Missions vary in both length and, to a lesser degree, complexity. The missions are somewhat repetitive, but the locations and traffic keep things a bit interesting. I’m not familiar with the real life look of the ports of Hamburg and Rotterdam, but they sure look nicely detailed and I believe they contain landmarks that would be easily recognizable by residents. The tropical location, Thailand’s Phi Phi islands, includes several islands and coves to explore. If I didn’t tell you this was Ship Simulator 2006 you might have guessed you were looking at a Far Cry screenshot.
Using a bit of differential power, rudder, and the bow thruster, we ease out of the harbor Koh Phi Phi and head out toward our mission goal: picking up passengers from other ships. Pickup waypoints are indicated by floating marker buoys labeled “TAXI”. All you have to do is pull up to a predetermined distance, come to a stop, and wait for a brief allocated amount of time. After picking up passengers you are usually under orders to drop them off in another location. The density of traffic, both enroute and at the pickup points, determines the difficulty of the scenario.
