Laser Squad
Encyclopedia
Laser Squad is a turn-based tactics
computer game, originally released for the ZX Spectrum
and later for the Commodore 64
, Amstrad CPC
, MSX
, Amiga
and Atari ST
computers, as well as PC computers
. It was designed by Julian Gollop
and his team at Target Games (Now Codo Technologies
) and published by Blade Software. The game expanded on the ideas applied in their previous Rebelstar series of games.
The game originally came with five mission scenarios, with an expansion pack released for the 8-bit versions, containing a further two scenarios. Reaction from the games industry and magazines was positive, gaining accolades and high ratings in reviews. The influence of the game can be seen in other titles like the X-COM
series and Laser Squad Nemesis
.
war game where the player completes objectives such as rescue or retrieval operations, or simply eliminating all of the enemy, by maneuvering the squad's team members around a map one at a time, taking actions such as move, turn, shoot, pick up and so on that would use up the unit's Action Points. By taking advantage of cover, squad level military tactics, and careful use of weaponry, the cunning player could complete their objectives before their opponent. More heavily laden units would tire more easily, and would have to rest to avoid running out of Action Points more quickly in subsequent turns. Morale also played a factor; a unit witnessing the deaths of all his teammates could panic and run out of the player's control.
The Assassins
Your mission is to assassinate Sterner Regnix, the boss of a weapons manufacturer who is using illegal methods to get the best out of his workers. You will lead a small squad of troops and infiltrate Regnix's hideout and eliminate him by any means. All the while dealing with Regnix's Droid squad that patrol the hideout.
Moonbase Assault
A small squad must penetrate the Omni Corporation moon base, via the airlocks, and destroy a great number of their databanks and analyzers that hold sensitive information on billions of the population in the galaxy.
Rescue From The Mines
After a routine mission goes badly wrong, three members of the rebel squad are held prisoner in the Metallix Corp mines. Your squad of troops must negotiate the mine complex, free all three prisoners and escape.
The Cyber Hordes
Your small squad must defend a rebel station from the attack of an advancing droid squad invasion. The rebel base holds seven stabilizer cores vital to the planet's stability and the droids have focused their efforts on these targets.
Paradise Valley
Following on from The Cyber Hordes, the destruction of the stabilizer cores has left the colony in ruins and assault ships hover above waiting for the time of attack. To prevent capture of the rebel blueprints for their advanced starfighter the data has been transferred onto a portable security device and a squad is given the task of escaping from the colony with the device.
The Stardrive
A group of mercenaries have captured the stardrive controller for a new Rebel fighter. A rebel squad must go to their hidden base and retrieve the device.
Laser Platoon
A free for all deathmatch as equal teams are pitted against each other. Massive ten man squads, with reinforcements arriving frequently, explore the symmetrical map hunting down or sniping the equally equipped opposition.
Computer and Video Games
reviewed the Spectrum version and was impressed awarding it with a 97% rating and a 'C+VG HIT!'. Reviewer, Tony Dillon, stating that "Laser Squad is one of the hottest games I've ever played." Other Spectrum reviews included
Sinclair User
, who gave an 89% while Your Sinclair
gave the game a 9/10 explaining "A sophisticated strategy wargame with endless possibilities. On a par with Elite for thinking warmongers."
The Commodore 64 version also fared well with CU Amiga-64
giving a 'CU Screen Star' award with a 92% rating.
Zzap!64
gave the game 83% and stated that the game was "an absorbing and very fresh approach to man-to-man combat..."
Amstrad Action
awarded the CPC version with 91%
and an 'AA Mastergame' accolade. The Expansion Pack 2 received an even higher rating of 93% when it became available for review, stating "two excellent additions to a game that was already excellent."
The Amiga version also received positive reviews. Amiga Format
awarded a 'Gold Award' for a 93% rating explaining that it "is a terrific game that is superbly playable and can definitely be recommended." Other Amiga reviews given by Zero and CU Amiga-64
gave the game 88% and 87% respectively.
The game was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon
#158 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars.
(on the Amiga and PC) and more recently Silent Storm
for PC and Pathway to Glory
on the N-Gage
. Its influence and influences are also apparent in miniature based war games such as Space Hulk
.
Mythos later released a similar game called Lords of Chaos
, which had many similarities to Laser Squad but was set in a fantasy genre of wizards, dragons and spell-casting. This game was a follow-up to Mythos's earlier ZX Spectrum
game Chaos
.
Many of the Laser Squad mechanics were re-used in the later X-COM
series of games, by the same authors (but published by Microprose). In this case however the missions formed part of a larger campaign and storyline, unlike the Laser Squad scenarios which were largely self contained, at least in the sense that the results of one mission did not affect any other.
Each of these games shares some or all of attributes such as action point and morale systems, "line of sight" and "fog of war
", overwatch (or "opportunity fire") and the ability to equip your squad from a selection of ballistic, energy, grenade and hand-to-hand combat weapons.
More recently, the Laser Squad franchise has been revived by Codo Technologies
with both the play-by-email game Laser Squad Nemesis
(although this departs from the turn-based action point system and does not have customizable weaponry), and with the Game Boy Advance
title Rebelstar: Tactical Command
. There is also a Java MIDP remake of the original game, designed for mobile phones, although it is not clear if this an officially licensed title. An unofficial Java J2SE version called L.Squad by Tim Stridmann also exists.
Some of the name choices for characters and organizations in the games of Mythos and Codo are a thread connecting all the Laser Squad and Rebelstar games. Examples include the recurring character Corporal Jonlan and the arms manufacturer Marsec (Mars Security).
Turn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics , or tactical turn-based , is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic...
computer game, originally released for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and later for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
computers, as well as PC computers
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
. It was designed by Julian Gollop
Julian Gollop
Julian Gollop is a British designer of strategy video games and founder of the defunct game studios Mythos Games and Codo Technologies.Gollop's career spans over 25 years, during which he has designed games for numerous systems over the years, from the early 8-bit home computers to 32-bit PCs...
and his team at Target Games (Now Codo Technologies
Codo Technologies
Codo Technologies is a video game developer that was founded by Julian Gollop and others, including brother Nick Gollop, continuing the line of sophisticated strategy war games started at their previous company Mythos Games. Julian is especially known for his role in the creation of the X-COM...
) and published by Blade Software. The game expanded on the ideas applied in their previous Rebelstar series of games.
The game originally came with five mission scenarios, with an expansion pack released for the 8-bit versions, containing a further two scenarios. Reaction from the games industry and magazines was positive, gaining accolades and high ratings in reviews. The influence of the game can be seen in other titles like the X-COM
X-COM
X-COM is a series of strategy games created by Julian Gollop. In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM. The original game has a cult following.- Original series :...
series and Laser Squad Nemesis
Laser Squad Nemesis
Laser Squad Nemesis was a 2002 multiplayer turn-based tactics computer game developed by Codo Technologies. The lead designer, Julian Gollop, previously designed the X-COM series and the original Laser Squad.-Gameplay:...
.
Gameplay
Laser Squad is a turn-based tacticsTurn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics , or tactical turn-based , is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic...
war game where the player completes objectives such as rescue or retrieval operations, or simply eliminating all of the enemy, by maneuvering the squad's team members around a map one at a time, taking actions such as move, turn, shoot, pick up and so on that would use up the unit's Action Points. By taking advantage of cover, squad level military tactics, and careful use of weaponry, the cunning player could complete their objectives before their opponent. More heavily laden units would tire more easily, and would have to rest to avoid running out of Action Points more quickly in subsequent turns. Morale also played a factor; a unit witnessing the deaths of all his teammates could panic and run out of the player's control.
Scenarios
Including the expansion pack, there are 7 scenarios in total. Each one with its own difficulty settings and squad allocation.The Assassins
Your mission is to assassinate Sterner Regnix, the boss of a weapons manufacturer who is using illegal methods to get the best out of his workers. You will lead a small squad of troops and infiltrate Regnix's hideout and eliminate him by any means. All the while dealing with Regnix's Droid squad that patrol the hideout.
Moonbase Assault
A small squad must penetrate the Omni Corporation moon base, via the airlocks, and destroy a great number of their databanks and analyzers that hold sensitive information on billions of the population in the galaxy.
Rescue From The Mines
After a routine mission goes badly wrong, three members of the rebel squad are held prisoner in the Metallix Corp mines. Your squad of troops must negotiate the mine complex, free all three prisoners and escape.
The Cyber Hordes
Your small squad must defend a rebel station from the attack of an advancing droid squad invasion. The rebel base holds seven stabilizer cores vital to the planet's stability and the droids have focused their efforts on these targets.
Paradise Valley
Following on from The Cyber Hordes, the destruction of the stabilizer cores has left the colony in ruins and assault ships hover above waiting for the time of attack. To prevent capture of the rebel blueprints for their advanced starfighter the data has been transferred onto a portable security device and a squad is given the task of escaping from the colony with the device.
The Stardrive
A group of mercenaries have captured the stardrive controller for a new Rebel fighter. A rebel squad must go to their hidden base and retrieve the device.
Laser Platoon
A free for all deathmatch as equal teams are pitted against each other. Massive ten man squads, with reinforcements arriving frequently, explore the symmetrical map hunting down or sniping the equally equipped opposition.
Reception
The response from the games industry was very positive from the majority of the magazines.Computer and Video Games
Computer and Video Games (magazine)
Computer and Video Games is a video game magazine and website published in the United Kingdom.- History :...
reviewed the Spectrum version and was impressed awarding it with a 97% rating and a 'C+VG HIT!'. Reviewer, Tony Dillon, stating that "Laser Squad is one of the hottest games I've ever played." Other Spectrum reviews included
Sinclair User
Sinclair User
Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum...
, who gave an 89% while Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
gave the game a 9/10 explaining "A sophisticated strategy wargame with endless possibilities. On a par with Elite for thinking warmongers."
The Commodore 64 version also fared well with CU Amiga-64
Commodore User
Commodore User, known to the readers as the abbreviated CU, was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. A publishing history spanning over 15 years, mixing content with technical and games features...
giving a 'CU Screen Star' award with a 92% rating.
Zzap!64
Zzap!64
Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 . It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact....
gave the game 83% and stated that the game was "an absorbing and very fresh approach to man-to-man combat..."
Amstrad Action
Amstrad Action
Amstrad Action was a monthly magazine, published in the United Kingdom, which catered to owners of home computers from the Amstrad CPC range and later the GX4000 console....
awarded the CPC version with 91%
and an 'AA Mastergame' accolade. The Expansion Pack 2 received an even higher rating of 93% when it became available for review, stating "two excellent additions to a game that was already excellent."
The Amiga version also received positive reviews. Amiga Format
Amiga Format
Amiga Format was a British computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future Publishing. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when, in the wake of selling ACE to EMAP, Future split the dual-format title ST/Amiga Format into two separate publications...
awarded a 'Gold Award' for a 93% rating explaining that it "is a terrific game that is superbly playable and can definitely be recommended." Other Amiga reviews given by Zero and CU Amiga-64
Commodore User
Commodore User, known to the readers as the abbreviated CU, was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. A publishing history spanning over 15 years, mixing content with technical and games features...
gave the game 88% and 87% respectively.
The game was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#158 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars.
Expansion packs
The original Target Games 8-bit release came with the first three missions with an expansion pack offered via mail order for the next two. The subsequent Blade Software 8-bit release included these as standard; the mail order expansion pack now offered was for missions six and seven instead. Both offers covered cassette and diskette versions. As well as featuring new scenarios, the expansion packs included additional weapons as part of the scenarios.Influence on the games market
Rebelstar and Laser Squad are among the earliest examples of turn based unit level computer wargames, later examples being Sabre Team, X-COMX-COM
X-COM is a series of strategy games created by Julian Gollop. In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM. The original game has a cult following.- Original series :...
(on the Amiga and PC) and more recently Silent Storm
Silent Storm
Silent Storm is a tactical role-playing game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Russian developer Nival Interactive and published by JoWood in 2003. The game is set in World War II Europe. The player commands a team of up to six elite soldiers on the Axis or Allied side, undertaking a variety of...
for PC and Pathway to Glory
Pathway to Glory
Pathway to Glory is a tactical turn-based game for the Nokia N-Gage, by Nokia and RedLynx, released in late 2004.-Story:In the summer of 1943, special forces are urgently needed in the struggle for Europe...
on the N-Gage
N-Gage
The N-Gage is a mobile telephone and handheld game system by Nokia, based on the Nokia Series 60 platform, released in October 2003. It began sales on October 7, 2003. The N-Gage QD replaced the original N-Gage in 2004....
. Its influence and influences are also apparent in miniature based war games such as Space Hulk
Space Hulk
Space Hulk is a board game by Games Workshop, first released in 1989 and re-released in 2009. The game is set in their Warhammer 40,000 universe and draws a certain degree of inspiration from the Alien movies....
.
Mythos later released a similar game called Lords of Chaos
Lords of Chaos (video game)
Lords of Chaos is a turn-based tactics video game, published in 1990 by Blade Software. It is the sequel to Chaos and an ancestor of the popular X-COM series of games, also written by Julian Gollop. In Lords of Chaos each player controls a wizard who can cast various magic spells...
, which had many similarities to Laser Squad but was set in a fantasy genre of wizards, dragons and spell-casting. This game was a follow-up to Mythos's earlier ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
game Chaos
Chaos (video game)
Chaos: The Battle of Wizards is a turn-based tactics computer game which was released on the ZX Spectrum in 1985. It was written by Julian Gollop and originally published by Games Workshop.-History:...
.
Many of the Laser Squad mechanics were re-used in the later X-COM
X-COM
X-COM is a series of strategy games created by Julian Gollop. In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM. The original game has a cult following.- Original series :...
series of games, by the same authors (but published by Microprose). In this case however the missions formed part of a larger campaign and storyline, unlike the Laser Squad scenarios which were largely self contained, at least in the sense that the results of one mission did not affect any other.
Each of these games shares some or all of attributes such as action point and morale systems, "line of sight" and "fog of war
Fog of war
The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign...
", overwatch (or "opportunity fire") and the ability to equip your squad from a selection of ballistic, energy, grenade and hand-to-hand combat weapons.
More recently, the Laser Squad franchise has been revived by Codo Technologies
Codo Technologies
Codo Technologies is a video game developer that was founded by Julian Gollop and others, including brother Nick Gollop, continuing the line of sophisticated strategy war games started at their previous company Mythos Games. Julian is especially known for his role in the creation of the X-COM...
with both the play-by-email game Laser Squad Nemesis
Laser Squad Nemesis
Laser Squad Nemesis was a 2002 multiplayer turn-based tactics computer game developed by Codo Technologies. The lead designer, Julian Gollop, previously designed the X-COM series and the original Laser Squad.-Gameplay:...
(although this departs from the turn-based action point system and does not have customizable weaponry), and with the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
title Rebelstar: Tactical Command
Rebelstar: Tactical Command
Rebelstar: Tactical Command is a Game Boy Advance turn-based tactical video game developed by Codo Technologies in 2005.The game was created by Julian Gollop, who designed the X-COM games...
. There is also a Java MIDP remake of the original game, designed for mobile phones, although it is not clear if this an officially licensed title. An unofficial Java J2SE version called L.Squad by Tim Stridmann also exists.
Some of the name choices for characters and organizations in the games of Mythos and Codo are a thread connecting all the Laser Squad and Rebelstar games. Examples include the recurring character Corporal Jonlan and the arms manufacturer Marsec (Mars Security).
External links
- Laser Squad Retro Laser Squad fan site including new mission downloads
- Play Laser Squad online Fan site about Laser Squad where you can play directly in browser (Java is not required)
- Laser Squad Nemesis homepage
- Java Remake of the Spectrum version of Laser Squad, also a scenario editor.
- Laser Squad on the Amiga at The Hall of Light (HOL)
- Stellar Forces, a PBEM-style remake of Laser Squad with game lobby system.