Samson Review

Samson is the debut title from Liquid Swords, a studio founded by developers who worked on Just Cause and Mad Max. You play as Samson, a guy with a debt to the mob. They busted you out of jail, and the price of that freedom is your sister. They've got her as collateral. Every day you earn money, and you've got a choice: spend money on essential repairs and resources for your car or pay down the debt to get her back. If you don't, you best believe the mob will let you know.

It's a novel premise, and it should be an instant slam dunk. Instead, it's a game full of genuinely interesting ideas that just needed more time in the oven and the $25 price tag reflects that.

The Driving Feels Right

Coming from this studio's history, the driving is on par with Mad Max. The cars feel heavy and powerful with a healthy dose of great engine audio. Side ramming also returns as your primary damage tool. The twist here is that you're targeting wheels specifically to hit weak points and flip enemies quickly which is incredibly satisfying if you're able to pull it off.

My biggest disappointment is the lack of car upgrades. Mad Max let you feel your power grow both as Max and through your vehicle. Samson doesn't have that. You're using the same muscle car the entire game with no progression attached to it and that feels like a massive missed opportunity.

Combat Is Grounded, Not Flashy

On foot, this isn't Arkham style free flow. It's more grounded counter parry combat where timing your block is everything. A well-timed parry opens enemies up for a return attack. You've got light and heavy attacks, and breaking an enemy's stance lets you finish them. You can pick up melee weapons scattered around for bonus damage. On the whole it is very simple with a healthy amount of jank mostly stemming from an inability to consistently attack and dodge where you intend to.

It works, but it's not particularly deep which is a shame coming from the gritty, brutal combat of Mad Max.

The AP System Is Genius in Theory

Here's where Samson gets interesting. Each day you get action points and each job costs a certain amount of AP that correlates to being paid a certain amount of money. More difficult jobs cost more AP but pay more money. Fail a job and you lose the AP, or spend an extra AP to retry it.

The risk reward math is genuinely compelling. Do you chain together safe jobs for steady income, or roll the dice on a high-payout mission that could leave you broke if you fail? It's a genuinely cool concept that I haven't really seen done much outside of management sims.

The problem arises in mission variety. You're basically doing four things over and over: take down a car, be a getaway driver, do a time trial race or beat up a bunch of guys. There are variations in locations and scale, but that's the core loop. For the system to sing, you need way more content. If that were the case I could see myself sinking hours into perfecting my cash flow loop, especially if I could spend that money on meaningful or even cosmetic upgrades.

The Story Problem

The story was one of the most polarizing things for me. I went in thinking the whole game would be about paying off your sister's debt. That's the hook. That's what should matter. But it's not. The main story is actually about crime boss drama and uncovering corruption. Your sister becomes poorly sign posted side objective.

And because main story missions cost a lot of AP and don't pay much money, you're constantly torn between progressing the narrative and actually working toward freeing your sister. It creates this strange tension that works against the game rather than for it.

When you finally do pay off the hundred thousand dollars, you get a phone call. She says she's free. That's it. You don't have to rescue her. You don't have to do anything with her before rolling credits. It's genuinely bizarre. And even stranger, the main story also just...ends. Like I've mentioned many times, the game wears its incompleteness on its sleeve and I can't help but dream about what it could have been.

The Verdict

Samson is a solid game for twenty five dollars. The studio was upfront that this wasn't a massive project, and you can feel that. But here's the thing: the ideas are actually good. The driving is great. The kinetic combat works even if the controls are a bit janky. The AP system has real potential. So many good elements that just lack the polish to turn it into something genuinely special.

This game deserves a sequel. Not because Samson is perfect, but because it's full of the kind of rough diamonds that just need more development time. Give Liquid Swords another shot with a bigger budget and more resources, and I think you get something people will love.

For now, if you want a fun few hours for twenty five bucks, you could do a lot worse. Just go in knowing this is the foundation, not the finished building.