Laser Squad
1988 · Strategy · ZX Spectrum / Multiple
Overview
Laser Squad (1988) is Julian Gollop's turn-based tactics game for the ZX Spectrum, with action points, line of sight and hidden enemies — the direct ancestor of X-COM.
Deep Dive
Players spend limited credits on weapons and armour, deploy their squad and take turns moving, shooting and picking up objects with action points. Different shot types trade accuracy against cost, line of sight decides who can see whom, and in one-player games enemy movements stay hidden. Units can panic if their morale breaks. Each mission has a turn limit, and a player wins by reaching 100 victory points across scenarios such as "The Assassins" and "Moonbase Assault".
Developer Story
Julian Gollop led the game at Target Games, later Mythos Games, and Blade Software released it for the ZX Spectrum in 1988, followed by versions for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS. Laser Squad Nemesis revived the name in 2002.
Did You Know?
- A demo of Laser Squad 2 became the starting point for UFO: Enemy Unknown, published by MicroProse.
- Computer and Video Games gave it 97%.
Sources & further reading
- Laser Squad — Wikipedia
