John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando: A Deep Dive into the Co-op Zombie Shooter

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, released on March 12, 2026, for PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X/S, throws players into a chaotic, horde-filled shooter experience. Developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment, the game features a story and aesthetic influenced by horror legend John Carpenter, known for classics like The Thing and Halloween. Whereas promising a spectacle of on-screen action, the PS5 Pro version faces performance challenges.

The Premise: A Toxic Threat Emerges

The game’s narrative unfolds in the near future, where an attempt to harness the Earth’s core energy goes horribly wrong. This unleashes the Sludge God, a monstrous entity that transforms people into zombie-like mutants. A team of mercenaries, known as Toxic Commando, is tasked with eliminating the threat, but a failed mission leaves them infected with a rapidly spreading disease, giving them only a week to live. The story serves as a motivating factor for the intense, cooperative gameplay.

Gameplay: Open Missions and Horde Combat

Toxic Commando is a squad-based, first-person shooter designed for cooperative play. Missions take place on sprawling maps with primary objectives and optional side tasks, encouraging exploration for loot, upgrades, and resources. Players can choose to focus on the main objective or divert to gather supplies and prepare for the final wave-based defense. The game utilizes Saber Interactive’s swarm engine, previously used in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and World War Z, to deliver massive hordes of enemies.

Vehicles play a crucial role in traversing the muddy and challenging terrain, with winches often necessary to overcome obstacles. The game features a variety of weapons, each customizable with upgrades and cosmetic items, adding a progression system to incentivize continued play.

Classes and Teamwork

Players can select from different character classes, each with unique abilities:

• Assault: Focuses on dealing high damage to groups of enemies.
• Medic: Provides healing support to teammates.
• Operator: Utilizes a drone for healing and support.
• Defender: Creates defensive structures to protect the team.

Effective teamwork and coordination between classes are essential for success, particularly on higher difficulty levels. While the game supports AI teammates, the experience is significantly enhanced with human players.

Performance and Presentation

Despite the impressive scale of the enemy hordes, the PlayStation 5 Pro version of Toxic Commando suffers from performance issues. Reviewers noted rocky performance and occasional lag or frame rate hiccups, even during less intense moments. While not game-breaking, these issues detract from the overall experience. The game’s aesthetic aims for a B-movie horror vibe reminiscent of the 1980s, and includes a special “movie mode” in the graphics settings to enhance the atmosphere.

A Solid Co-op Experience, Despite Flaws

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando offers a fun and chaotic co-op experience, particularly for fans of horde shooters like World War Z and Helldivers 2. While the missions can become repetitive and the story is relatively simple, the intense action and customizable weapons provide a compelling gameplay loop. The game is a solid choice for players seeking a cooperative zombie-slaying adventure, but those sensitive to performance issues may want to consider this before purchasing.