Plenty of Left 4 Dead-style co-op hoard shooters have come and gone throughout the years. This includes the quickly forgotten spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead series, Back 4 Blood and Remedy’s recently released attempt, FBC Firebreak. Remember FBC Firebreak? Anyone? Anyone? That one might still find an audience after planned updates, but it’s facing an uphill struggle.
John Carpenter’s Toxic CommandoDeveloper: Focus HomePublisher: SaberAvailability: Releases early 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X
One of my favourite Left4Deadalikes (which probably isn’t a word but I’m making it one now) was Saber Interactive’s World War Z, thanks mainly to the sheer volume of zombies it throws at players during the span of a mission and the visual spectacles that its writhing piles of undead created. Saber followed that game up with another Left4Deadalike of sorts in Space Marine 2, and now it’s is back with John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, a game that takes everything learned from those last two games, adds it to a semi-open world and then crams in a very unexpected but actually pretty cool idea from another game in its back catalogue; MudRunner.
Having the actual freedom to explore in a game type that normally involves fairly linear level structures feels really refreshing. In Toxic Commando’s tale of four infected mercenaries and their fight against the minions of a recently awakened Sludge God, you’re free to wander or drive around each map to your heart’s content before kicking off each level’s climactic firefight. Just like in Left 4 Dead, there are multiple acts here, each split into chapters but, instead of just going from point A to point B and occasionally having a few big battles at choke points along the way, Toxic Commando opens things up and allows you to plot your own path. Do you gamble coming into contact with multiple hordes of roamers in an attempt to hoover up every last bit of loot from the many points of interest on the map, or do you just make a beeline for the main missions but risk getting there with fewer tools and resources to defend yourself with?