Since its arrival in 2013, jet aircraft have always been popular in GTA Online, with sneaking into Fort Zancudo to steal a Lazer essentially having formed a rite of passage for would-be crimelords back in the day.
Nowadays, despite being the favoured vehicle of many a griefer, jets still hold a place in countless players' hearts, as a recent Reddit thread has shown.
One of the reasons why is that each of GTA’s jets offers a chance for a bit of Top Gun-style wish fulfilment, with a mission connected to the Humane Labs Heist arguably providing the most concentrated dose of Tom Cruise-esque aviation-based adrenaline, largely thanks to its soundtrack.
On the Highway to the GTA Danger Zone
Posting in the GTA Online subreddit, user cosmic-orca began a thread sharing a clip of them flying a Hydra jet in one of the heist’s prep missions while a particular Kenny Loggins song blasted through their stereo system, captioning the video: “it was cool to hear Danger zone in the hydra prep for humane labs”.
User Verb_NounNumber shared in the aviation appreciation, saying: “This is my favourite Easter egg in the whole game. Full stop.”, while ze_ex_21 added: “It made me smile the first time; perfect tune for the moment. Same when ‘If you leave me now’ comes on while you're delivering Patricia back to Madrazo in single player. Perfect tune while Trevor sobs.”
Meanwhile, user 2Gross2Chu suggested that the song’s inclusion in the mission had allowed them to showcase their psychic powers, revealing: “(the) first time I played this and realised what we had to do I told my crew ‘If they don't play Danger Zone, I'm quitting’. Absolutely nailed it, it's the little things…”
On the other hand, user Hero_of_Hyrule shared a small frustration with the surprise, saying: “my only complaint is that it doesn't play until after the dog fight when you're flying away”, to which ChickenFlats responded: “I will politely disagree and say that I thought it made for a really great and unexpected ‘reward’ for completing the (hard part of the) mission.”
User Aricamp expressed disappointment that the more iconic songs from GTA 5’s original soundtrack aren’t employed during missions more often, saying: “It's such a great moment, but it makes me realise some sadly wasted potential. Why doesn't Fortunate Son start playing when you steal the Valkyrie from Merryweather? It was in (the) game at the time, it could've been so perfect.”
Aricamp could have a point too, as the Danger Zone moment still seems to leave a lasting impression on both players trying the Hydra mission for the first time and those who’ve played it hundreds of times.
So, if you’re a wannabe air ace, jump back into GTA Online, head straight for the Hydra mission, and make sure to follow us for more GTA Online updates as new content is released.