Vector Thrust

About

Vector Thrust is a single player and multiplayer shooter game with fantasy and historical themes. It was developed by TimeSymmetry and was released on July 2, 2015. It received neutral reviews from players.

"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

Skip User Reviews

46%

Audience ScoreBased on 459 reviews

story26 positive mentions

stability50 negative mentions

The game has a great selection of aircraft, including many real and fictional variants.
The cel-shaded graphics provide a unique and appealing visual style.
The gameplay is reminiscent of classic Ace Combat games, offering fast-paced dogfighting action.

The game is plagued by frequent crashes and bugs, making it frustrating to play.
The campaign lacks depth and is poorly executed, with minimal storytelling and unengaging missions.
Missile guidance is often inaccurate, leading to a reliance on guns rather than missiles during combat.

story
257 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
82%
8%
The game's story is often criticized for being poorly executed, with many players experiencing significant bugs that prevent them from progressing through the campaign. While the narrative attempts to emulate classic flight combat games, it suffers from lackluster presentation, tedious exposition, and unbalanced mission design, leading to frustration among players. Despite its potential, the overall storytelling feels incomplete and uninspired, leaving many players disengaged from the plot.
- “The story setup with real-world aircraft in a fictional world is reminiscent of the Ace Combat series.”
- “The campaign has a very similar start as Ace Combat 4 did, although the story isn't exactly great so far compared to Ace Combat 4.”
- “The game gives the opportunity to use, buy, and sell aircraft without any restrictions, including the game's story time.”
- “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.”
gameplay
89 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
71%
7%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the solid flight mechanics and arcade-style combat reminiscent of classic titles like Ace Combat, while others criticize it for being repetitive, lacking depth, and suffering from bugs and poor optimization. Many users express a desire for improvements and updates, suggesting that the core gameplay has potential but is currently hindered by various issues, including a confusing interface and inadequate instructions. Overall, while there are enjoyable elements, the gameplay experience is marred by technical problems and a lack of content.
- “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 to Ace Combat games, particularly the PS2 trilogy, with gameplay mechanics that closely resemble those three.”
- “If you could figure out how to stop the crashing, it may be worth the money, but as it stands, it's not that great considering that the actual gameplay is also lacking, as there are no ground targets or even special weapons, and the standard missiles are even less accurate than Ace Combat 7 on Ace difficulty.”
- “Instructions are awful (almost non-existent), gameplay is boringly repetitive, and missiles are almost useless.”
- “The game has now been more or less abandoned, with the devs making updates that absolutely do nothing to fix or change 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 realism, particularly in ground textures. The aircraft models are generally praised for their detail, but the overall visual experience is marred by technical issues and inconsistent quality. Despite its artistic charm, many reviewers feel that the graphics do not meet modern standards, impacting the game's overall appeal.
- “The cell-shaded graphics look and feel great, the narrative isn't bad, and the gameplay is fast and exciting.”
- “The graphics are great, and for someone like myself who is not a fan of cell shading, this game does it right.”
- “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
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, crashes, and glitches that significantly hinder gameplay. Many players describe it as a "buggy mess" with unfinished content, making it frustrating to complete missions and enjoy the experience fully. While some find moments of enjoyment, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized and feels abandoned by its developers, leading to a lack of confidence in its future improvements.
- “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.”
- “Right now it's a ridiculous buggy mess.”
- “It's a buggy mess and I can't even finish the first campaign mission since it randomly fails.”
- “A buggy mess that shouldn't have come out of early access.”
music
43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
56%
9%
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 comments highlight that while the soundtrack can be decent, it often fails to enhance the gaming experience, with some describing it as generic or irritating. Overall, the music is seen as a redeeming quality for some, but not enough to elevate the game significantly.
- “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%
37%
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 it 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, the current state of optimization significantly detracts from the enjoyment of the game.
- “+ 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 military pilots in non-campaign modes contribute to the overall lighthearted tone, making the experience entertaining even amidst frustration.
- “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 voice acting and static cutscenes fail to convey any genuine emotion, resulting in a disconnection from the characters and story. Overall, the slow pacing and minimal character interaction contribute to a sense of boredom rather than the intended emotional impact.
- “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
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The monetization of the game is viewed as favorable, with no microtransactions or DLC, and a low initial price point that is less than typical microtransaction costs. However, some users express concerns about the game's unfinished state and potential cash grab nature, hoping for continued developer support and a more active community to enhance the experience.
- “This game has no microtransactions or DLC and currently costs less than a single microtransaction for Ace Combat: Nickel and Dime.”
- “Horrid mess of an unfinished game made as a quick cash grab.”
- “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.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Players highlight the exceptional replayability of Vector Thrust, attributing it to the in-game editor that offers nearly limitless mission creation possibilities, along with robust moddability features. This combination significantly enhances the game's longevity and variety.
- “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 in-game editor allows for nearly endless mission possibilities, and with moddability, the replayability of Vector Thrust is through the roof.”
- “The lack of diverse missions and objectives makes replaying the game feel tedious and uninteresting.”
- “Once you've completed the main storyline, there isn't much incentive to replay the game, as the experience feels largely the same.”