Airborne Ranger (DOS)

Discuss Review + Want + Have Contribute

Description

In this action/simulation game by Microprose the player takes the role of an U.S. Army airborne ranger. These Airborne rangers are dropped behind enemy lines by parachute to perform all kinds of dangerous missions. Gameplay consists of 3 phases:

1. Reading the mission briefing and outfitting 3 supply pods with machine gun ammo, time bombs, first-aid kits, grenades & LAW rockets depending on this briefing.
2. Flying over the mission map in a V-22 Osprey plane to drop your 3 supply pods and parachuting out of the plane yourself.
3. Performing the actual missions and reaching the pick-up point before time runs out. There are 12 different missions which include capturing an enemy officer, blowing up an ammunition depot, photographing an experimental aircraft and liberating P.O.W.'s

Missions take place in either an arctic, desert or temperate setting. Using the mission map the player must decide the route towards the mission objective. This might require them to crawl through trenches, run around minefields or take out enemy soldiers and bunkers. Airborne Ranger was one of the first games with some missions that required a stealthy approach (staying undetected until a certain time, taking out a guard and stealing an enemy uniform etc.).

Airborne Ranger can be played in practice or veteran mode. In practice mode, gameplay is limited to a single mission, while in veteran mode, a series of missions or an entire campaign is played in order to earn medals & promotions. All missions can be played on several difficulty levels.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Airborne Ranger: The Action-Simulation" -- UK tag-lined title

Part of the Following Groups

• Airborne Ranger series
• Setting: Arctic / North Pole

User Reviews

I wanna be an Airborne Ranger! I wanna live a life of danger!	Roedie (5247)
Amazing how good the older games were	Terrence Bosky (5458)
The earliest tactical shooter still holds up today	Kasey Chang (4608)	unrated
Great Arcade Action	William Shawn McDonie (1180)

Critic Reviews

Computer Gaming World (CGW)	Jun, 1991		90
The Games Machine (UK)	Jan, 1989	78 out of 100	78
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	Mar, 1989	748 out of 1000	75

Forums

There are currently no topics for this game.

Trivia

Manual

The manual includes a large overview of the history of the rangers (from the American War of Independence until Vietnam) and detailed information about ranger training, weapons and equipment.

Awards

• Commodore Force
  • December 1993 (Issue 13) – #97 “Readers' Top 100”

Related Web Sites

• AtariMania (for Atari ST: game entry database; downloadable release; software sets; advertisement; manuals; magazine reviews; additional material.)
• Commodore 64 Boxed Sets (For C64: high quality software sets (box; digitalised manual; miscellaneous; screenshots).)
• CPC-Power (in French) (for Amstrad CPC: game database entry; package material; manual digitalizations; advertisement; magazine reviews; downloadable releases; additional material.)
• CPCRrulez (in French) (for Amstrad CPC: game database entry; advertisement; package material; downloadable releases; media; additional material.)
• DOSBox, an x86 emulator with DOS (Statistics page of compatibility with original DOS version.)
• Hall of Light (for Amiga: game database entry; digitalised manuals; package material digitalizations; screenshots; additional material.)
• Kio's home (for ZX Spectrum: additional material including – photographed cassete inlay; snapshots; downloadable releases.)
• Lemon 64 (For C64: game entry database; magazine reviews; music; manual; cover art digitalizations; additional material.)
• Lemon Amiga (for Amiga: game database entry; magazine reviews; instructions; additional material.)
• Replacementdocs (Keyboard Overlay) (Literature for Amiga.)
• Replacementdocs (Manual) (Literature for Amiga.)
• Replacementdocs (Quick Reference Card) (Literature for Commodore 64.)
• Replacementdocs (Technical Supplement) (Literature for Amiga.)
• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (encyclopaedic entry for combined platforms.)
• World of Spectrum (for ZX Spectrum: downloadable releases; additional material including – cassete inlay, advertisement, instructions; player reviews; magazine references; magazine adverts.)
• ZX Spectrum Reviews (for ZX Spectrum: magazine game reviews in HTML)