Another nice feature of the F-22 are the impressive Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 engines, with 39,000 lbs. of thrust, the TAW manual notes that the F-22 enjoys more power than two F-4s. This excessive thrust allows you to recover quite easily from high AOA maneuvers, as demonstrated here as I simply plug in the afterburners and climb straight away, accelerating straight up!
In addition to the raw power and airframe designed for both speed and low speed agility, the F-22 supplements these great features with thrust vectoring nozzles on the engines to further enhance maneuverability. The TAW manual notes that during normal operations, the thrust vectoring nozzles are the primary source of pitch authority on the aircraft while the horizontal stabilizers are the primary control surface for roll inputs. TAW models thrust vectoring only when the “~” key is pressed and the TAW Strategy Guide indicates that thrust vectoring is must useful at speeds below 350 knots. The guide goes further to say that with thrust vectoring you can gain almost 15 degrees of pitch nearly instantaneously, but of course such maneuvering incurs a penalty of very high drag, loss of airspeed, and increased engine power to maintain energy. The guide recommends limiting thrust vectoring maneuvers to “light taps” in order to gain angles on your adversary without completely running out of airspeed.