningful differentiation between the two. The ride up to the salvage yard felt like deja vu, with pretty much everything visually being roughly the same. Most of the tasks with your tools to break things down also felt mostly similar as well. Even if some specifics may have changed, they’re still just the things you’ll need to do to cut, pry, or knock things apart… so in the end it all feels mostly the same. Throw in the fact that the general sloppiness of the original remains, complete with my getting stuck without being able to complete the tutorial as a cherry on top, and this is just a disappointing and mostly redundant follow-up.