Well of course, but I didn't spend 349857389$ on all this crap you need to play DX9+ games these days so I can just stare at bernards face inside the hull
I know sh3 isn't dx9 but you see the point.
However for realism it definatly matters.
I think the hardest part for me without external camera would be identifying targets by flag. By the time I get close enough to do that usually i'm a gonner.
The way I play now works great considering I have 3 machines setup, and usually finish work stuff on one, surf the web on the other while sh3 is plowing through the seas on the main one. There can be some idle moments even when time compressing