Combat Landing

The mission

You take off to hit enemy fighter jets, drones and targets on the ground, while missiles and enemy fire come the other way. Once the strike is done the job changes completely: you have to turn for base and put the plane down safely. A mission that ends with a crash on approach has not really been won.

Staying alive up there

The game’s own advice is simple and worth following: shoot down hostile aircraft early, while they are still lining up an attack, rather than trading fire with them. Ground targets call for the same speed, because they disappear after ten seconds, so a pilot who lingers over one loses it. Moving between those two jobs, reacting in the air and acting fast on the ground, is where most of the challenge lives.

Upgrades and the four levels

Each flight earns flight miles, and the miles you earn pay for upgrades. The four levels each bring a different situation to fly into. On a phone the controls are a single drag, and lifting your finger lets the plane settle back to level flight on its own, which is handy when lining up the runway. On desktop the arrow keys steer, Space fires and P gives you a pause.

What sets it apart from a plain shooter is that switch of mindset the runway forces on you: aggressive while there is something to hit, calm and precise once it is time to come home. Getting both halves right is what a finished mission means here.