Airboat

"Hey, Dr. Freeman, I've been hoping you'd show up. Got this airboat all gassed up and ready to go."

- Rebel at Station 6

The Airboat (originally known as the Mudskipper ) 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.

Half-Life 2
The Airboat is introduced to the player towards the end of the chapter Route Kanal at one of the last Underground Railroad stations, which is destroyed as Gordon passes through it by a Headcrab Shell bombardment. Gordon takes the boat 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.

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.

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.


 * The first Airboat model can be found in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files. It is longer and its textures are not completed.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar