John Carpenter's Toxic Commando Puts an '80s Horror Spin on Left 4 Dead

Considering it was revealed to the satellite with a trailer that featured 4 zombie-blasting soldiers singing on to Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name”, I expected John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando to beryllium overmuch funnier than it is. Inspired successful adjacent measurement by the supernatural fearfulness and buddy enactment movies of the 1980s, it is large and dumb and goofy… yet ne'er arsenic batshit bananas arsenic you’d expect for a crippled that’s rather virtually astir warring an entity called the Sludge God. But portion it whitethorn not beryllium that funny, it is fun. You whitethorn person already forgotten astir that 2023 uncover trailer, but aft playing 3 hours of its co-op missions, I don’t deliberation Toxic Commando is going to slice into the inheritance acknowledgment to its amazingly coagulated Left 4 Dead-alike antics.

While it is presented akin to a communicative run shooter with cutscenes, crippled points, and a lore-dropping man-in-the-chair vaguely modelled aft John Carpenter himself, Toxic Commando is intelligibly designed to beryllium a regular destination for a squad of 4 friends who tin tally done its missions connected repeat. Each expedition takes spot connected a reasonably-sized unfastened map, dotted with a fistful of optional objectives and loot caches alongside the quest’s main goals. With nary ticking timer oregon shrinking circle, you tin instrumentality your clip to cod everything, scour each point-of-interest, and mostly messiness astir with your pals earlier pushing onwards to the mission’s finale. It’s amazingly leisurely… astatine slightest until the horde applies the pressure.

Developed by Saber Interactive, Toxic Commando is built connected the studio’s now-signature horde exertion that renders hundreds of sprinting zombies simultaneously, allowing for enemies to clamber up walls similar a reverse waterfall of rotting flesh. In galore ways, Toxic Commando feels similar a successor to the crippled wherever this tech originated, World War Z, and adjacent features near-identical mechanics – during predominant hold-the-line defence objectives, you mow down incoming enemies with the aforesaid array of emplaced machineguns, mortars, and electrified grids. It’s conscionable that this clip it’s each rendered with a gloriously gross fearfulness aesthetic. Who wants zombies to look similar humans erstwhile they tin look similar lamp-eyed freaks from the decease dimension?

Those freaks burst and interruption erstwhile they’re introduced to the blistery pb dispensed by a precise steadfast arsenal. They’re each based connected real-world guns (aside from the wildly almighty obstruction gun, which scatters foes similar bowling pins) and divided up into your regular groups of shotguns, SMGs, sniper rifles, and different formats not opening with “S”. Saving them from feeling utterly mean is however they occurrence with the exaggerated bravado of an ultra-violent b-movie – each sputtering muzzles, wide slug spread, and explosive impacts. Legs are severed, ribcages torn open, and brains pinwheel retired of busted skulls. It’s each arsenic squelchy and sinewey arsenic you’d anticipation from a crippled associated with the manager of The Thing.

Your prime of loadout defines the combat acquisition overmuch much than the 4 quality classes, which consciousness similar insignificant augmentations to modular FPS enactment alternatively than important battlefield roles. Each is defined by a azygous peculiar quality – the Operator uses a drone that automatically bombards enemies for a fewer seconds, the Strike tin unleash a barrage of vigor blasts, the Medic has an area-of-effect heal, and the Defender tin enactment up a damage-absorbing barrier. At slightest during my hours of play, these abilities came successful useful during a pinch but did small to nonstop however I played. Perhaps filling retired the accomplishment histrion volition springiness each people stronger definition, but close present it seems similar the regular shooting is the main event.

Mowing down a batch (a lot) of zombies is the crux of Toxic Commando’s objectives. Sometimes that’ll impact the genre-trademark peculiar infected that mostly enactment precisely arsenic Left 4 Dead dictated (sticky ones that drawback you, tanky ones that complaint astatine you, gross ones that spit astatine you.) Elsewhere you’ll request to unload a belts-worth of ammunition into a tangled messiness of tentacles, oregon usage demolition charges to stroke immoderate benignant of maturation to smithereens. It’s mostly by-the-numbers co-op shooter fare, but crossed the fewer missions I’ve played there’s the unusual 1 that shines brighter. One quest sees the representation covered by a Fortnite-ish, life-sapping storm, and the lone mode to navigate betwixt the shielded pockets of information is to thrust an ambulance that tin trickle heal those sitting wrong it. It’s a truly coherent meshing of environment, situation, and instrumentality design.

Regardless of if the ngo requires 1 oregon not, vehicles are arsenic important to Toxic Commando arsenic its zombies and guns. The spaced-out objectives and unfastened quality of the maps mean you’ll request immoderate wheels to efficaciously screen ground, particularly arsenic that crushed is truthful often practically carpeted by the undead. Cars similar the armoured Maverick are bully for some extortion and doubling arsenic a battering ram – you’ll conscionable request to occasionally woody with the zombies who clamber aboard similar peculiarly diseased monkeys astatine the safari.

All vehicles person a peculiar ability, specified arsenic the ambulance’s healing aura oregon the Thunder pick-up’s flamethrower, but it's the winch attached to each but the household sedans that truly makes a difference. Essentially a grapple hook that tin beryllium fired into a assortment of anchor points, it tin beryllium utilized to rip gates disconnected their hinges, bust unfastened treasure containers, and propulsion your conveyance up slippy inclines. See, the Sludge God, successful his infinite sticky wisdom, has covered each representation successful large large stretches of gloop, and truthful without a MudRunner-lite attack you’ll beryllium spinning tires and going nowhere.

There’s admittedly precise small caller oregon experimental successful Toxic Commando, but what’s present is genuinely bully fun. It’s a much unfastened instrumentality connected Left 4 Dead’s horde-filled adventures, fuelled by the aforesaid “arcane evil” consciousness that’s made Call of Duty’s zombie mode consciousness truthful aesthetically solid. There are immoderate issues that endanger that fun, though. Every ngo I played felt similar it had had the upwind kicked retired of it by the last agelong acknowledgment to dwindling resources. Health kits are successful abbreviated supply, ammunition tin get a small tricky, and spare parts - a currency that unlocks peculiar weapons and antiaircraft structures – tin lone beryllium recovered successful a constricted fig of loot caches. By the extremity of a ngo it tin consciousness similar the likelihood are truly against you, and portion I admit the request to ratchet hostility and make a situation spike successful the last objective, successful a crippled wherever zombies get by the truckful, restocking ammo lone to find you’ve been fixed a azygous mag does consciousness a spot unbalanced. I was having a batch much amusive during the earlier minutes, erstwhile bullets were plentiful and the humor spilled similar wine, truthful I’m not definite if the travel and code truly mesh with the existent assets levels.

The much concerning thing, though, is progression. All weapons person idiosyncratic XP bars, and indispensable beryllium levelled up to peculiar milestones to unlock antithetic modifications. When you unlock a mod, you past request to walk a currency to really acceptable it to the weapon, and each 1 costs respective thousand. I can’t assistance but look astatine the full armoury and envision the hundreds and hundreds of hours I’d request to descend into Toxic Commando to execute a decently functioning, varied loadout. It’s the benignant of strategy that funnels you into picking a azygous favourite, alternatively than encouraging you to perpetually power betwixt missions. This, combined with a trio of antithetic currencies and palette-swap quality skins, has maine a small suspicious that the sludge of live-service has tainted thing I’ve different had a beauteous bully blast with. But these grindy woes tin besides beryllium recovered successful Saber’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and they didn’t halt it from being 1 of my favourite games of 2024.

That’s not to accidental I’m expecting John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando to person anyplace adjacent the aforesaid interaction Space Marine had. But, provided the afloat crippled has a coagulated scope of missions that genuinely beryllium replayable, I bash deliberation the beardown shooting and entertaining enemies person a decent capable accidental to unafraid it a location among relationship groups who’d happily re-watch gloopy ‘80s fearfulness implicit and implicit until the VHS wears out. Whether they’ll ever unlock the attachments they privation for their favourite weapons… well, we’ll person to hold to find out.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.