Vector Thrust

About

"Vector Thrust is a historical shooter game with fast-paced single and multiplayer combat options, using a unique cel-shaded art style. The game boasts over 260 playable aircraft and includes an extensive variety of game modes, customizable skirmishes, and story-based campaigns. With advanced tactical AI and full customization options, including user-made skins and custom battle scenarios, Vector Thrust offers a diverse and adaptable gaming experience."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

+14

46%

Audience ScoreBased on 459 reviews

story26 positive mentions

stability51 negative mentions

Vector Thrust captures the essence of classic arcade flight games, reminiscent of the Ace Combat series.
The game features a wide variety of aircraft, including both real and fictional models, providing a unique experience for players.
The cel-shaded graphics give the game a distinct visual style that many players find appealing.

The game is plagued by frequent crashes and bugs, making it frustrating to play.
The campaign lacks depth and polish, with poorly executed voice acting and cutscenes.
Missile guidance and targeting systems are often unreliable, leading to a frustrating combat experience.

story
254 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
81%
8%
The game's story is often criticized for being generic and poorly executed, resembling a typical "rookie pilot rises to ace" narrative found in many flight simulators. Players report numerous bugs and glitches that hinder campaign progression, with many unable to complete even the first mission due to broken objectives and crashes. While there is potential for a more engaging storyline, the current execution leaves much to be desired, with tedious exposition and lackluster mission design detracting from the overall experience.
- “The story setup with real-world aircraft in a fictional world is reminiscent of the Ace Combat series.”
- “The campaign was alright and there are only two other scenario missions to play afterward, but the various airplane family challenge missions are what really rack in the hours.”
- “The variety and accessibility of the missions keeps the modest length campaign engaging from beginning to end, with exhilarating air-to-air dogfights.”
- “The game tries to have a story which is told via tedious exposition dumps which are each voiced over a single ugly picture each time there is a new story development... and it's just ugly.”
- “Cannot advance the main story, but after a dozen or so tries to even get past the first mission, I've lost all interest in whatever story was trying to be told here.”
- “The dialog is long and drawn out far more than needed (especially the briefings and debriefings), and the storyline is confusing (lacking any sort of context for the events that occur, or the factions involved), uninteresting, and, as longtime fans of Ace Combat may notice, a direct copy off of the plot of Ace Combat Zero (minus back-story and plus a few twists).”
gameplay
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
70%
7%
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with solid flight mechanics and a variety of aircraft that appeal to fans of arcade-style flight games, particularly those reminiscent of the Ace Combat series. However, many players criticize the repetitive nature of combat, poor instructions, and numerous bugs that detract from the overall experience. While some find enjoyment in the core mechanics and potential for growth, others feel the game is hindered by its lack of polish and depth.
- “The gameplay is where this game really excels; the combat is near perfect and with so much to do, it's difficult to get bored of this game without pouring a considerable amount of time into it.”
- “The core gameplay is very solid.”
- “It's a sweet love letter for Ace Combat games, particularly the PS2 trilogy, with the gameplay mechanics closely resembling those three.”
- “Instructions are awful (almost non-existent), gameplay is boringly repetitive and missiles are almost useless.”
- “If you've already played AC7 and Project Wingman and you're really desperate for more of that type of gameplay, it might still be worth your time, but you'll have to struggle through a whole lot of missing content, shoddy controller support, and obvious, sometimes game-breaking bugs to make your own fun.”
- “The combat is extremely repetitive and the music doesn't really match the gameplay.”
graphics
87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
69%
6%
The graphics of the game feature a cel-shaded art style that elicits mixed reactions from players; while some appreciate its unique and colorful aesthetic reminiscent of anime and classic arcade titles, others criticize it for being cartoonish and lacking detail, particularly in ground textures. The aircraft models are generally praised for their design and detail, but the overall visual experience is marred by technical issues and a lack of polish in certain areas. Despite these criticisms, many players find the graphics serviceable and fitting for an indie title, especially when considering the game's gameplay mechanics and extensive aircraft roster.
- “The graphics are great, and for someone like myself who is not a fan of cell shading, this game does it right.”
- “The cell-shaded graphics look and feel great, the narrative isn't bad, and the gameplay is fast and exciting.”
- “The unique art style as well as the 'arcade' gameplay really sold it to me.”
- “I just couldn't abide the comic book graphics style.”
- “The graphics are lackluster (especially ground textures) for a modern PC game, and whoever decided on the 'actually zero-visibility' for the desert mission needs to be smacked (you literally cannot see anything outside the plane, at any altitude, for the entire mission, it’s really boring).”
- “I think the cel shading is ugly and does not add anything to the already lacking visuals.”
stability
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, crashes, and an overall unfinished feel. Many players experience mission failures, visual glitches, and input issues, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience. While some find enjoyment in the game, the consensus is that it is currently too unstable and poorly optimized to be considered fully playable.
- “The game is nowhere near complete, and while my experience has been relatively bug-free, some folks have definitely experienced game-breaking bugs.”
- “It was pretty buggy, but it wasn't too buggy.”
- “The final product is buggy and unpolished, with unintuitive controls and semi-frequent crashes.”
- “It's a buggy mess and I can't even finish the first campaign mission since it randomly fails.”
- “This game would be great if it wasn't so buggy.”
music
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising the original score as a standout feature, while others find it repetitive or poorly matched to the gameplay. Many describe the soundtrack as decent but unmemorable, with some tracks being irritating or generic. Overall, while there are moments of good music, it often fails to enhance the gaming experience effectively.
- “The only saving grace about Vector Thrust is its soundtrack, which was outsourced to a damn good indie composer.”
- “The game presents an ass-kicking soundtrack as well as a slick cell-shaded style that, while not exactly realistic, gives a polished and stylish appearance to the explosive imagery of combat.”
- “Once you learn the controls and spend some time beating the AI that tries so very hard to shoot you down even at lower levels, there's actually some meaning behind the consistent 'heroic'-sounding music that plays 24/7 while you're running down MiGs and bombers with your machine gun.”
- “The combat is extremely repetitive and the music doesn't really match the gameplay.”
- “The music is irritating, sounds like FSX stock music or something.”
- “The ai cheats, the maps are lifeless and boring, the controls are not the smoothest, the story & voice actors are boring, and the music is bland.”
optimization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
36%
36%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting severe performance issues, bugs, and a lack of polish in both visuals and gameplay. Many players find the game runs poorly, even worse than similar titles, and the overall experience is marred by unresponsive menus and subpar level design. While there are some elements that show potential, such as realistic weapon performance, they are overshadowed by the game's numerous optimization flaws.
- “+ seems well optimized”
- “There is even a difficulty setting for 'realistic' weapon performance, which makes missiles imitate their real-world counterparts' performance in lock-on range, turning, and destructiveness.”
- “That principle applies here but more in accordance with aircraft performance stats and weapon loadouts.”
- “The menu looks like it's from a debug version, optimization is poor, there aren't many planes to choose from, and (most importantly) this game seems to have been optimized in a meat grinder; it runs even worse than Project Wingman.”
- “The game is poorly optimized, buggy, and only a little fun.”
- “Sadly, most of it is squandered at the moment with performance rife with bugs.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly when it comes to unlocking new planes for skirmishes. The process is marred by bugs and a cumbersome menu interface, contributing to an overall sense of annoyance and shallow content.
- “Unfortunately, the game is hampered by a lot of bugs, especially in the campaign, as well as some pretty heavy grinding to unlock more planes for use in skirmishes.”
- “The method for actually unlocking planes is tedious at best, and frustrating at worst.”
- “It is buggy like hell, tedious with its menu interface, annoying when it crashes, and, in all honesty, shallow with content.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its absurdly unstable mechanics, which can lead to comical situations, especially with certain aircraft like the f-104 vtol and su-74. Additionally, the informal and amusing voice lines delivered by the characters add to the lighthearted tone, particularly in non-campaign modes. Overall, while the gameplay can be frustrating, it often results in laughable moments.
- “Some of them are interesting (e.g. fb-22 sub-family), some of them powerful (e.g. f-35x, f-15z) and some of them downright hilarious (e.g. f-104 vtol, su-74).”
- “It's so unstable it would be hilarious if you're not the one playing.”
- “Voices also sound quite funny at times, and the lines are somewhat informal to be spoken by military pilots, especially in the non-campaign modes.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized, with players finding it lacking in depth and engagement. Many feel that the static visuals and poor voice acting detract from any intended emotional impact, resulting in a campaign that fails to evoke meaningful responses from players. Overall, the game is described as boring and empty, with insufficient character interaction to foster emotional connections.
- “It's supposed to be touching and emotional, I think, but it's ruined by the voice acting since the cutscene is just a still.”
- “Slow campaign story pacing, with little emotional response to character interaction.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
100%
The game features a straightforward monetization model with no microtransactions or downloadable content (DLC), making it an affordable option for players. Reviewers appreciate this approach, highlighting the potential for community engagement and content despite concerns about initial over-advertising and bugs.
- “This game has no microtransactions or DLC and currently costs less than a single microtransaction for Ace Combat: Nickel and Dime.”
- “This game has no microtransactions or DLC and currently costs less than a single microtransaction for Ace Combat: nickel and dime.”
- “I hope the developers continue to give the game a little love where it is needed, and I wish there was still a more active community. I suspect they made the mistake of over-advertising the early access version, which turned people off with all the now mostly fixed bugs, because Vector Thrust has a lot of potential.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
150%
Players highlight the exceptional replayability of Vector Thrust, attributing it to the in-game editor that offers nearly limitless mission creation possibilities, along with strong moddability features. This combination ensures a continually fresh experience, encouraging repeated playthroughs.
- “The in-game editor allows for nearly endless mission possibilities, and with the added moddability, the replayability of Vector Thrust is through the roof.”
- “The variety of missions and the ability to create your own content make each playthrough feel fresh and exciting.”
- “With multiple paths and outcomes, every playthrough offers a unique experience that keeps you coming back for more.”
- “The game lacks meaningful choices, making replayability feel shallow and uninteresting.”
- “Once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to play again as the side missions are repetitive.”
- “While the game offers some variety, the core mechanics don't change enough to warrant multiple playthroughs.”