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Flying has always been a wonder for me. Each year I fly at least twice and can't get over the awe-inspiring feeling I get from being thousands of feet about the earth and moving at hundreds of miles per hour to reach my destination hours sooner than I would if I had actually driven. Unfortunately, I have yet to reach those butterflies in the stomach, or suffer from vertigo while playing a video game. Even with the latest flight combat title from IR Gurus and Codemasters titled Heatseeker, I just can't find the adrenaline rush even while flying Top Gun style jets. Nevertheless, I still love blowing the heck out of other jets, and while Heatseeker does little new in providing these thrills, it does pull off a fun and white knuckle experience for flight combat fans who own a PS2, PSP, or even the Wii.

Heatseeker from the most part is your typical combat flight title that pits you in a bunch of missions that will have you interacting in facemetling dog fights, locking on to enemies, and shaking off bogeys in stylish planes like the F35, F22, and even the Russian SU 47 Berkut. You can choose missile, weapon, and even skin types before you venture into the wide blue yonder and choose the right set up that will suit each mission for your skill base.

The game's presentation is very 5 years ago complete with cheesy CGI footage of newscasts and over acting characters that take this serious in tone style of game, to the brink of a comedy. The game's visuals aren't jaw dropping, but they do the job in providing plenty of action, great explosions, and interesting terrain to fly around.

You get a choice of 12 jets, 18 missions, and even motion controls if you own a Wii. Controlling your craft is easy as you can dive, ascend, roll, and pitch thanks to the simple setup and responsive control system. While the game play and A.I. are very good, any fan of this genre of game will find anything new or greatly refreshing in Heatseeker, which leaves this title in recommendation to fans of the genre only.

Heatseeker does provide a nifty little impact camera that takes the term getting into the action to a new level. This camera allows you to follow your missiles up to the point of impact and is an impressive little angle that is dynamic and provides that little extra something that keeps Heatseeker from mediocrity.

For the PSP and PS2, I can't suggest more than a rental for this title as there are better and more engaging flight titles on the system due to their lengthy system lives, but for the Wii the game is one of the better flying titles, and that's saying something considering that this is the 3rd game since the system launch in November. Even the interactive Wii controls make this game a tad more interesting due to the motion sensor scheme the Wii provides.

All in all, if you must have another flight title, Heatseeker will do the job, no more, no less. However, if this is a genre you have flown by, this isn't the title to provide anything but turbulence for your gameplay experience. Not too flawed, but not too inspiring either.