Airboat
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| Airboat | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Affiliation | |
| Type | |
| Health |
Indestructible |
| Passengers |
1 |
| Used by | |
| Weapon(s) |
Pulse cannon (originally none) |
The Airboat (originally known as the Mudskipper[1]) is a Resistance vehicle built from scrap and spare parts. Nimble, fast, and capable of travelling over both water and land, it is ideal for navigating the City 17 Canals. It is unarmed at first, but is later retrofitted with a salvaged Pulse Cannon, making it a very deadly threat to Combine forces.
Contents |
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Half-Life 2
The Airboat is introduced to the player towards the end of the chapter Route Kanal at Station 6, which is destroyed as Gordon passes through it by a Headcrab Shell bombardment. Gordon his given the boat by Arlene and makes his way through polluted canals and wetlands and is soon spotted by a City Scanner, prompting nearby Civil Protection units to give chase. Gordon manages to evade them, until eventually a Hunter-Chopper joins the chase. After being pursued for miles, Gordon temporarily loses the chopper in some tunnels, and comes across a hidden resistance camp. A Vortigaunt there mounts a Pulse cannon (salvaged from another Hunter-Chopper) on the boat, providing the Airboat with a powerful offensive capability. When Gordon reached Black Mesa East, he left the Airboat behind. It is then presumably captured by the Combine as they invade Black Mesa East. If it was not captured, then it could have been destroyed from the effects of the Citadel explosion.
[edit] Tactics
A fast and compact vehicle, the Airboat is well suited to the high speed navigation of the canals that Freeman eventually uses it for. Though unarmed at first, it can be used to ram any Civil Protection officers foolish enough to stand in the way of it. Once the Airboat is armed, however, its lethality increases significantly. The Hunter-Chopper Pulse cannon is an extremely powerful weapon, capable of punching through the armor of both APCs and Hunter-Choppers. In addition, ammunition supply isn't a problem, as the ammo 'recharges' as it is used. However, burst fire is needed or ammo will run out in around 2 seconds.
[edit] Behind the scenes
- The Airboat was originally a Jet Ski but did not playtest well. When the Airboat replaced it and was first tested, it caused motion sickness. If the player's view was tightly connected to the vehicle, every slight bump was magnified, making some early playtesters nauseous (Adrian Finol, programmer, even threw up after an extended playtest). A careful redesign of the handlebar, pontoon and roll-cage were subsequently made, ending with the current version.[1]
- The first Airboat model can be found in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files. It is longer and its textures are not completed.[2]
[edit] Gallery
 The Jet Ski. |
 Early Airboat model. |
 Arlene filling the Airboat's tank. Of note is that that closer look shows she is not actually doing it (the gas can is also quite oversized). |
[edit] List of appearances
- Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
- Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
- ↑ Playable Half-Life 2 Beta files
[edit] External links
| Vehicles, vessels and transportation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Black Mesa transportation | Black Mesa SUV · Black Mesa Transit System · Black Mesa Truck | |
| HECU vehicles | AH-64 Apache · F-16 Fighting Falcon · M1A1 Abrams · M2A3 Bradley · M35 Cargo Truck · V-22 Osprey | |
| Combine vehicles | Advisor Platform · Armored Personnel Carrier · Hunter-Chopper · Razor Train | |
| Resistance vehicles | Airboat · Mil Mi-8 · Muscle Car · Scout Car | |
| Trainstations | City 17 Trainstation · Depot · Technical Trainstation | |
| Other | Borealis · Rail-based transportation | |
| Combine (cut) | AirEx Truck · C-130 · Combine SWAT Truck · M2A3 Bradley · Merkava · School Bus · V-22 Osprey | |
| Resistance (cut) | Borealis · C-130 · Jalopy · Jet Ski · Submarine · V-22 Osprey | |
| Other (cut) | F-117 Nighthawk · Digger | |
