The Lost Patrol is a very serious action and role playing game that was published by Ocean Software in the very early nineteen nineties. It was designed by Simon Cooke and Ian G. Harling and developed by Shadow Development. The Lost Patrol was made for single players only, and uses the keyboard, mouse or joystick as an input device. It could be found, in its day, on the Amiga, Atari ST and the PC home systems. Astros Productions was responsible for the DOS version.
The subject of the game is the Vietnam War.
The name of the game in The Lost Patrol is survival. While there are some strategic elements to the game, it is primarily about shooting and becoming more powerful so that you can shoot some more. The user will play the part of Sergeant Weaver, the individual who has taken command of the survivors, following a helicopter crash on June 7, 1966. The chopper went down behind enemy lines and, including Weaver, only seven of the soldiers on board survived. These soldiers will make up your gaming party as you try to make your way through the hostile Vietnamese jungles to Du Hoc, the nearest friendly military
base. On the way to Du Hoc, the user will be presented with many choices and missions, and will have to face enemies in a variety of guises and traps, as well as handle the unfriendly environment, itself.
The troop has very little food and ammunition, so some of the initial missions, while tricky, will likely yield a little help on that front if you are successful. The user will have to quickly take a reading on the situation and determine the strengths and weaknesses of each individual character in order to succeed at each mission. For example, PTE Richard Bachman is an excellent marksman, whereas PTE William Blom is a self-defense master. Many times the success or failure of a mission hinges on the specific abilities, or lack there of, of the team members involved. Despite this strategic elements, there are also several fast-paced action sequences where you will get the opportunity to blaze away with the bullets…if you have amassed enough of them. Combat sequences will either be hand to hand, fire fights, tripping machine gun nests, or taking sniper fire. If one of your units fails in one of these sessions, he will become “Missing In Action” and will no longer be available for use in subsequent missions. There will also be chances to interact with Vietnamese civilians, and this can be as friendly as you choose it to be.
This is a pretty deep game that offers a theme not often used in role playing game atmospheres. There will be as much analysis as action, making it well balanced and entertaining.
