Sitting on the bridge of the large freighter you get a sense for how big your ship is. You have a very high vantage point which makes spotting traffic and the proper seaway a bit easier.
Unfortunately, the bridge views suffer from one serious drawback. Though you can pan the mouse around and look in any direction, your feet are firmly welded to the deck. You cannot move around the bridge toward the windows or the port and starboard sides. While the bridge looks like it has plenty of room to move about to better your vantage point, you are stuck in the middle and thus cannot see the crucial areas that you need to in order to make close quarter maneuvers. This is a serious flaw; all of the footage I’ve seen of river and harbor pilots show them scurrying from wing bridge to wing bridge checking ranges, bearings, obstacles and barking out orders. The lack of the ability to move about the bridge pretty much forces you to use external views to supplement your situational awareness.
