The Last Trooper

I'll be Danny Welinski

Last year, I spent several fantastic weeks enjoying Where Time Stood Still, but was later left deflated because I also wanted to play The Great Escape. This was one of my favourite ZX Spectrum and a truly outstanding release. Alas, the Atari ST game was never meant to be (unless I used an emulator lol), but wipe away those snowflake tears because there might be light at the end of this 16-bit tunnel? Well, I hope so!

Here we have Mastertronic's very own The Last Trooper, which appears to be more than a tad inspired by the 8-bit classic! However, the historical storyline and adventure elements are completely gone in favour of four levels of brutal arcade-style killing. So grab your big boy pants because this is going to be tough!

Wanna see screenshots of this isometric Commando shooter? Yeah, of course, you do...

Escape the POW Camp in true A-Team style using whatever you can find...

Now it's time to attack your foes, but watch out for those GEM-Green mines!

Good but tough!

So, the game begins a little weird. We're a muscle-bound Schwarzenegger trapped inside an isometric POW camp, and we already have a machine gun! The objective is to find a way to escape - before attacking the enemy and destroying their entire base. The enemy will come after you constantly, but they're not the most intelligent and run around like headless chickens - a little annoyingly. Other soldiers will hide in trenches or operate gun turrets, and you should also look out for other traps, like camouflaged mines.

The controls are simple and very responsive, but I initially found it frustrating learning how to line up a shot to kill the frantic headless chickens - aka the enemy!! Your crusade won't last very long unless you eat the food that's been carelessly left lying about. Don't forget to top up your weapon with fresh ammo.

There are items you will need to source that will help you out later in the mission. These are essential items that might not be obvious at first: ropes are always handy to have, and there's a supply of wire cutters left inside the POW camp. Hmm, that's two interesting pointers you should remember. How helpful am I?

Well, enough reading! Let's check out some more screenshots...

Things got a little tiresome by the third level, which was more of the same but a lot harder!

But the fourth level is explosive and much better. Although it's a shame about the poor ending...

The CryptO'pinion?

I've quite enjoyed playing The Last Trooper - but only after activating a trainer for infinite lives. Without that, I failed to beat the second level due to the ridiculous difficulty, primarily thanks to the headless chickens running about. They blindly shoot everything with extreme efficiency. Who play-tested this game?

An above-average shooter that's quite flawed with its difficulty, but it's still a bundle of fun for an hour or two. However, if I'm being brutally honest, I'll stick with Fernandez Must Die and Elite's Commando.

Download for floppy or hard disk.