Airborne Ranger

Airborne Ranger is a strategy and arcade-action game in which you undertake 12 timed missions alone behind enemy lines. Choose a Ranger from your company for each mission, use stealth or combat to complete objectives, and return to the landing zone for extraction before time runs out. Successful missions raise your rank toward full colonel in the U.S. Airborne Rangers.

Plan each mission

Each mission begins with a pre-combat briefing, followed by your choice of Ranger based on the skills you think the task requires. You then pilot a V-22 Osprey and choose where to drop three ammunition crates in enemy territory. Their contents depend on the briefing and can include ammunition, time bombs, first-aid kits, grenades and LAW rockets. You can carry only a limited amount, so choosing drop locations and resupplying are important.

After parachuting in, steer your parafoil toward a safe landing and make your way through enemy troops and officers, minefields, foxholes and bunkers. Missions include destroying military targets, sabotaging installations, rescuing POWs and stealing secrets. You can use stealth, precise combat or an enemy uniform to get through, but you must reach the landing zone in time to avoid capture. If captured, you must attempt a rescue before you can complete the primary objective.

Use the terrain

Your surroundings can offer ways to evade or mislead enemies. In arctic missions, you can lure them onto unstable ice; in jungles and forests, you can hide underwater. You decide whether to use a knife, an M4 or a delayed time bomb, and whether to sprint across open ground or crawl through a trench.

Missions and modes

Practice mode lets you try individual missions. Veteran mode requires you to complete all 12 missions as a campaign, with your rank increasing after each successful mission. The game includes winter, desert and jungle terrains, four difficulty modes and randomly generated maps.

Weapons and Rangers

The game features an assortment of 1980s weapons. For each mission, you can choose a Ranger from your squadron, while your supplies can include ammunition, explosives, medical kits, grenades and LAW rockets.