One thing different in Laser Squad from X-COM was that you had "opportunity fire" instead of "reaction shots", ergo you could actually control your soldier during that "reaction turn", similar to other tactical games like Jagged Alliance. But you rarely got any APs (TUs) to do anything.
Also it was a more wild mix of weapons, you started off with a combo of laser weapons, daggers, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, etc.