What's oddly fascinating about the Wasp to me is that in SO it's one of the best fighters in the game. Highly maneuverable, with one of the best gun and missile load outs to be found on Cerberus' flight deck. The Mosquito pods alone make it formidable, but couple that with some dust cannons and descent shielding, and it gives the Vampire a run for its money. But I agree its kind of an odd-ship-out as far as aesthetics goes. It seems like a hold-over from a previous iteration of fighters from the art department.
Not necessarily. Think about the Wasp, using the Squid as a point of reference. Both are very, very simple designs, hardly anything more than an engine, weapons, and a cockpit. Their only role is interception, so they're very no-frills. The Wasp is the only ship in the Midway's contingent that does not appear to have a jump drive built in, for instance. We can almost certainly assume, too, that while other ships are capable of atmospheric flight, the Wasp lacks this capability. And of course, both the Vampire and the Panther have special features that give them ultra-high manoeuvrability on one axis, requiring a special adjustment from the pilot. The Wasp has pretty good manoeuvrability all round, but cannot rival either the Panther or the Vampire if they are well used. And finally, the Wasp presumably would have a much lower range than other fighters. You don't get to fly a long-range mission with the Wasp, because it can't fly such a mission. So, yeah, the Wasp appears at first glance to be overpowered compared to those other ships, but when you think about its limitations, you realise that it's really not. And this is very well reflected in the ship's visual qualities... and sadly, this is exactly what makes it such an ugly beast

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