I don't think that's an accurate reflection since Sentinels were a SCORE invention coming after sunset. With the right sets, that's exactly what a blaster is capable of, but most people tend to play them as functioning blappers. But the entire concept of blasters was to be a glass cannon, albeit that the execution of such ideal is open to debate.
VS is ok, as you correctly point out, it's essentially a free attack but you have to be aware of the limitations of the power.
However there are caveats, notably that Elec blast (and to an extent Electric Manipulation) feel weak, not because they are - the numbers are comparable with most sets - but that Electric's secondary power, Endurance Drain is about as useful as a rubber duck in the Sahara. Most powers have a useful additional effect, Fire's DoT or Energy's KB are good examples of what works but the -End of Electric really doesn't work well. In PVE, it does not inconvenience enemy mobs, and none of the "standard" powers restock the players End with any noticeable effect, regardless of the description. In PVP it takes great skill to discommode an enemy player and then one has to rely on them not having any blue insps. Oh... wait, that's PVP, nobody bothers with that any more.
Electric Blast is not a bad set, but it does play rather underwhelmingly. VS is too high up the tier - it promises a lot, and delivers significantly less, and most of the powers in the pool could do with a passover. Personally I'd be happy if the made the -End component worthwhile, then you've got something worth having and a set with a meaningful feature.