This was a very interesting interview experience that almost didn't transpire due to a certain turn of events.
I've originally accepted the meeting in Creative Dock based on an presentation from an agency recruiter, but as I was looking into additional details later when preparing for the interview day, I've stumbled upon the few available Glassdoor reviews which (at that point) almost all had one particular thing in common - they were overwhelmingly negative in about all points imaginable.
As I was already in a schedule of several other interviews with companies which didn't (at least at the first glance) suffer from these surprisingly many deep issues, I've asked the recruiter to cancel the meeting completely, relaying that I would be rather looking for something else.
Unexpectedly, I've been in turn asked if it's okay to let Creative Dock HR contact me back for a short talk, as they would like to try to clear up the situation or see the issues that had me walk out. Well obviously, I was interested in what they have to say and why a company would even do that given that all the reviews painted it as especially unreliable to bother with it in the first place. Later during the conversation, having HR to basically agree that there were some occasions where they - literally - "messed up" and explain in detail the steps that they took to make some of the hiring processes better (and less drama prone) was a very unexpected turn of events and as far as HR and communication goes, I could easily give the company 100% - we have cleared up those situations that were negatively described in the previous reviews in a very civil and constructive manner and it was apparent that the company realizes some of the mistakes that led to the former disagreements and is actively fixing them.
After sorting out my concerns, we've agreed to schedule a new interview, which sadly cannot be described in every detail due to the 5000 characters review limit, but for at least some of the highlights, I've been pleasantly surprised by the so-termed "hipsterish" secondary offices where the major part of the interview took place. The nearby company's headquarters feel quite busy and crowded (in a very different way than "crowded" corporate offices would look like - the Creative Dock HQ feels more like a stock exchange trading floor than an actual IT place, which may well suit some people, but as likely could drive away many other, depending on the character), yet the remaining offices that are situated standalone in a separate apartment complex seem to offer a surprisingly decent work comfort that still somehow resembles the dot-com era startup scene and the cultural and social feel that come with it. It's a pretty laid back and quiet place (or so it feels from the interview day), yet situated in a very good and accessible part near the city center, with everything nearby - including the main offices. It would be really hard to complain about that.
As for the interview itself, it was likely one of the most informative ones I had in a long time during a first round of the meetings and the tech interviewer was well knowledgeable about the subject and the offered projects. I've been in a few job interviews where I've had a 50-page tall stack of tests dropped in front of me without almost a word of introduction or even asking what I'm actually seeking from the position in the first place (and in one especially insulting case I've straight walked out at that point) - and this was the exact opposite of it. The sort of interview Creative Dock did is the tipping point which shows that the company is actually interested in a discussion with the potential employees and likely can follow through in a friendly, non-bureaucratic manner. This initial round was then followed by assigning a 'homework' - which in my case was again mostly decided through the previous conversation, so I was offered to compile my own presentation of e.g. already written code, scripts, tool sets or other relevant proofs of knowledge related to the respective technologies that would be used in the offered job position.
Unfortunately for the case of this interview, right after finishing it, I was notified by another earlier interviewing company that they've decided to finalize me an offer for a position which was more or less an equivalent of the one that Creative Dock would like me for - but which would see me starting sooner, while Creative Dock was still roughly 3 months away from launching the project that would have been the most suitable for my preferences and skills.
So in this case, I've decided to choose the position with an earlier start, but from what I've seen and was able to discuss, Creative Dock would very likely be my second choice any time.