STACK #257 March 2026

GAMING FEATURE

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GENRE: Shooter MULTIPLAYER: Yes

FORMAT:

GO COMMANDO! Co-op shooter John Carpenter’sToxic Commando is unleashed this month, taking horde combat and vehicular gameplay and banging them together for a horror-soaked treat. Focus Entertainment’s Louise Henry tells us more…

S ays Henry, "We wanted a world that felt recognisable but was set in the near future – just advanced enough to have some cool tech without feeling like a massive leap from our own reality.” Despite the fun nature of the subject matter, the Focus folk are taking this job seriously.

approach this with earnestness because we genuinely love this stuff.” Not surprisingly, those inspirations draw heavily from the halcyon 1980s action horror days. “The path to John Carpenter was a natural one,” Henry reveals. “Which great director or movies fit into that kind of sphere? John Carpenter’s Escape from New York is probably the most obvious

• John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is out Mar 12

“We wanted our characters to be aware of the tropes they’re living through. They’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, dealing with completely over-the-top situations that are both terrifying and – let’s be honest – a bit ridiculous. “We lean into that with the dialogue and scenarios, but while we embrace comedic elements, we’re not making fun of the games and movies that inspired us,” Henry assures us. “We

reference, but you’ll also find DNA from Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, They Live, and Prince of Darkness. “What we love about those properties is the big energy and bombastic tone. It was about capturing that feeling. There’s a lack of self-consciousness in a lot of late ’70s to early ’90s action-horror cinema. Those characters aren’t winking at the camera – they’re in over their heads and rolling with it. Bec Summer

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HERE'S THE THING...

As well as helping with the story for Toxic Commando , John Carpenter also composed the music score.

GENRE: Racing MULTIPLAYER: Yes

FORMAT:

THE RACE IS ON! After a break of more than 30 years, the arcade racing mayhem of Screamer returns this month. Video game voice guy extraordinaire Troy Baker finally gets to fulfil a wish with his role of Mr A. He tells us more...

• Screamer is out Mar 26

character and we shrink wrap him in mystery with a lot of grandstanding, which I love to do,” grins Baker, “and we put him at the top of this tournament. In a very Machiavellian way, he’s pulling all the strings of all these players in this tournament for his own end.” Every

that point in my life?” To Baker, it’s ultimately the story that matters. “A friend of mine once told me that every game is a story of loss, whether it's a grizzled survivor who loses his daughter, or a plumber who loses a princess. To me, every good story tries to tell why that loss matters and how are we going to get it back? That’s exactly what our story does. This is a story of loss, now let’s go get it back.” Bec Summer

R ecalls Baker, “Our narrative designer pointed out I’d said in an interview once that I’d never played a villain. He and I knew that if we were just going to come in and play a villain, we were going to be bored and the audience would then be bored as well.” This meant finding a twist. “So, what we do is we take that

character needs a voice, and Baker has his process. “Finding the voice – what I do is go, ‘OK, if those were my

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circumstances, then what do I sound like if I am that person in those circumstances at

TROY STORY

Baker's video game career kicked off when he voiced Sergeant Matt Baker in 2005 shooter Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30.

MARCH 2026

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