Alone behind enemy lines, you deploy elite Ranger skills, small arms, and ammo crates to tackle twelve intense missions across winter, desert, and jungle terrains. Pilot the V-22 Osprey to drop supplies, then parachute in with a parafoil for precise landings amid troops, minefields, and bunkers. Switch between stealth tactics like knife strikes, crawling trenches, or hiding underwater, and direct combat with grenades or LAW rockets to destroy targets, sabotage sites, rescue POWs, or steal secrets.
This action-strategy simulation blends arcade shooting with planning, as you pick Rangers from your company, manage limited ammo resupplies, and race to extraction zones. Randomly generated maps and four difficulty modes, including a full Veteran campaign, demand repeated plays to rank up to colonel. Retro fans of stealth shooters revel in its realistic details, like varying gunfire sounds indoors versus out.
Alone behind enemy lines, equipped with your elite Ranger training, small arms, and strategically placed cases of ammunition, you must complete twelve challenging missions and earn your promotion to full bird colonel.
Welcome to the re-release of Airborne Ranger, one of Microprose's most critically acclaimed war games.
At the start of each mission you go through a proper pre-combat briefing session, and then select a Ranger from your company that has what you think are the right skills for the job ahead. You start each mission by piloting the brand new V-22 Osprey and picking locations to drop three ammo crates deep in enemy territory (Airborne Ranger was released in 1988, the Osprey first came into active service in 1989, so this is some real black ops business). Each supply crate contains ammunition, time bombs, first-aid kits, grenades & LAW rockets depending on your briefing. Choose locations wisely: you can only carry so much ammo, so resupply is critical.
Then parachute behind enemy lines and get to work. .. and this is no easy drop, you will need to steer your parafoil to a safe landing. Missions range from destroying military targets and sabotaging installations, to rescuing POWs and stealing secrets. You’ll need to navigate enemy troops and officers, minefields, foxholes and bunkers. Switch between stealth and surgically accurate combat to succeed. At times you might even need to steal an enemy uniform. And you better get back to the LZ for exfil in time, or you will get captured. If you get captured, welcome to your next mission – you are going to need to mount a rescue attempt before you can complete the primary objective.
Understanding the environment is critical to success. In the arctic missions you can lure enemies onto unstable ice, in the jungles and forests you can hide under water. Do you use your knife? Your M4? Or a delayed time bomb? Sprint across the open field, or crawl in a trench to avoid detection? It is all up to you.
Practice mode lets you try individual missions, and then step up to Veteran mode and you will have to complete all 12 missions as a campaign. You’ll rank up with each successful mission, all the way to a full colonel in the U.S. Airborne Rangers.
Twelve missions, winter, desert and jungle terrains, and four difficulty modes will keep you playing again and again.
A mix of strategy and arcade action
An accurate 80s menu of weapons
Choose from your squadron of Rangers for every mission
12 timed missions
Randomly generated maps for endless replay
Airborne Ranger was lauded upon release for a number of reasons. Compute Magazine called it “an excellent game from beginning to end,” and warned "the violence and action are graphic and highly realistic.” Computer Gaming World praised the level of detail after they noticed that gunfire sounded differently if you are inside a building vs outside. Retro enthusiasts have called it a “stealth shooter” and a pioneer of the genre.
