When I'm not getting my ass handed to me in Marathon, I'm currently ripping the undead to shreds in John Carpenter's Toxic Commando. Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive's FPS is an ode to the shooters of old, where solid co-op and chaos are plentiful. I'm curious what makes the game tick, so I asked Saber's CCO and ex-id Software legend, Tim Willits, about the influences behind it.
Saber Interactive is seemingly working on everything right now. In terms of new Switch games, there are the likes of Turok: Origins to look forward to, while other platforms will see the Untitled John Wick game and Jurassic Park: Survival in the future. It's also celebrating successes in the form of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, but is there another game fuelling John Carpenter's Toxic Commando?
Wilits tells me about the FPS game's secret weapon. "A main influence behind Toxic Commando might surprise you […] our experience building the Runner series, particularly SnowRunner, had a major impact on how we approached the world and vehicles. The idea of navigating dangerous terrain, getting stuck in mud, recovering vehicles, and dealing with environmental challenges created a very different layer of gameplay compared to traditional shooters," Willits explains.
For the uninitiated, SnowRunner tasks players with delivering cargo through extremely difficult terrain. With mighty trucks and other utility vehicles to use, it's up to you to get across rivers, muddy trails, and rocky roads. Precise driving and planning your route are vital. That DNA runs partially through Toxic Commando. While it doesn't harp on realism quite so strongly, each map isn't a straightforward journey. Sludge clogs your wheels, hills threaten your speed, and terrain changes on a whim. And that's all with zombies snapping at your heels.
It borrows tech from World War Z, Saber's multiplayer hit based on the book and movie of the same name. Willits delves into this, telling me that "when you combine that with what we built with World War Z and Space Marine 2 around our Swarm Engine and massive zombie battles, it creates situations that feel very different from typical co-op shooters. Toxic Commando really is the peanut butter and chocolate of co-op action shooters, combining what players love about driving and shooting in one game."
He adds that these games are foundational to Toxic Commando: "The idea was to combine our award-winning simulation technology found in SnowRunner with our action experience learned from titles such as World War Z and Space Marine 2. There is not a single work of art that fits exactly what we were making, but there was a body of work that inspired a lot of our direction, style, and vibe of the game. Thus, the partnership with John Carpenter."
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is out now, and you read my review, where I exclusively play it on the Asus ROG Ally to see how it fares on handheld PCs. We'll have more from our interview with Tim Willits coming soon, so be sure to join the Pocket Tactics Discord server to stay notified.