I'm thinking this is actually a joke to illustrate people sticking with SH3 rather than jump to SH5.
But just in case: You can make SH3 as simple or as complex as you want. You can "point and shoot" if you like. Or you can use Manual Targeting but have the 1WO ("Weapons Officer") do the calculations for you.
SH2 was a fine shooter game, in which you had to complete each level before you could progress to the next. It was also a fun adversarial multi-player game when used with Destroyer Command. It does not, however, hold a candle to SH3.