The Lost Patrol

1990 video games Amiga gamesPC gamesAtari ST games

arcade gamesshooter gamesstrategy games

The Lost Patrol is one of the games that simply can’t be described in just few words. It can’t even be assigned to a particular genre. It is something that has to be played to understand.

On a surface it is a war game, but actually isn’t. It seems like an arcade game, but only in some part. It seems like a strategy game, but it is too simple to describe what The Lost Patrol actually is. The plot? American helicopter crashes in the middle of the Vietnam jungle and seven survivors has to find a way of returning to their base that is roughly 50 miles away. They have only the basic weapons and the area they are crossing is full of enemy forces, not to mention that every step could set out a booby trap, so you need a good plan how to deal with the situation. Because of the enemy patrols roads are not the best way of traveling, but at the same time the jungle is full of traps, rice fields could be under observation of Viet Cong patrols and in the villages you are passing enemy snipers might have hidden.

So what exactly is The Lost Patrol. Of course there is an obvious answer - it is not a game, it is an experience - it’s a lame description, but at the same time quite accurate. Great soundtrack, simple, but suggestive graphics, the atmosphere of being stuck in the hostile area where you can’t trust anyone - because of all of that elements it is hard to forget the game and I haven’t even started with the details.

Basically the main part of the game is the map, on which we observe our movement and decide on various parameters of the platoon - how fast do they travel, who is put in front and in a back to secure the march, when and where to rest or sleep, how much food is distributed. You have to travel fast to reach the base before supplies will run out, but also you have to take booby traps under consideration - the faster they travel it is more likely they will walk into one. There are villages, where you can look for supplies, but also you can find the enemy. And from time to time the game cuts to arcade scene, in which you will have to fight with the patrol, survive ambush or find the sniper.

And this above are just the basic informations about The Lost Patrol - it is game that have to be seen to fully understand.

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