[PREVIEW] John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando – Familiar Fun, But Where’s the Hype?

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John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando has been on my list for quite some time and with Steam Next Fest currently in full swing, I finally got the chance to dive in thanks to the demo release. As someone who’s poured hundreds of hours into Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, as well as Dead Island 2 (which I absolutely adored), this game immediately caught my eye.

It’s got this perfect hybrid vibe, pulling from the action of Back 4 Blood and that same open-world, chaotic energy Dead Island 2 brought. What I love most is that Toxic Commando is a PvE zombie FPS shooter, set in a landscape brimming with variety. You’re not just facing shambling hordes, there are explosive zombies and massive creatures, all of it set against a backdrop of tense, cinematic moments. That said, I can’t fully say yet if it’s going to capture that same magic as Left 4 Dead, only time will tell.

Proper Multiplayer Experience With Semi-Open Missions

Toxic Commando is a proper co-op multiplayer experience, built around a squad of four players, each selecting from distinct classes: the Strike, Medic, Operator, and Defender. Each role is designed with unique skills and abilities that actively promote tactical teamwork. Beyond the class system, the game shines with its off-road action, where vehicles become vital tools of destruction.

You can smash through hordes, use winches to traverse the sludge, and fight on the move, with mounted machine guns and storage for ammo. Of course, these vehicles need to be maintained, requiring repairs and fuel, so there’s a constant balancing act as you keep them running.

The world isn’t fully open, but it carries this semi-open feeling. Each mission is like a hub of objectives, some main, some side and every zone you enter brings different challenges. You’ll see a mix of close-quarters combat in tight spaces and wide-open areas where positioning and vehicle tactics really matter. As you explore, you’ll uncover resources and currency scattered across the map, these feed into upgrades in the main hub.

And while the areas don’t feel fully sandboxed, they’re rich with variety, offering different looks, hidden upgrades, and new gear that make each run feel unique. Ultimately, the game thrives on this loop: leveling up, honing your team’s synergy, and going back into the zombie chaos, where every map brings new hordes, new dangers, and a constant drive to improve.

Solid Demo But Doesn’t Hype You Up For The Full Release

The demo version of Toxic Commando does include a tutorial mission, which is great for getting a feel for the basics: how to shoot, how the systems work, and how to use the class abilities. But it drops the ball in one crucial way: it fails to explain the more advanced mechanics. Once you’re out in the field with random players, you’re left guessing what’s really important, what to prioritize during missions, what resources to gather and that lack of guidance is a bit frustrating.

The demo offers two main missions: the “Drop,” which is essentially the tutorial level you can replay, and “Church of the Damned,” a semi-open mission that you can tackle again and again. Between these, you’ll return to Leon’s Base (the main hub) where you can customize your characters, tweak loadouts, test weapons at the firing range, and jump into matchmaking. The hub also lets you choose difficulty, with four tiers: Story, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard.

It’s worth noting that, while the demo is a solid taste of the game, it’s still quite limited. You cap out your classes at level 5, so you never get to see the full skill trees and all the advanced abilities. Weapon variety is fantastic, all kinds of main weapons, sidearms, and melee options like knives and axes are fully available. Unfortunately, progress doesn’t carry over to the full game, so there’s a bit of a time crunch, no need to sink too many hours.

Still, matchmaking is smooth, once you pick a mission, you’re almost instantly matched with a party. That said, the demo, while fun, doesn’t fully hype you up for the full release. The concept is familiar, the graphics are solid, and performance is good, but overall, I’d say the foundation is strong. Now we just have to see what the full version delivers.

Worth a Look If You’re Into Killing Zombies

Toxic Commando really does have a solid concept and some promising ideas. For instance, at the end of the Church map, you face a wave of zombies that really ramps up the tension and forces teamwork. My squad split up where two defended the left side and two the right side, and we were surrounded, forced to keep them out from breaching the church walls.

One thing that stands out is the gunplay: the weapons have recoil, which, while not a huge problem, does require you to be more deliberate with your shots – no mindless spraying. What really hooks you in is the variety of zombies: some explode, some shoot, others grab you, like a Smoker from Left 4 Dead, and all of this creates a constant flow of action. So, while the demo doesn’t fully deliver the marketing punch I hoped for, I’m still really drawn in. I’m eager to see how the full release shapes up, especially as we learn more about potential microtransactions or free updates.