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Horror movie legend John Carpenter is making a new zombie game

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This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Toxic Commando, a new first-person zombie shooter game from the mind of famed film director John Carpenter, was revealed at Summer Game Fest 2023 and will be arriving next year.

A zombie in the road with a car approaching.
Focus Entertainment

John Carpenter is best known for his directorial talents, with films such as Halloween, The Thing, and They Live among his many classics. However, he is no stranger to the world of video games. He composed the score for Sentinal Returns in 1998, and was a story consultant on FEAR 3. He has now partnered up with Saber Interactive and Focus Entertainment to make a new title called Toxic Commando.

Toxic Commando World Premiere Trailer | Summer Game Fest 2023

The reveal trailer shows a group of survivors in a Humvee rocking along to the radio before slamming into some form of mutant or zombie creature. Gameplay shows that this will be a first-person shooter with massive swarms of undead of various types and sizes on-screen at once, a wide arsenal of weapons, and multiple vehicles. It appears reminiscent of a Left 4 Dead-style co-op game, though in much larger environments, or perhaps even an open world. Considering Saber’s prior work on World War Z, this feels like a logical next step for the studio.

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There are no details about the plot or storyline, including how the world fell to these gruesome ghouls, though the game clearly is going for a more lighthearted and carefree tone. Aside from Carpenter’s name, we have no indication as to what his level of involvement in the game will be.

No release date outside of 2024 was given, however, the fact that gameplay was shown could indicate that it won’t be too much longer before we hear about a more specific date.

Toxic Commando will be coming to current-gen consoles, including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Jesse Lennox
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jesse Lennox covers all things gaming but has a specific interest in all things PlayStation, JRPGs, and experimental indies…
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