Laser Squad

 

Today, we are reviewing a video game that I highly recommend for a fun vintage evening with an emulator or a Commodore 64, for the most hardcore retro gamers.

It was 1988 when Laser Squad made its debut among the game libraries of the legendary ZX Spectrum, created by Julian Gollop and Target Games, and published under the Blade Software label.

Gollop improved upon the idea of one of his earlier creations, also for the ZX Spectrum, called Rebelstar, which will likely be covered in one of the upcoming articles.

Rebelstar (Zx Spectrum), which inspired Laser Squad

The game, in turn, influenced Gollop for his final masterpiece that every self-respecting gamer knows: "UFO: Enemy Unknown," a refined and highly playable turn-based strategy game that can glue anyone to their seat who tries to engage in this battle against aliens.

In this review, we will focus on the Commodore 64 version of Laser Squad, which was also released in the same year, along with the expansion that adds two additional scenarios to the game.

UFO - Enemy Unknown (PC MS-DOS), of which Laser Squad is the precursor.

Let's start from the beginning: in this game, set in an unspecified future, you command an elite group of soldiers, the Laser Squad, who are sent on various missions.

The squad is ready to infiltrate the enemy base.

As mentioned, the game is a turn-based strategy set in diverse scenarios with different missions.

Each scenario is a standalone level that can be played right from the start, although it is recommended to begin with the first and play the others in order, as they are completed. Once you've chosen a scenario, you move on to a screen where you select the difficulty level, which will affect the number of soldiers at your disposal and the enemy's skills; you will then proceed to the actual management of your squad.

The equipment setup: armor, weapons, and plenty of aggression!

For each member of your group, you can choose the armor, weapons, ammunition, the essential explosives, and some special weapons that can only be selected in certain missions, including some very stylish laser swords. Each unit has a limit on space and weight they can carry, so in addition to managing the money for purchasing equipment, you'll need to avoid overloading your troops, or the action points available during your turn will suffer.

The squad varies depending on the scenario, but it generally consists of a captain/commander, officers, regular soldiers, and in some scenarios, some of these are androids. The number of soldiers varies with the difficulty level, but you can end up leading up to 7 or 8 individuals. Each character has different skills that affect the outcome of their actions, their resistance to enemy attacks, etc., although we are far from the class management of RPGs.

The "dropping" phase of your troops into the battle scenario.

Once your lethal team is set up, the game will transport you to the battlefield, where you can decide where to place each member of the group. Clearly, not all areas of the map are accessible, but only specific "drop zones" reachable by your faction. Once this phase is over, the real game begins: for each member, you have "action 

points" to spend, in the most classic turn-based strategy style. The basic action is movement, but in addition to that, you can pick up/switch weapons, reload, shoot, open doors, drop items, or pick them up from the ground or a dead companion or enemy.

Among the opposing factions' components, you'll find robots, enemy military squads divided into commanders, officers, soldiers, androids, and special characters depending on the scenario.

The screen calculating enemy moves; you can also see, in this version on a tablet with an emulator, the layout of the touch controls.

In the first scenario, for example, called "The Assassins," your squad must infiltrate the headquarters of a certain Sterner Regnix and assassinate him. Regnix is a crime boss who runs a weapons factory and entire squads of combat robots ready to defend him.

In each scenario, the number of enemies is limited, not infinite, although they are always greater in number. Once your turn is over, you'll see a "calculation" screen where the trusty C64 will calculate the moves of each remaining enemy in the game. This screen will only be interrupted when one of these enemies interacts with one of your troops, in which case you'll see the position of your troop and the enemy's potential action on the unfortunate soldier. In some cases, if one of your soldiers ends their turn with unused action points, they can be used to make a preemptive move on the enemy. So, if they pass through your field of vision, you'll have the chance to shoot them before they do.

Overall, the missions are varied, and with different objectives, they force the player to make slight strategic changes in each scenario, increasing the game's longevity.

The scenarios are varied and force you to change your game tactics to outsmart your opponents.

List of missions:

• The Assassins - The objective is to assassinate Sterner Regnix, barricaded in his villa, heavily defended by a squad of combat robots.

• Moonbase Assault - An assault on a lunar base defended by another group of soldiers from an opposing faction. Their numbers surpass yours. You must destroy the computers containing sensitive information or annihilate the enemy squad.

• Rescue from the Mines - Three members of the Laser Squad are prisoners in the mines of the Metallix Corporation: once inside the complex, you must free the prisoners and escape.

• The Cyber Hordes - A defense mission. You must defend one of your space stations from an attack by a horde of droids. The base has seven core stabilizers vital to the planet's stability, and guess where the droids will shoot?

• Paradise Valley - Well, yes... the previous mission failed, even if you wiped out all the droids in your area, the rest of the horde destroyed the stabilizers, and the base is in ruins. A squad must escape from the base, taking with them a precious device containing crucial technical data about your combat ships.

These two extra missions are part of the expansion pack:

• The Stardrive - A group of mercenaries has stolen the precious device destined for your combat ships (see the previous mission). Your squad must infiltrate their base and retrieve it.

• Laser Platoon - A deathmatch scenario ahead of its time. Squads of ten men, with continuous supplies. The game map must be explored to hunt down members of the opposing team, equipped just like yours.

The Verdict

A true vintage must-play, a mandatory stop for those who want to deeply understand and experience the history of video games.

Pros:

• You can boast about having played one of the forerunners of turn-based strategy games, the grandparent of the X-Com series!
• Like all well-made turn-based strategies, this one can also chain you to the screen and not let you go until the end (the classic phrase "just one more turn" will be your mantra).
• Varied scenarios that force you to change your game strategies, increasing longevity.

Cons:

• The underlying statistics for calculating successful hits are a bit suspicious and play against the player compared to the opposing team. It seems that the difficulty level has an excessive impact on this.
• The low processing power of the Commodore 64 is felt during the calculation phase of enemy moves: sometimes, it can take a couple of minutes.

Score	Rating
Game Commodore 64	92%
Game ZX Spectrum	90%