Some games exist to push the medium as an art form. They either seek to tell a story in a way that a video game is uniquely suited to, or play with the concept of ‘play’ like no other medium ever could. These are the games that are talked about for years, lauded at awards shows, and then usually claimed to be overrated and not all that impressive, actually, years later.
And then there are games like John Carper’s Toxic Commando that are more interested in pumping endless rounds of lead into zombie skulls to make gory messes while our heroes say naughty words.
That’s right, there’s a new trailer out for Toxic Commando, the four player slayfest much in the vein of a certain Valve zombie shooter, and it’s cranked all of its dials up to 11. Watch if here, if you can, since there’s enough bad words to potentially block the embed from working:
This trailer finally goes into some details, giving us a better lowdown of what to expect once we’ve booted up this throwback action bonanza. There are four characters, four classes, vehicles, and all sorts of crazy weapons. The most interesting thing to note seems to be that the levels, instead of the more linear-based designs of earlier zombie-based shooters like Left 4 Dead, appear to be more open-ended in their paths forward. The zones are large, intended to be driven across and explored rather than thinly-veiled hallways to be led through to the end. This exploration will result in players finding more and better weaponry to take on the horde that awaits.
All things considered, while Toxic Commando may put people off with its abrasive nature, it genuinely appears that a unique take on this tried and true formula is being attempted here, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out when it releases.
Then again, those who are particularly interested won’t have to wait long: the game will be receiving a limited-time demo, available to download on Steam from February 19 to March 2. And, as always, pre-orders will provide free DLC goodies, and there will be multiple editions to pre-order with their own unique bonuses.
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is scheduled to release on March 12, 2026 on the Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games tore.
