The HellCat fighter,[1] also known as the Freedom League HellCat cruiser,[2] is a vehicle in Jak 3. A modified zoomer equipped as an airship, it is the successor to the Krimzon Guard and HellCat cruisers, used as a fighter by the Freedom League during the war in Haven City.
The fighters were used by soldiers (and Jak on one occasion) during air battles against KG Death Bot forces in the skies. Torn, Ashelin Praxis, Sig, and Jinx also used one for long-distance and high-altitude transport.
Like its predecessor, the HellCat fighter has an on-board cannon[3] and dual turret, though both are heavily modified. Unlike the cruisers, however, it has a new bomb-launching weapon, used only once, by Jak.
History[]
Ashelin and Torn in a HellCat fighter shortly before the fall of the Palace.
HellCat fighters were first seen in the opening sequence of Jak 3, engaging in air battles against the KG Death Bot fighters flying near the Haven Palace. Torn and Ashelin also patrolled the skies in one, and used it to pick up Jak, Daxter, and Samos Hagai when the Palace fell.[4]
Later in the game, Ashelin used one to visit Jak in the Wasteland oasis, to give him the JET-Board and ask him to come back to the city.[5] After Jak did in fact go back to Haven, he used the fighter in the mission "Destroy war factory defenses" to infiltrate the KG war factory.
Some time later, for the mission "Blow open tower door", Ashelin tasked Torn with driving a vehicle full of explosives to the Metal Head tower, and tasked Sig, Jinx, and Jak with trailing behind him in a HellCat fighter to protect him through battle zones. Lastly, Sig used a fighter to pick up Jak from the top of the Metal Head tower shortly before it exploded, after the mission "Destroy Metal Head tower".[6]
Characteristics[]
Design[]
Torn and Ashelin rescuing Jak, Daxter, and Samos Hagai with a HellCat fighter as the Palace falls.
As a large, heavy-duty delta-shaped airship, the HellCat fighter is identical in general design to its predecessor, the Krimzon Guard cruiser. With two seats, an open cockpit, and a large engine bed in the back, the only difference is its coloring and livery. It is painted primarily blue with yellow trim, and bears the Freedom League logo on either side of its engine bed. The Precursor lettering "TSL" remains the same.
Also different from its predecessor is that the exhaust almost always emits from two blocks in the back, and from the lower engines much more rarely (seemingly only while landing).[7]
Mounted on the top of the engine area is an inset seat for the dual-barrel turret, protected by a windshield. At the very front of the vehicle is a single-barrel cannon mounted to the bottom, which has a 360-degree horizontal sweep and a 180-degree vertical sweep.
Performance[]
Jak and Daxter flying the HellCat fighter during "Destroy war factory defenses".
The fighter does not at all resemble its predecessor in performance or controls. Now with high-altitude flying abilities, its bulk hardly factors into its maneuvering. It feels much lighter to handle and is much faster than the cruiser.
Due to its nimbleness, it can now tilt on its forward axis to make sharp turns, and its lateral axis to change its elevation and pitch freely, without the restriction of hover zones. Also different from the cruiser, it remains constantly accelerating with blue exhaust always emitting from its engine. When boosting its acceleration, the exhaust becomes much larger and warmer in hue, and the vehicle travels much faster as a result.
The fighter's on-board weapons remain the same as its predecessor, though they are heavily modified. The on-board canon now fires blasts of green lasers in a left-right pattern (despite its single-barrel design), with a much longer range and higher rate of fire. The dual-barrel turret now fires Vulcan Fury-like bullets at a rapid rate of fire, but has to be manually aimed.
The fighter also possesses a new weapon, which shoots a laser blast directly in front of the fighter at an appreciable distance, then explodes into a large circular blast, destroying everything in its vertical wake. Unlike the cannon and turret, the bombs are limited in capacity (but eventually regenerate).
Notes[]
- Citations
References[]
- Video games
- Naughty Dog (2003). Jak II. PlayStation 2. Sony Interactive Entertainment.
- Naughty Dog (2004). Jak 3. PlayStation 2. Sony Interactive Entertainment.
- Bibliography
- Schrader, Nathali (2003). The Complete Official Guide to Jak II: Renegade. Piggyback Interactive. ISBN 1903511453.
- Shrader, Nathali (2004). The Official Jak 3 Guide. Piggyback Interactive. ISBN 0761549285.