Home of the Underdogs
About News FAQs Contact HOTU GoogleGroup Music Manuals
Category Applications Action Adventure Education Interactive Fiction Puzzle Role Playing Games Simulation Special Sport Strategy War




Support the EFF
Welcome How you can help
Browse Games
Welcome Random Pick
Welcome By Company
  Welcome By Theme  
Welcome By Alphabet
Welcome By Year
Welcome Title Search
Welcome Company Search
Welcome Designer Search
Recommended
Welcome Freeware Titles
Welcome Collections
Welcome Discord
Welcome Twitter
Welcome Facebook
Welcome File Format Guide
Welcome Help: Non PC Games
Welcome Help: Win Games
Welcome Help: DOS Games
Welcome Recommended Links
Site History Site History
Legacy Legacy
Link to Us Link to Us
Credits Thanks & Credits
Abandonware Ring

Abandoned Places

dungeoncrawlers.org

Creative Commons License


Game #2343
Hall of Belated Fame Inductee  Airborne Ranger    View all Top Dogs in this genre
Simulation   Ground combat

Rating: 8.92 (253 votes)

Airborne Ranger box cover

Airborne Ranger screenshot
Arguably the first ever tactical simulation of modern warfare, Airborne Ranger was billed as "action simulation," and it flawlessly fulfills that audacious claim. For the first time, success in a military-themed game requires stealth and careful planning in addition to quick reflexes. Game description and review at MobyGames says it all about this ground-breaking classic:

"You're an airborne ranger working for the United States. You are dropped into different missions with different objectives. Some missions require you to retrieve a package in a given amount of time, and another requires you to rescue POWs. Carnage aplenty, as you can use different means to kill different foes.

A "stealth" shooter, where emphasis is on avoiding enemy detection (even if it's just 2D sprites), [Airborne Ranger] is very different from your typical game. Distract enemies by using timed explosives or rockets, manage your supplies carefully to last through the entire map. The "career" is very nicely done, as the missions tie together. If one of your rangers were captured (ran out of ammo and surrounded), another ranger may get a POW rescue mission which can recover that ranger!

Airborne Ranger is the earliest tactical shooter, long before Rainbow Six reinvented the genre in 3D. As a ranger, your job is to infiltrate enemy territory in parachute, glide to a landing without alerting enemies, then sneak through the many defenses (pill boxes, patrols, concertina wires, etc.), killing the enemy if necessary, accomplish your mission (which could be steal documents, demolition, take pictures of new enemy jet, capture, rescue POW, and more), and be extracted. The graphics are rather plain 2D, as this game is long before the advent of 3D graphics. Yet the action holds up quite well, as you tensely wait for the enemy patrol to walk by before you continue on your way, staying out of sight, only use your weapons when absolutely necessary. You have your trusty Ka-bar knife, CAR-15, demolition charges, and even LAW rockets. You also have first aid kits to heal wounds. While not quite "one shot and you're dead", you can only take three hits, which means deaths CAN come swiftly when they do. As you sneak through the enemy territory you may run into some supplies dropped by earlier flights, which adds to the fun factor, as you had to choose where to drop those supplies. The game is a lot of fun then, and it's still a lot of fun now, and nothing has really came close (except Rainbow Six, but in a different way)." One of our Hall of Belated Fame inductees, without a doubt. A must-have for anyone with even a remote interest in realistic military simulations.

Reviewed by: Underdogs
Designer: Lawrence Schick
Developer: Microprose
Publisher: Microprose
Year: 1988
Software Copyright: Microprose
Theme: Organized Forces, Modern
Multiplayer:  
None that we know of
System Requirements: DOS
Where to get it:
Related Links:  
Links:    
If you like this game, try: SEAL Team, Metal Gear, Special Forces

© 1998 - 2024 Home of the Underdogs
Portions are copyrighted by their respective owners. All rights reserved. Please read our privacy policy.