Category:Vehicles

The vehicles from the Halo universe are transport vehicles designed for use in combat situations. Many vehicles exist in the Halo universe, and some of them can be used in the Halo games. Vehicles are a very important part of gameplay, and can be used in both the Campaign and in multiplayer games.

Vehicles have distinct tactical advantages. Most vehicles have powerful weapons with unlimited ammunition. Their firepower can be used to damage or destroy enemy forces or placements. Vehicles can also be used to transport troops swiftly, and can provide essential support in skirmishes.

Due to their size, vehicles can't enter some tight areas like buildings, where infantry can enter. However, Warthogs, Mongooses and Ghosts can often be driven in corridors, and even up and down stairs. Vehicles can be easily spotted and destroyed by enemy artillery or explosive small-arms fire. Vehicles can also be hijacked, which either results in the hijacked vehicle being destroyed or the driver being ejected and the hijacker taking control of the vehicle.

Gameplay
In gameplay, only a small number of very unique vehicles are drivable and controllable, most operating in a similar fashion, allowing driving (navigation) and control of mounted weaponry (attack), though some allow one to do both simultaneously or only provide one of the two. Such weapons usually have unlimited ammunition available, whether they are human (ballistic-based) or Covenant (plasma-based).

When the player enters a vehicle by climbing into the driver, weapon or passenger seat, the camera switches from a first-person to a third-person view. This improves peripheral vision and the bird's eye view makes it easier to drive around, with nearby terrain easily fitting into view. When the player has control of weaponry while being driven around in a vehicle, either hand-held weapons (usable while in passenger seats) or turrets (usable while in turret seats), a stylized aiming reticule is displayed much like when in first-person view, locked to the center of the screen and replacing the typical arrow cursor.

Halo: Combat Evolved is the only game where vehicles cannot be destroyed unless it is part of the story or glitches/mods are used. However, Ghosts and Banshees can be destroyed in Halo: Combat Evolved's campaign, albeit only when the Ghost or the Banshee is occupied.

Allied
UNSC and Covenant vehicles are made available in Campaign levels, depending on which side the player character is on (UNSC/Covenant). Vehicles are usually either kept unuse or wait for the player to drive it or occupy the turret.

Enemy
Since UNSC vehicles are rarely available in Campaign levels, it is a common practice to kill the driver of Covenant vehicles in order to hijack them. Although it is relatively easy to kill its driver from afar with careful sniping, the preferred approach is known as "boarding".

Vehicles that have been stopped by sheer firepower by destroying or disabling them cannot be taken control of. With vehicles such as the Ghost and Banshee, the boarding procedure is simpler. You can board it, throw the driver off, and in most cases automatically assume control of the vehicle, all in one quick action.

Multiplayer
Certain vehicles can be driven in multiplayer maps. Vehicles can be very useful in Slayer and skirmish gametypes.

In Capture the Flag, once the player character has picked up the flag, the character cannot drive a vehicle or take control of its weaponry, though the character may ride in a vehicle driven by another character.

Trivia

 * UNSC vehicles are usually named after animals (such as the Warthog or Pelican). Some exceptions are the UNSC aircraft fighters and bombers (such as the Longsword, Shortsword, and Sabre) which are named after types of sword. Covenant vehicles are mostly named after supernatural beings (such as the Ghost or Phantom); with the exception of large land units being named after insects (such as the Scarab or Locust), though this could stem from them first being encountered in a non-combat role.