Despite an explosively promising start, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is a game that ends up feeling more like a zombie-infested slog than an undead-slaying massacre. Utilizing the same engine that brought to life the impressive hordes of enemies in 2024’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Saber Interactive’s latest game follows suit with a staggering amount of on-screen undead to mow through.
Unfortunately, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando on PlayStation 5 Pro is less than an optimal experience, negating the spectacle of the number of zombies that infest the screen. Throughout the roughly 10-hour adventure, I was left feeling less than impressed with Toxic Commando’s performance, which felt more rocky than the muddy terrain the game forces players to trudge through.
Performance woes are made worse when taking into account John Carpenter’s Toxic Commandos overall aesthetic. Even during the brief lulls of respite when not overwhelmed by the undead, where the game is admittedly more stable, spikes of lag or frame rate hiccups can occur, which feel jarring, considering the overall lacklustre level of detail of the game world that feels closer to last-gen than anything modern.
Despite my complaints, playing John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is still a lot of fun, and the unstable performance never got in the way of any untimely deaths or gameplay frustrations. In essence, if you’re not overtly sensitive to performance, you will likely not have too much to complain about in terms of just playing the game and your overall enjoyment.
“John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando on PlayStation 5 Pro is less than an optimal experience…”
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, as the game proudly indicates, stamps the famous movie director’s name right in the title, alluding to the promise of a distinctly harrowing and tense experience. In reality, however, outside of some solid music and a few cheesy one-liners, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando just feels a bit bland and generic.
Uninteresting characters, uninspired zombie designs, and large but underutilized maps with repetitive PoIs hamper the otherwise solid gunplay and fun approach to character classes, driving mechanics, and weapon variety. John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando places emphasis on its 4-player co-op campaign that is best enjoyed with friends. Thankfully, with full cross-play support and the in-game match-matching system, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando promises you are never too far from another soul to help you survive the zombie apocalypse.
More than the encounters with the undead, the biggest threat players will face when playing John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is not falling asleep after prolonged engagements. Toxic Commando’s approach to each chapter feels overly familiar and repetitive, boiling down to going from point A to B, which generally involves driving or delivering something to a specific point, interacting with something in the environment, and then having a last-stand-like battle to keep zombies at bay. Rinse and repeat for 7-8 hours, and that’s your game.
Of course, the game doesn’t want you to bee-line to the end, encouraging players to explore the maps instead and find valuable resources, such as golden gears that are integral to kitting out your arsenal or upgrading PoIs before taking on a wave of zombies.
Like other popular loot-heavy games, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando features various rarities, going from unhighlighted to purple and yellow. Golden gears are often a required resource to unlock the weapon crates that have the higher-tier loot inside. Unfortunately, due to the size of the maps, which often feature mud-caked and zombie bramble-infested terrain, driving is your only option if you want to get all the collectables before engaging with the story.
“…the biggest threat players will face when playing John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is not falling asleep after prolonged engagements.”
I say unfortunately, as despite the cool on-paper concept of driving various vehicles, including ones kitted out with EMP-style blasts, an over-reliance on a wince mechanic quickly devolves what should be a simple drive into a repetitive slog through unruly hills and ditches.
Players can also use the winch to pry open abandoned shipment crates, locked doors and other types of gates, further encouraging exploration of the map. Still, due to most of the locations in the game looking largely the same, none of this feels particularly fun or worthwhile, outside of simply gathering resources to upgrade your character and gear. On the topic of upgrades, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando features a solid amount of unlockable cosmetics and weapon augments that give those dedicated a lot to do, if they are okay with the repetitive gameplay loop.
At the end of the day, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is a competent zombie horde shooter with solid gunplay. Sadly, all the elements that are in place to make the game feel distinct, such as the winch, its open-world and RPG-style loot system, instead leave the game feeling bloated and tedious.
