toxic commando demo first impressions
Launching March 12th
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Launching March 12th -
Toxic Commando Main Menu
“Toxic Commando scratches that arcadey zombie shooter itch, and I was left impressed with its foundation.”
- Don of Playstation
A fun Gory Shooter that doesn’t take itself too seriously
I decided to jump into the Toxic Commando Steam demo ahead of its upcoming release. The demo is available until March 2nd, and after spending some time in its world, I walked away feeling like I had a good time.
There’s a solid foundation here with a lot I genuinely like. But is it worth the price? And more importantly, is there enough here to keep us satisfied for months?
Let’s break down my initial thoughts.
Image courtesy of Focus Entertainment
What toxic commando gets right
The first thing that stood out to me was the gunplay. That’s usually where most of my attention goes in an FPS anyway.
It’s crisp and responsive. I never found myself feeling unsatisfied after mowing down dozens of zombies. Shots land with impact, and the enemies and environment respond appropriately. When you’re clearing out waves, it feels good. It feels right.
The dismemberment system adds weight to every encounter, and the swarm tech we’ve seen in games like Space Marine 2 and World War Z shows up in a big way here. When the screen starts filling up, there’s chaos, but it sits well within the map. It keeps you on edge without feeling messy.
Visually, the game looks good. Nothing revolutionary, but it’s polished and ran smoothly on my rig. The environments are detailed, and there’s usually something around every corner. Traversal and terrain feel noticeably improved since the beta, and the world flows better overall.
One of my favorite touches is the semi-open world design. You’re not stuck in tight corridors the entire time. There’s room to breathe, explore, and approach objectives your own way. The maps aren’t massive and there isn’t an overwhelming amount to discover, but I still enjoyed hunting for spare parts and checking every question mark on the map to see what loot I could find and how I could make my run easier.
Then there’s the vehicle system. Finding and maintaining your car isn’t just a gimmick. It’s central to your success. Travel feels smooth and purposeful, not like a chore. Maintenance is straightforward and not overly complicated, which keeps momentum going instead of slowing you down with busy work.
Customization also deserves credit. There’s a healthy variety of weapons and a solid range of unlocks for each. I really like that you can choose which weapon to start with and the ability to create loadouts before each mission. I was worried they might go the World War Z route with weapons locked strictly to classes, but that’s not the case here, and that flexibility is appreciated.
The class system itself feels familiar compared to other games in the genre, but it’s not as central to your success as I initially thought. It feels more like a “help me” in a pinch than the core identity of your run. Still, I found myself curious about how strong you can get by unlocking perks and how much that will impact future runs.
Image courtesy of Focus Entertainment
Where toxic commando struggles
Movement is where cracks start to show for me. Forward movement is swift and responsive. No issues there. But once you get swarmed, things change. You can’t sprint sideways or backwards, which makes reacting to large enemy groups kind of frustrating. When you’re surrounded, you don’t feel agile. You feel stuck. In a swarm-heavy shooter, that’s a problem. And sure, maybe the game is trying to say, “hey genius - don’t let this happen.” But when it inevitably does, I want the tools to recover.
The story is fine. Not terrible. Not gripping. It does its job, with some forced humor sprinkled in, but nothing about it really hooks you. If you’re looking for a groundbreaking take on zombies and infection narratives, this isn’t that. But realistically, most players aren’t coming here for narrative depth anyway. They’re here to ram and slam through hordes, and I include myself in that group.
That brings me to my bigger concern: mission fatigue.
The “replay this mission over and over” structure is wearing thin across the industry, especially for me. If the full game leans too heavily on repeating the same handful of maps and objectives, I think it could hurt long-term engagement, like it often does in similar titles.
Progression also raised some eyebrows. Certain unlocks and upgrades, like scopes, cost a lot of Sludgite (in game currency). You might unlock one or two items per run, then have to spend your Sludgite too. Look, I get it - they want you playing a ton and investing loads of time into the game like we have seen from similar titles. But based on the demo’s economy, it already feels like it leans toward grind-heavy. Upgrading weapons seems like it will take a long time, and if players aren’t getting that steady dopamine drip from progression, that could turn people off. That’s just the reality of how these systems work today.
Image courtesy of Focus Entertainment
what i’d like to see in the future
First, movement adjustments. Whether that means backward and sideways sprinting or even a slide mechanic, players need better tools to escape when things go south.
Second, the upgrade economy needs tuning. Spending 15,000+ Sludgite on a single scope feels excessive, especially if that’s about all you get coming off a 40-minute mission on normal. If excessive grind becomes the primary gameplay loop, burnout will follow. We’ve seen that happen before.
And finally, content variety. Instead of making constant mission replays the core hook, I’d love to see:
New maps
Additional mission types
Rotating objectives or gameplay modifiers
Give players reasons to return beyond farming currency.
As for pricing, $39.99 is reasonable on paper…but if the final product leans heavily on limited maps and mandatory replay loops, $29.99 might have felt more aligned with the overall experience, but then again I’m no economist.
Image courtesy of Focus Entertainment
Final thoughts
Toxic Commando scratches that arcadey zombie shooter itch, and I was left impressed with its foundation.
The gunplay is clean. The swarm tech delivery is fun and quite the spectacle. Vehicle traversal and maintenance are surprisingly straightforward and not annoying. Customization gives players control right from the start.
But movement limitations, potential grind issues, and mission repetition could hold it back if not addressed sooner rather than later.
As it stands, it’s an enjoyable experience with real potential. I had genuine, mindless fun and that’s exactly what you should be looking for if this is on your radar.
Without seeing the full roadmap or how open the team is to tuning these systems, it’s hard to say whether this evolves into something lasting or something players move on from after burnout sets in.
For now, I’m cautiously optimistic.
— Don of PlayStation
