Hornet Leader Demo

Fighter jets are critical when it comes to striking the enemy without giving him too much of a retaliation chance, since war is rarely a fair-play activity. On the other hand, coordinating such missions requires a lot of planning and a handful of highly-trained pilots that are capable of delivering the desired results. Hence, being a mission commander is quite a demanding and stressful job, especially when lives hang in the balance.

Hornet Leader is a unique strategy game that allows you to get a taste of what it takes to be in charge of such missions, by enabling you to command and equip a team of pilots, in order to handle realistic combat scenarios. As you may have probably guessed from the name, the jets in question are the famous F/A-18 Hornets, which are well-known for their airstrike capabilities and superior firepower.

The game provides you with a satisfactory number of campaigns to pick from, all of which are modeled after real missions and they include a variety of locations around the world. It is also possible to choose the duration of the campaigns before you begin, ranging from three to eleven days. Naturally, the longer the campaigns are, the more objectives you have to accomplish and the more difficult it becomes to complete them.

Depending on the mission, you can choose up to twelve pilots and form a squadron to tackle different tasks and objectives. These pilots have a certain experience level, which makes them more or less effective out on the battlefield. They can gain experience by successfully completing their tasks, although that implies you have to choose the right objective for them, since some are better than others at achieving certain things.

Although the planes are pictured in-game through the use of images, there are no graphics to talk about, given the fact that everything is text-based and you just have to give out orders. However, things get pretty exciting this way too, especially when the entire war depends on the success of a mission you happen to be in charge off, while your favorite pilot's doing his best to accomplish what's required of him.

While Hornet Leader may not be for everyone, it certainly does have a certain flavor that makes it stick out from the rest of the crowd. There are many things to customize and adjust, as well as plenty of unforeseen events that keep you on edge and provide you with a decent amount of fun on the long run.