Ready, Steady, Ship! Review

The beauty of video games is that they can provide pure escapism, or instead simulate the most mundane everyday tasks. Have you ever wanted to experience what it’s (probably) like in an Amazon warehouse? Well I’ve got just the thing for you.

Despite sharing a similar name to a legendary cooking show, Ready, Steady, Ship! is instead set in a somewhat complicated logistics factory (to begin with). Your role, as one of the hard working staff members, is simply to keep the goods flowing along the numerous conveyor belts, in order to ensure they reach their destination on time. 

It starts off fairly simple. The conveyor belts in the factory are incomplete, and you will need to reposition the different segments and ensure they are facing the correct way. Once you pull the lever, the belts will begin to turn and parcels will emerge, gracefully gliding to their intended destination and off out for delivery (hopefully).

As well as dragging large pieces of machinery about, your character has some other limited abilities, for example they can’t jump. However, sprinting and chucking boxes comes in very handy as you progress through the levels. You can also treat yourself to a vending machine coffee for a temporary unlimited energy boost. 

It’s not long before different conveyor belt components become available, such as heavier articles which need to be dragged onto a turntable to pivot them, due to their weight. Further examples are handy gizmos which will build up flattened boxes, some will fill them with packing peanuts and others will spring them far and high into the air. Not only this, but different coloured boxes soon need sorting and at times the order in which you need to ship out each type is specified, compounding the puzzle even further. Look out for environmental hazards too, such as pools of acid, slippery surfaces and even rooftop gaps.

That’s right, after each cluster of levels the setting will change in Ready, Steady, Ship!. Moving parcels between rooftops, and springing them onto cargo boats are just some ways in which the action is kept fresh.

It’s worth noting at any time, if things get too difficult, you can pull the emergency exit lever and head through to the next stage. Of course, in doing so you will sacrifice some or all stars available.

You can earn up to nine stars on each level, depending on how quickly you get all your boxes shipped. However, if you hit the maximum time allowance your attempt will end, but progress will be saved and you will bank the stars you’ve earned and can head back to replay specific stages. You need to “complete” each level (even if you don’t reach the end) to unlock more as well as earning a minimum amount of stars to keep progressing.

There are thirty levels on offer in total, each comprising three different stages. Overall that’s a decent chunk of gameplay on offer, and should keep you busy for a few wee hours. After each set of five levels, you’ll unlock a couple of new characters too. A personal favourite of mine are the slightly troubled looking pigeons that join the fray.

I feel like something of a broken record these days, but here goes. I had some big issues with the controls in Ready, Steady, Ship!. It’s all a bit clunky, especially when you’re trying to pick something up which is at the bottom of a pile of boxes. Switches seem to override anything else near them, to the point where my character slid over and pulled the lever rather than pick up the box right next to them. Ready, Steady, Ship! is an extremely fiddly game to play. Whether that’s trying to keep your boxes on course, compensate for the wild physics that send them launching off in a random direction sometimes, or the restoration process of broken machinery. At times it can feel like a real chore. 

Still, these control issues I could deal with. It’s operating machinery that I found, well, dreadful. The issue is rooted in the fact that the physics in Ready, Steady, Ship! are incredibly sensitive and volatile. The worst moments in this game are when you need to drive a forklift to move pallets around, whether that’s onto a conveyor belt or into storage containers. It’s infuriating to the point that it’s a small miracle my wall doesn’t contain an Xbox controller shaped hole.

The control issues caused me to have a real problem with Ready, Steady, Ship!.

Or so I thought. Rather unexpectedly, once I had cleared the second set of levels, and there wasn’t a forklift or crane in sight, I started to really enjoy my time with Ready, Steady, Ship!. This was until my old nemesis returned once again. I certainly ended up with a love/hate relationship as I played through the campaign.

I did unfortunately encounter a few glitches with Ready, Steady, Ship!. In one level, a pressure switch activated platform took a box up and away out of reach, and there was no way for me to get to it. At other times my forklift got wedged against something, and I managed to free myself after a painfully slow reverse manoeuvre. Thank goodness you can not only restart the level, but each individual stage thanks to the checkpoint system too.

Ready, Steady, Ship! is perfectly playable solo, but also supports couch co-op so you and a pal can team up to be the most efficient logistics team in town. There are a different set of levels on offer when you double the amount of players, although they follow similar themes as the solo campaign. There is no online functionality so you’ll need a real life friend to enlist some help. Co-op is a little more fun, especially as you can tackle two different conveyor belts simultaneously. It’s no game changer however – all the ups and downs of the game play out in the multiplayer too.

Ready, Steady, Ship! is an uneven experience, albeit a fairly substantial one. It’s a little more fun when you get a friend involved, but there are other titles in the genre that have done it better.