John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando Is a Wild Co‑op Shooter Where Trucks, Sludge Gods and Zombie Hordes Collide
I played John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando during a closed-door preview at Gamescom and spent an hour in the four-player co-op shooter. The game is set in a near future after an experiment meant to harness the Earth’s core unleashes an entity called the Sludge God, and players control mercenaries fighting oozing undead with a wide range of weapons, vehicles, and class abilities.
- What the preview covered: co-op play, enemy design, vehicles, class systems, loot crates, and planned platforms and release year.
Quick facts from the demo
The demo was a four-player session that mixed on-foot combat with vehicle segments. Players were carried off by large monsters, driven through hordes of zombies, and had to hunt for spare parts to open supply crates that contain randomly generated ammo, guns, grenades, and healing items. The map design encouraged traversal by vehicle, and the game launched waves of undead to keep pressure on the team.
Enemies, environment, and tone
The world contains pits of corrosive ooze and glowing sludge tentacles that strike at characters, along with hordes of zombies and larger, spiked beasts that can grab a player and run off with them. Developer Saber Interactive collaborated with director John Carpenter on the game’s story, and Carpenter wrote music for the title, although that music wasn’t audible during my session because of local audio routing.
Design freedom and creature variety
Tim Willits, Saber Interactive’s chief creative officer, said the team enjoyed having creative liberty with creature design. He explained, “We can’t license particular movies, but there is some flare, some Easter eggs, some fun and we just feel it fits in that world that he’s so famous for and has that vibe,” and later added that Toxic Commando allows them to imagine enemies rather than follow an existing license.
Classes, abilities, and progression
The demo featured class-based roles. For example, the tank class had an ability to periodically reduce damage taken by nearby players, while the healer could grant temporary hit points in a burst. Willits said each class has deep upgrade trees influenced by systems used in World War Z and Space Marine. Players are encouraged to stay together and use abilities strategically, since cooperation mattered both for revives and survivability.
Vehicles and objectives
Vehicles are central to many levels. The demo included an ambulance that heals passengers while riding, a police car that refills ammo, and a tank-like “apocalypse vehicle” equipped with a winch used to open blocked paths. Vehicles were useful for transporting the team across large maps and for running through hordes, but they could also be hazardous; one player accidentally ran another over during the session.
Loot, difficulty, and modes
Supply crates require spare parts to unlock, and their contents are randomly generated when opened. The game keeps pressure on players with large enemy swarms that call for heavy weaponry such as railguns, turrets, and grenades. Difficulty options include a story mode and a higher “nightmare” difficulty. Willits also recommended trying solo play with at least one AI companion for exploration and story focus: “I always like to have one AI because that AI will revive me because my gamer buddies will not,” he said.
Platforms and release
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is scheduled for release in 2026 on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. Saber Interactive said the game will launch with nine maps that are large enough to favor vehicle use across levels.
