Hunter

Vehicle
Hunter
A Hunter in GTA Vice City.
A Hunter in GTA Vice City.
A Hunter in GTA Vice City.
Appearance(s) GTA Vice City
GTA San Andreas
GTA Vice City Stories
GTA V
Vehicle type Military aircraft
Body style Attack helicopter
Capacity 1 (pilot)
ADVERTISEMENT

The Hunter is a military attack helicopter featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, with a cameo appearance in Grand Theft Auto V.

Description

The Hunter is clearly based on the AH-64 Apache. In GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, the Hunter is an aesthetically correct AH-64A "Apache". In GTA San Andreas, however, the gunner's cockpit is removed, and an eight-blade tail rotor replaces the four-blade version.

The Hunter is a very deadly aircraft, having a self-targeting machine gun and the ability to shoot two dumb fire rockets simultaneously. Like the other armed military vehicles, the Rhino and Hydra, it has infinite ammunition. The Hunter is neither bulletproof nor explosion-proof like the Rhino, but is highly damage-resistant. The Hunter can also be used for the Vigilante side mission, which GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas dub Brown Thunder.

The Hunter does not appear in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories; however, leftover Hunter files from the GTA Vice City code remained in the game, and, with the help of third party trainers, a Hunter can be spawned. The Hunter in GTA Liberty City Stories is similar in design to the GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories renditions, but cannot be used for Vigilante missions nor is named in-game.

The animation for entering the Hunter is different in GTA San Andreas to GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories. In GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, the Hunter has doors that open like a normal helicopter or normal vehicle. However, in GTA San Andreas, it has a hatch similar to that of a Hydra.

Notable appearances in missions

The Hunter's most notable use is in the GTA Vice City Stories missions Over the Top and Last Stand, when Victor Vance steals a Hunter (in Over the Top) in order to attack the Mendez Cartel (in Last Stand). It also appears in the following missions:

  • All Hands on Deck! (GTA Vice City) - Destroyed by Tommy Vercetti for attacking Juan Cortez and his crew.
  • Learning to Fly (GTA San Andreas) - Used in the 3 helicopter lessons.
  • Up, Up and Away! (GTA San Andreas)
  • Karmageddon (GTA Liberty City Stories) - Can be spawned on top of the casino using a certain "glitch": during the mayhem stop at the three pyramids monument located in Torrington and climb up the tallest one, at the top press L1 (or L if it's PSP version), SELECT, UP and CROSS simultaneously and you'll hear a certain blip if done correct. After that continue the mission as intended, but in the end instead of demolishing the truck, go on top of casino and you'll see the chopper. After entering destroy the truck using missiles either machine guns.
  • From Zero to Hero (GTA Vice City Stories)

Although it isn't considered a mission, the Hunter appears in a multiplayer match for the PSP version of GTA Vice City Stories named Might of the Hunter.

Skywolf side mission

The Skywolf mission is a side mission in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories available after Last Stand. It is activated by simply entering the Hunter at Escobar International Airport and the mission requires the player to use the Hunter's weaponry to destroy a certain amount of targets while flying through coronas. The targets are mostly boats and cars, but the final one is another helicopter. Completion of the mission is necessary for 100% Completion.

Grand Theft Auto V

Error creating thumbnail: File missing
The Hunter in The Simian and Jack Howitzer show.

The Hunter appears in previews for the in-game film The Simian, which can be seen at movie theaters throughout Los Santos. It also appears in the Jack Howitzer show on the Weazel TV station, and on the Warstock Cache & Carry's Lifeinvader page[1]. It does not feature as an operable vehicle.

Trivia

  • Although the Hunter is painted green, game files in GTA San Andreas contain code for a red paint job. If the player smashes the Hunter against a building, red paint chips will fly off of it. Also, if the player commits crimes to raise their wanted level while in the Hunter, the police radio will say “Suspect last seen in a red helicopter.” after calling out the 10-code of the crime committed.
  • In GTA Vice City and San Andreas, the player is able to play the game's radio stations while flying the Hunter. However, this ability was removed in GTA Vice City Stories. The default radio stations for the Hunter are V-Rock in GTA Vice City and K-DST or Radio X in GTA San Andreas.
  • The Hunter is the fastest and most armed helicopter in the series, but has the widest turning radius as it is very large.
  • For some reason, in the mobile (iOS and Android) versions of GTA San Andreas, after update v1.06 (Android) or v1.5 (iOS), the Hunter's rockets cannot be fired with out firing the gun due to the secondary attack and rocket icons overlapping each other. Once the fire gun button is pressed, the fire rocket button can be too. Releasing the fire gun button makes the rocket button not able to be pressed again.
  • An army helicopter was planned for Grand Theft Auto III but was cut. It is possible that the Hunter was planned to be introduced or it could have been a completely different helicopter.

Locations

GTA Vice City
GTA San Andreas
GTA Vice City Stories
  • Escobar International Airport, at the southern part of the airport after completing Last Stand. Starts the Skywolf side-mission automatically upon entrance.

See also

References