Parents' Guide to Vector Thrust

This solid flight-combat game should entertain sim fans, but newcomers to the genre could be intimidated. It harkens back to the good old days of PC gaming when companies such as Jane's Combat Simulation games put players in the cockpits of some top-end jets and asked them to duke it out in cyberskies. Where Vector Thrust differs is that it's less technical and more like an arcade fighter. It has done away with realistic graphics to serve up a stylized, cel-shaded adventure with just enough eye candy to entertain without taking away from the action. The amount of game modes is a plus, and the editor is a very nice add-in. The game looks good, and its sound effects are passable for fast-paced play. But the game could use longer mission briefings that explain your tasks, as well as a tutorial to ease players into the fight. Plus, though there are a lot of planes (and some are quite imaginative), the starting set feels cumbersome. It takes time to build up enough points to buy a good plane, but once that happens the game seems to take on a renewed life.

These are minor issues, but where the game falters is the controls. It sports keyboard controls, where are clumsy and frustrating. If you don't have a gamepad or an old flight-control joystick, forget about playing. The thing about aerial combat is that it often happens from a distance at a high rate of speed, so with kills (and deaths) feeling unexpected, having controls that fail you can infuriate players. At its core, Vector Thrust is solid, with a lot of planes, game modes, and options that should keep aerial-combat enthusiasts enthralled for hours. But newcomers might find it a bit tough and won't last long in the cockpit.