John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is one of those fulminant announcements that you don’t expect, and that warmed up the already hot prime time of Summer Game Fest 2023. A short Reveal Trailer of about two minutes introduces us to a new co-op First Person Shooter themed demons and zombies, which in itself is already very welcome, because we know that the nice undead never get tired, and their presence raises always the charisma of videogame titles, but what is most striking is the authorship of the game. Well yes, one of the greatest authors of the fantasy horror universe is behind the title, the legendary John Carpentermaster of genre cinema, who, from the seventies to today, has been able to become cult, with his minimalist yet engaging and unique films, and today his well-known passion for video games, among which the recent chapters of Assassin’s Creed o Haloas we said on this page, led him to collaborate with Focus Entertainmentpublisher responsible for the game, developed by Saber Interactive under the supervision of the industry veteran Tim Willits.
John Carpenter: artist of terror at three hundred and sixty degrees, including video games
John Carpenter And John Carpenter, we’re not kidding. Have his name on the cover of John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is already a guarantee for auteur horror fans. He is one of the most talented directors and screenwriters of the glorious period of the eighties, despite having started his career much earlier, already in the sixties with some youth short films, unripe independent works but already endowed with a unique style, ranging from horror, science fiction and westerns, to then land on the big screen in 1974 with the first feature film, Dark Star, a dreamlike and insane work that parodies the philosophical sci-fi of the period, complete with a smart bomb that argues with the crew about the ultimate goal of detonating itself. An absolute cult, shortly followed by the unforgettable detective story with urban western hues Assault on Precinct 13 dated 1976 and one of the fathers of the slasher movie genre, the iconic Halloween from 1978, whose sequels haunt us to this day. These works pave the way for the great successes of the eighties, with unforgettable titles. The exceptional Escape from New York1981, introduces us to the character of Snake Plissken, called by us (we don’t know why) Hyena, who had the merit of inspiring the main protagonist of the saga Metal Gear. Many other cult titles followed in the glittering decade, such as The thing of 1982, from which an official videogame was made many years later, in the epoch PlayStation 2in which John Carpenter was involved as an advanced consultant, Christine from 1983, based on a novel by Stephen Kingthe space love story Starman in 1984, Big trouble in Chinatown in 1986, The lord of evil in 1987 or the cult They live from 1988, which inspired the fashion collection OBEYmuch appreciated by the new generations, perhaps unaware that that term was nothing more than a subliminal imposition created by the aliens in the film to mentally subjugate humans.
The productions also continued in the nineties and beyond, of course, but the eighties are now considered the authorial fulcrum of the author, and the films of that period are inspired by this new title presented at the Summer Game Fest of this year, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. Moreover, the American director is also known for his exceptional soundtracks composed with the synthesizer, and among the many written we cannot fail to mention the OST by Sentinel Returns per PlayStation e PCdated 1998, remake of the eighties cult game The Sentinelwritten by Geoff Crammond. After the 2002 video game taken from The thingwhich we have already talked about, in more recent times, the director was also a creative consultant for F.3.A.R. title for PlayStation 3 dated 2011. So John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando represents the artist’s fourth author’s proof in the videogame field. But what exactly is this new and interesting title?
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando: FPS, demonic mud gods, signature zombies and co-op multiplayer, what more could you want?
An important premise, as you know there doesn’t seem to be any film named Toxic Commando in the New York director’s nourished artistic production. Indeed John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando it is based on a completely original screenplay, which makes the title even more interesting, and which perhaps gives hope for the possible release of a film based on it, in case of commercial success. From a technical point of view the first thing that catches the eye is the realization, everything is based on an exceptional graphics engine, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando it is in fact made with the Swarm Engineprogrammed internally by the developer Saber Interactiveof which the legendary Tim Willits he is definitely proud, who already made himself known in 2019 with the tie-in of the zombie movie World War Zand the following year with Showrunner. The engine has definitely impressed gamers, flexing its muscles in the title currently in development Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. The game takes up the post-apocalyptic atmospheres in zombie sauce of the eighties, offering us armored vehicles to travel in, in the style of the cult Mad Max and a plot, written by John Carpenter really charming. We are in an unspecified future, in which the terrestrials, messy as usual, have awakened a demonic creature that was dormant inside the core of the Earth, due to bizarre underground experiments. This evil entity, called Sludge God, decides at that point to emerge on the earth’s crust, accompanied by nefarious creatures from the center of the Earth. Humans who come into contact with these creatures instantly become zombies, adding to the ranks of the evil army. The intention of the enemies is to terraform the planet according to their needs, to make it habitable for the followers of darkness, with mobile and oily sludge, infernal temperatures, fire and flames, with zombies and demons everywhere, not really a holiday village where then relax. The only hope of the Earth are therefore the same scientists who started the awakening of the underground monsters, and who have now recruited a small army of mercenary soldiers, called precisely Toxic Commando, who should save the world.
The player has the possibility to form the initial team, using different units, each with peculiar classes, assault vehicles, light armored and armored vehicles, with weapons for close combat, such as machine guns, and also at a distance, such as grenades and sniper rifles , and the classic strategic use of hedges. The basic gameplay closely resembles the classic Left 4 Dead, with the necessary differences, of course. The level of customization seems really high, and the exciting trailer shows us many of the future content of the game. Ensured the presence of tough end-of-level bosses, and also less demanding mini-bosses with which to break in your team. The chosen genre is the very fitting one of FPS, with the possibility of fighting enemies in co-op mode. We don’t know if it will be possible to impersonate the forces of evil, indeed we doubt it, but it would be intriguing. The dark tones of the graphics are fascinating, and the soundtrack is no less, complete with a quote in the trailer of a classic Bon Jovi. We can’t wait to have it in our hands, facing the hellish hordes full of adrenaline, and it is already possible to register to try the beta version for PCat the following LINK.
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC
Sviluppatore: Saber Interactive
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Release date: 2024
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is the big surprise of the Summer Game Fest. Inspired by the great classic horror-action films of the eighties, written by John Carpenter, developed by Saber Interactive, with the exceptional graphics engine Swarm Engine, already seen in World War Z, the game will be a classic FPS in cooperative multiplayer mode, rich of action and post apocalyptic horror. The publisher Focus Entertainment has not gone too far, declaring a generic 2024 as a release date, only for the latest generation platforms, i.e. PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and current PC. So let’s get ready to save planet Earth from the onslaught of underground demons.
