I Was Ready for Another Typical Zombie Shooter, But John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando Had Other Plans (Review)

Zombie horde shooters have been around for a long time, and it feels like they’ve been stuck in a rut ever since Left 4 Dead popularized the cooperative zombie game. The formula is usually the same: four players, lots of weapons, and levels filled with enemies trying to defeat you. When I started playing John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, I anticipated a typical experience, possibly even one that felt a bit predictable.

At first, Toxic Commando lived up to expectations. Developed by Focus Entertainment and published by Saber Interactive, the game quickly gets you into the action, emphasizing teamwork and survival against relentless waves of enemies. It truly captures the core elements of the genre, creating a constant, desperate fight for survival. However, the more I played, the more it became apparent that Toxic Commando aims to do more than just follow the established formula.

The game remains familiar to fans of the zombie genre, but consistently introduces fresh ideas. It often feels like a classic zombie shooter, but can also play like a cooperative action RPG with a lot of blood and shooting. The most exciting parts happen when these different elements come together, creating a wild and chaotic experience. And Toxic Commando really shines in that kind of over-the-top, zombie-filled mayhem.

Rating: 4/5

Pros	Cons
Deep class skill trees allow for meaningful build variety	Progression can feel grindy, especially when unlocking weapon attachments
Large open mission maps create chaotic, memorable moments with vehicles and massive hordes	Simplistic storyline that exists mainly to move gameplay
Extensive weapon and gear customization options	Visual presentation is solid but rarely impressive outside of the carnage
Visceral zombie destruction that feels satisfying	Mission objectives can feel repetitive after extended play sessions
Strong cooperative gameplay that rewards teamwork and class synergy	Limited endgame content reduces long-term replay value

There Is a Surprising Amount of Depth in Toxic Commando’s Classes

At first glance, Toxic Commando is straightforward. You pick one of four mercenaries, each with a unique personality and style that contributes to the game’s humorous take on the typical zombie apocalypse. The game offers a good amount of cosmetic customization, which is great because you can unlock cool visual items just by playing. These items don’t affect how you play, so your choice of character class is what really matters – it determines your overall strategy and gameplay experience.

Each of the four character classes has a distinct job, but they become surprisingly complex as you play. The Striker specializes in clearing out large groups of zombies with powerful attacks. The Medic is essential for keeping the team alive amidst constant danger, as you’ll often be swarmed. The Operator is like a support technician, using a drone to fight and fix damaged vehicles. Finally, the Defender acts as a strong, reliable barrier, protecting the team from the relentless zombie horde.

The skill trees are where Toxic Commando truly shines. Each character class has a lot of upgrades that significantly alter how their abilities work, completely changing your combat strategy. For example, when I started playing the Strike class, its Fireball ability seemed simple: launch it at enemies and watch them fly. But then I unlocked an upgrade that turned the Fireball into a landmine, waiting to explode when enemies got close.

That one upgrade completely changed how I played, and for the better! I went from simply responding to zombies to proactively setting traps and controlling the battlefield before they even arrived. Every character class has these moments where a small improvement opens up completely new ways to play. As you progress through the skill trees, the game starts to feel less like a zombie shooter and more like a cooperative RPG.

Open Field Missions Turn the Apocalypse Into a Sandbox

Most games where you fight waves of enemies focus on close-quarters combat – think narrow hallways and cramped spaces where enemies quickly surround you. Toxic Commando does things differently, opting for large, open battlefields that are much bigger than what you typically see in this type of game. It was immediately obvious, from the first map, that this game emphasizes freedom of movement and expansive combat.

These areas are vast and overrun with the undead. While you can travel on foot, I quickly learned that vehicles are essential and the best way to get around. Driving through a zombie-filled landscape is complete mayhem – hordes break apart and scatter as your vehicle crashes through them, sending bodies flying. The scale of these moments is truly impressive, something you don’t often see in typical zombie shooter games.

The game’s open world changes how missions play out. While missions have clear goals located across the map, you have a lot of freedom in how you get there. As you travel between objectives, you’ll find optional side quests, bonus challenges, and interesting locations to explore. These discoveries can reward you with extra money or valuable items that can help you succeed. Keep an eye out for Sludge Seeds – they give you skill points to improve your character, making them especially worthwhile to find during each mission.

I especially enjoyed finding and checking out the randomly placed points of interest (POIs). Each time you start a new mission, their locations change, and they only appear on your map as you get closer. It’s a basic concept, but it adds a real sense of wonder to gameplay that often focuses on following a set path. Some of my favorite experiences came from simply going off the beaten path to see what I could discover.

I Loved Experimenting With Toxic Commando’s Weapons and Loadouts

As you play Toxic Commando, it quickly becomes apparent that the game encourages experimentation. You progress by completing missions, earning experience and in-game currency. These rewards unlock new levels, skills, and weapons, all of which combine to let you create unique character builds.

The way you choose your weapons and gear will feel instantly comfortable if you’ve played recent shooting games. Before each mission, you’ll customize your loadout to fit how you like to play. You can further personalize your weapons with attachments, tweaking them to perform exactly as you want. Since most guns have multiple attachment slots, collecting everything takes time, but it also gives you a rewarding sense of progress as you play.

Players have even more choices with the available gear. While grenades and Molotov cocktails offer classic explosions and fire, the Toxic Commando class introduces helpful tools like turrets that can defend key areas while your team gets back together. These tools can be crucial when you’re overwhelmed by hordes of zombies and need more than just gunfire. Plus, the environment contains powerful weapons just waiting to be found.

While playing, I discovered a huge variety of weapons, from a powerful Railgun that could obliterate waves of zombies to mortars that let me bombard distant groups. These weapons made already exciting moments even more intense. Finding each new tool felt like expanding my collection, and I really enjoyed trying them all out.

Grinding and Limited Endgame Keep the Momentum From Lasting Forever

While I was initially really excited about how you improve your character and weapons in Toxic Commando, the game started to feel repetitive after a while. Getting new attachments and upgrades costs a lot of in-game currency, and it adds up quickly, especially since most weapons have multiple slots to fill. You’ll likely find yourself replaying missions over and over to get everything you want. Some players will enjoy this, but I personally need a little more variety to keep me engaged for a long time.

Difficulty levels help you progress faster by giving you more money after each mission. While harder difficulties offer bigger rewards, they also make the game much more challenging. Teams that don’t work well together will struggle against the constant stream of enemies. If you prefer a less stressful experience, you might need to replay missions a few times to make good progress.

The main problem with Toxic Commando is that it doesn’t have much to keep players engaged after they’ve finished the main missions. While there’s a lot to unlock and customize, the gameplay can become repetitive once you’ve found your favorite strategies. The customization options are fun for a while, but the game eventually lacks a compelling long-term goal. A more substantial endgame would have greatly extended the game’s replayability, especially considering how much it focuses on experimentation.

The Narrative Mostly Exists Just to Move the Gameplay Forward

I was initially drawn in by the basic idea behind Toxic Commando. You play as one of four mercenaries hired to help Leon Dorsey, the CEO of Obsidian, after his attempt to tap into the Earth’s core for energy fails spectacularly. The drilling process accidentally awakens a massive creature called the Sludge God, which transforms anyone nearby into the zombie enemies you’ll fight. Leon believes he can fix the problem, and he needs your team to execute his plan. This setup provides a reasonable explanation for the zombie hordes, even though the story doesn’t take center stage.

The story in this game mainly serves to move the action along. While there are some funny lines and intriguing plot points, they don’t feel crucial to the experience. The narrative offers a basic reason to play through the missions, but it doesn’t overshadow the gameplay. You’ll keep playing Toxic Commando for the exciting action, not the story itself – the story is just there to support it.

Zombie Carnage Looks and Sounds Wonderfully Brutal

The game focuses on smooth performance and clear action, avoiding unnecessary visual complexity. While the environments effectively portray a post-apocalyptic world, they aren’t groundbreaking graphically. The real highlight is the incredibly detailed destruction of enemies. Zombies don’t just fall when hit – they realistically break apart, scattering pieces as your weapons tear through them, creating a truly visceral experience.

Slicing through hordes of zombies with a machete felt incredibly satisfying, with each swing sending bodies flying. The flamethrower was even more spectacular, engulfing enemies in flames and turning them into a chaotic mess of burning limbs. These intense, over-the-top moments are exactly what I want from a zombie game. Toxic Commando clearly knows that sometimes, the most impressive sight is simply a huge wave of enemies being destroyed at once.

The game’s sound design powerfully emphasizes the destruction. Each weapon feels impactful, with satisfying sounds for every hit – a crowbar makes a solid thud, and the Railgun fires with a booming blast that cuts through the chaos. While the background music is effective, it’s the sounds of combat itself – the symphony of destruction – that truly define the game’s audio experience.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is a thrilling zombie game that, while familiar, offers enough fresh content to make it enjoyable. It builds upon classic zombie tropes with bigger and more intense action. While it can get a bit repetitive at times, the initial hours are incredibly captivating, feeling like you’re swept away by a massive wave of the undead.

ComicBook was provided a Steam code for the purposes of this review.

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2026-03-12 00:42