Heatseeker for the PS2 has you as a new pilot who thinks he's taking a F22 to a tropical island. Trouble ensues, of course, and soon the fate of the world is on your shoulders.

A key of any flight game is how well the graphics look. You're trying to spin around at top speed, with items flashing by you - you need to be able to spot the enemy, keep track of them visually while you're turning in three dimensions.

You have a behind-the-plane view of the actions which means the plane itself is often blocking your view of enemies. Cut scenes will jump in to interrupt you just as you're lining up your shot. The radar uses a very "fuzzy blob" look to it which is far from helpful. The plane itself - which as mentioned is taking up a large amount of the screen's real estate - looks like it's made out of cardboard with a few spots painted onto it.

The clouds, at least, are pretty - but you can't really judge a plane game based on fluffy clouds in the background :)

The sound has lots of blasting jets, more blasting jets - and lots of screaming. Your contacts are either yelling at you to get moving, yelling at you for not moving quickly enough, yelling at you to help out, or yelling at you for just being there. You'd think every once in a while they'd encourage you on. Often the yelling drowns out other things you're trying to hear.

The flying controls are "pretty brain dead" says one of my testers. It just doesn't offer the level of challenge found in the many other flight games out for the various consoles.

We adore plane combat games. We've played most of them that have been put out. This one just doesn't compare. I could highly recommend three or four other games that you really should play before spending your money on this one.

NOTE: Even though this game has issues, my boyfriend ended up getting addicted to it and playing not only all the way through on normal but then again on the higher level to get all the bonus items. So it does have potential for addiction.

Buy Heatseeker from Amazon.com