John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando Review – So-So, Commando

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You might assume John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando was created after the popularity of Space Marine 2, but Saber Interactive actually revealed it in the summer of 2023. Originally planned for a 2024 release, the game experienced unexpected delays. Now, it’s finally here, offering another cooperative zombie-fighting experience – and hopefully, something new to set it apart.

Experiences with this game will differ, but the story isn’t worth paying much attention to. While Toxic Commando doesn’t need a heavy focus on narrative, it surprisingly tries to deliver one. You control a squad taking on a mysterious delivery job, and things quickly fall apart. They become infected and team up with a new ally to destroy the source of the infection. It sounds straightforward, but the game is filled with bad dialogue (“Is there a Mr Gallagher?”), clumsy attempts at humor, and characters that feel like tired stereotypes. It’s strange why the developers include so many cutscenes, but thankfully you can skip them.

The shooting feels good and offers plenty of customization. You’ll quickly become skilled at defeating enemies, and that’s when the game starts to get really challenging.

Toxic Commando truly excels in its action, even if it’s not groundbreaking. If you’re looking for a Left 4 Dead-style experience without a lot of complicated extras, this game has you covered. You’ll encounter lone enemies, increasing numbers of monsters as the tension builds, and, of course, overwhelming hordes of undead. The gameplay focuses on frantic survival – dodging the waves of enemies while unleashing everything you have to create enough breathing room before the next attack.

As a fan, I’m loving the variety of weapons! You’ve got all the classics – shotguns, assault rifles, SMGs, and you can really trick them out with different attachments. You can only have one main weapon equipped at a time, but you can also carry a pistol and a melee weapon like a crowbar or machete. Plus, each map has unique special weapons to find, like different grenade launchers, though one LMG isn’t so great. The real standout is the railgun – it’s perfect for taking down those tougher enemies!

The game offers a lot of weapon choices, but you’ll need to focus on one for a while to improve it and unlock upgrades. You can increase a weapon’s power and stats like penetration, or ‘prestige’ it to start over and earn new items. However, earning currency on easier difficulties feels slow, and even if you push through that, the whole system is pretty basic and doesn’t offer much that’s new or exciting.

The class skill trees are a little improved, thankfully. I played as the Strike class and really enjoyed being able to transform my basic attack into a powerful aerial blast. It’s disappointing, though, that many other skill options are just minor improvements like getting more grenades or reloading faster – it feels like a missed opportunity.

The shooting feels good and there are plenty of ways to customize it, and you’ll quickly learn to clear out waves of enemies. That’s when the game starts to get harder. I found enemies appearing more often, even early on in co-op mode, and you’ll soon face tougher, special infected. However, Toxic Commando doesn’t bring anything new to the genre – it even features the same powerful enemy, the Tank, that charges in, grabs you, and repeatedly slams you into the ground.

If you’re happy to get by without using defenses like mortars, traps, and turrets, you can skip collecting spare parts. However, those parts can be a fun way to earn extra currency, which you can use to unlock new attachments and cosmetic items.

Each enemy type has its own special attack – I particularly enjoyed how the stalker’s attack would wrap your vehicle in roots, forcing you to shoot them off to keep moving. This creates a quick shift from wondering why you’ve stopped, to needing your teammates to help fix the problem, often leading the driver to just handle it themselves. However, beyond starting each mission in a different location and offering varied side missions, the game doesn’t offer much in the way of unpredictable events, which does affect how often you’ll want to play it again.

Being able to freely explore the map between objectives is a nice feature, letting you collect useful items like spare parts, weapons, and ammunition. Driving can sometimes be tricky – getting stuck in mud without a winch is a pain – but each vehicle is useful in its own way, like the Ambulance’s ability to heal, and they all handle well.

If you’re okay with tackling challenges without extra help like traps and turrets, you can skip collecting Spare Parts. However, they’re useful for creating distractions and earning extra money to unlock new items and cosmetic upgrades. It’s a bit frustrating that you also need Spare Parts to restock special weapons, and that some final battle locations don’t offer enough resources for everyone on your team. Even though it can be annoying to go out of your way to find them, especially when locations aren’t very interesting, collecting Spare Parts is ultimately worthwhile.

I usually play with others, but sometimes go solo just because of how the game handles getting downed. When you or a teammate goes down in co-op, you have a short window for revival. Killing zombies nearby can buy more time, but they also speed up the process if they hit you. If the timer runs out, a teammate needs to find you—you’ll be trapped in a cocoon-like state—to bring you back. You can carry special seeds that act like a self-revive if you’re in that cocoon and want to avoid needing a teammate, but doing so means missing out on bonus rewards at the end of the mission.

If you’re playing alone and go down without a rescue flare, you have to start the entire mission over – there are no save points. It’s frustrating because the enemies are so powerful that even my AI teammates can’t always revive me in time. What’s really tough is that the time you have to get revived isn’t based on how much damage you take, but on getting kills. So, if you’re swarmed by special infected, even a powerful weapon like a fully upgraded magnum won’t be enough to save you.

Toxic Commando is exactly what it seems: a simple, fast-paced shooter best enjoyed with friends. It’s a good way to kill some time, though you’ll need an internet connection to play. Don’t expect anything groundbreaking – it’s not much, but it delivers on being a mindless, arcade-style experience.

It’s unfortunate, because Toxic Commando truly excels when the difficulty ramps up, whether you’re playing alone or with a team. You’ll encounter much larger swarms of enemies, resources like healing will be scarce, and you’ll have to actively manage and eliminate hordes – or work with teammates – to quickly take down the tougher infected. This creates a genuinely tense experience, and overcoming those challenges feels very rewarding. However, the lack of checkpoints when playing solo makes the risk of losing progress – especially when trying to earn currency for upgrades – feel too high. Still, for players who have mastered cooperative play and are looking for a greater challenge, it might be worth the effort, especially since the game doesn’t offer a lot of additional content.

While playing on PS5, Performance Mode worked decently, though I had to sacrifice visual detail at a distance to keep things looking clear. The game maintained a pretty consistent frame rate, which is impressive considering how much action is happening at once. The graphics aren’t amazing, and there are a few minor bugs, but they weren’t game-breaking.

Honestly, Toxic Commando is exactly what it looks like: a simple, fun shooter best enjoyed with friends. It’s perfect for a weekend gaming session, though you need to be online to play. Don’t expect a deep story or anything – it’s pretty much just mindless shooting. I’m hoping Saber Interactive adds more content if they decide to update it, but please, please fix that awful story! It’s a fun time waster, but don’t go in expecting anything groundbreaking.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

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2026-03-13 20:46