Lost Patrol

Our chopper tailed-out after taking a hit... the pilot won’t be leaving the ground again. Now I have to lead my weary platoon back to our lines through the jungles and paddy fields. Entering what appears to be a friendly village - only to find it is a cover for a guerrilla faction - is just one of the things that helps our insomnia... that and the elusive psycho in my squad – I gotta figure out who he is before the morale factor becomes our worst enemy. Jeez, will this stupid war never end?!

Back in the day when most games fell firmly into one camp such as shoot ‘em up, adventure, arcade action or map-based strategy, Lost Patrol was unusual in that it fused together elements of all these genres and more. With a combination of styles that tested a player’s entire gamut of skills, this 1990 release picked up fans on the popular platforms of the day – the Amiga, Atari ST and (for the relatively few PC gamers at the time) MS-DOS. Appearing in many ‘top 100’ lists, Lost Patrol is fondly remembered by those that played it, and is now available officially on Steam for the first time, courtesy of Pixel Games UK.

The general action takes place on a military map, through which you are tasked with navigating a squad of men whose helicopter has crash-landed after an attack by the pesky guerrilla fighters. At certain points however the game field will switch view, requiring your arcade shooting skills, some hand-to-hand combat or other such surprises. Praised in its day for the quality of these additional graphic scenes, you’ll quickly realise why Lost Patrol is considered a retro classic!