Announced two years ago, at the Summer Games Festival, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando promised a squad based shooter with tons of fun. Can this cooperative shooter capture the attention of players? Or should John Carpenter have stayed clear?
Leon Needs You!
John Carpenter has a long history of being involved in superb movies. However, apart from offering some story consultancy to F.E.A.R 3, he has stayed away from the video game format. Until now, that is, with the launch of John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. This is a squad based shooter developed by Saber, written by the man himself and inspired by his signature blend of 80’s horror. I’m pleased to say that Carpenter’s magic touch still exists; Toxic Commando is a fun action horror adventure which is a familiar format, but still a blast to play.
The story of Toxic Commando takes place in the near future. An experiment by tech CEO Leon Dorsey, to harness the power of the earth’s core, goes horribly wrong. As Leon’s company begins to drill, citizens become attracted to the dig site in a trance like state. When the experiment goes awry, Leon unknowingly creates and unleashes the Sludge God. This abomination has one goal – to terraform the earth into sludge and transform the population into mindless undead. With Leon desperate to rectify his deadly mistakes, he tasks a team of mercenaries to save the world, naming them the Toxic Commandos!

A Cheesy And Bloody Hilarious Affair
The Toxic Commandos are made up of a team of four: Walter, Ruby, Cato and Astrid. These characters are hilarious and endearing as the story takes place through nine distinct missions and locations. As previously mentioned, the story is by no means ground-breaking, but it thoroughly succeeds in what it sets out to do. It’s an 80’s style buddy cop horror movie with so many cheesy lines, you can’t help but laugh at them.
The way in which the characters converse with each other is absolutely hilarious; the voice cast have done a superb job bringing these characters to life. It’s a real thrill ride; these commandos team up and save the world from an impending apocalypse. It’s refreshingly simple and satisfying with a climactic conclusion. You can feel Carpenter’s influence oozing everywhere in this story! My only gripe is there should be more levels on launch!

A Shooter, Looter, Defender Extravaganza!
When you first load into the prologue of the game, you can immediately feel the influence of titles like Left 4 Dead and Back 4 Blood. Toxic Commando sports a very similar four player squad-based shooter; it can be played alone or with a team of three other friends. Like those titles, you are encouraged to play with friends and it’s such fun! Each of the nine levels takes on a semi open world format. You can complete the main objectives straight away if you so choose. However, it is highly recommended to explore the map in order to gain valuable loot and weapons for each level’s decisive ending.
Loot also plays a very important part in gameplay, whether it’s collecting spare parts, (enables you to unlock defences at the end of the level) and sludgite, (used to upgrade weapons). On higher difficulties, you can collect rare loot that can be used for cosmetic items. All of the loot can be used in the game’s hub, Leon’s Base. This base is your classic co-op hub where you can upgrade weapons, test guns on the shooting range and even play a basketball mini game!
Let’s not forget about another crucial ingredient – classes. For any playable character, you can choose one of four classes: Strike(Damage Dealer) Medic (Healer) Operator (Engineer/Support) and Defender(Tank). These classes all support their own robust skill trees; they allow players to experiment with the different abilities each class has. Whether it’s throwing fireballs as the Strike, sending out a healing aura field as the Medic, using a combat drone as the Operator or putting up a huge shield as the Defender. Each class feels varied and unique and offers a vast amount of replayability.

Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando offers a variety of gameplay styles that keep the game feeling fresh and unique. This game stays true to the formula of playing from a first person perspective. Shooting feels solid and balanced, with up to 19 main weapons and secondary weapons to use along with a host of special weapons that can be picked up in levels. Unfortunately, it’s not without problems. Melee weapons are also available but they are erratic. This is due to the game’s currently imbalanced stamina system. It should be many more swings before stamina loss!
The real additions to the traditional gameplay loop in this genre are the vehicles. There are up to ten vehicles to drive at launch and each has unique abilities, such as an EMP from the truck or healing from the ambulance, with some directly affecting mission structures. Most of these machines come with a winch ability, allowing you to propel yourself up hills and out of sludge. Driving feels highly responsive and is so much fun, especially in co-op. Co-op is the optimum way of playing; the bots do a serviceable job but they can be wildly inconsistent, which is very frustrating in tough situations.
Frustrating Foes
Finally, when it comes to gameplay, the enemies are both engrossing and frustrating. The usual cast of zombies shows up, along with a selection of named special enemies like the Goon, Slob, Stalker and Snare. These special enemies are similar to games previously mentioned but do just enough to stop them from being carbon copies. The problem with these enemies is they can be wildly inconsistent with attacks and abilities, thus making the hardest difficulty (Very Hard) hugely frustrating. Still, it’s worth noting how many enemies can flood the screen to fight the player. It’s a true spectacle during the game’s pivotal moments.

Bloody Disgusting
Visual presentation is another high point for John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. The nine levels look gorgeous, as they are drenched in black and red sludge. You might think that doesn’t sound very appealing, but it’s visually striking as you destroy the sludge. Lighting is superb; most of the levels are set in darkly lit environments or at night. Blood splatters violently on the screen; it’s over the top and brutal, but oddly satisfying. Cutscenes are animated superbly. The added cinematic mode that can be toggled in the options adds a nice touch, as does the comic book style loading screens.
The character designs for both the playable characters and the enemies are superb. Each special enemy looks truly monstrous; the sludge god at the end of the game is particularly frightening. It’s also worth mentioning that there is a strong selection of skins for customisation. A superb effort by Saber.
Similarly, the audio design and soundtrack have been crafted to perfection. Every bullet fired feels powerful and meaningful. Special enemy introductions are alerted by unique sounds to make the player aware. As I have mentioned earlier, the voice acting is superb. Special mention should go to Omari Hardwick, with an outstanding turn as Cato. Finally, the soundtrack, crafted by Carpenter along with his son Cody and composer Daniel Davies, is a blend of 80’s retro wave. It is so perfectly suited to the game! I was often nodding my head in time with the music during the intense moments! Saber has done wonders with its presentation.

Verdict
To put it simply, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is an absolute blast. An over the top, fun filled cooperative shooter, with solid gunplay and great exploration which will have any lover of this genre smiling from ear to ear. Whilst there are some inconsistencies with enemy and bot balancing, and the game is on the short side, it’s still a great time. Add in superb visuals, great sound design and a rip roaring soundtrack and you have a real blast from the past! This is a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is just here for a good time! I can’t wait to go back for more. Check out the page here- John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando – Focus Entertainment





























































