Samson: A Gorgeous Noir Nightmare That Forgot to Bring the Gameplay (and My Sanity)
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Despite its stunningly detailed 1990s noir atmosphere, Samson is a clunky, bug-ridden slog that fails to deliver on its promising debt-driven gameplay loop.
Right, so I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s a bit of a heartbreaker. You know that feeling when you cast a spell and it works a bit too well—like you conjured a magnificent, gold-plated dragon but forgot to give it a heart, so it just sits there looking pretty while the village burns? That is exactly the vibe I’m getting from *Samson*, the new open-world driving-brawler from the folks at Liquid Swords. I really wanted to love this one, mate. I truly did.
Before we dive into the wreckage, let’s tip the hat to Luke Reilly over at IGN South Africa, who braved the digital trenches to bring us the original scoop. He spent twelve hours in the rain-slicked streets of Tyndalston so we wouldn’t have to—or at least, so we’d know what we were getting into before we spent our hard-earned coin.
Now, let’s talk about Tyndalston. If you’re a fan of that grimy, 1990s aesthetic—think rain-slicked asphalt, steam rising from manholes, and the kind of urban decay that feels like it’s actually breathing—then *Samson* is going to look like a dream. It’s built by veterans of the *Mad Max* game (one of my personal favorites for a good vehicular thrashing), and you can see that DNA in every rusted-out car frame and unique splash of graffiti. It’s gorgeous. It’s moody. It’s... well, it’s a bit of a hollow shell, if I’m being honest.
Here’s the setup: you’re Samson McCray, an ex-con back in his old neighborhood with a $100,000 debt hanging over his head like a magical guillotine. Your sister is the leverage, and you’ve got to make daily payments just to keep the goons from turning your kneecaps into confetti. This is where I got excited. As a fan of Web3 and the concept of true digital ownership, the idea of a high-stakes, player-driven economy where every dollar matters sounds brilliant, right? It creates a loop that *should* be compulsive. You’ve got six action points a day, you pick your jobs, and you scrape together the cash. Simple. Effective.
But here’s where the skepticism starts to tingle. A game can have the best economic loop in the world, but if the actual *playing* of it feels like wading through digital treacle, the whole thing falls apart.
Let’s chat about the combat. *Samson* is a brawler, but it’s about as graceful as a wizard trying to do parkour in heavy robes. There are no guns—which is an odd choice for a 90s crime drama, don’t you reckon?—leaving you to rely on hand-to-hand combat that feels clunky and unresponsive. You’re basically spamming a light attack and swinging the camera around like a madman, hoping your fists find some face flesh by accident. The AI is, frankly, a bit of a disaster. Enemies will get stuck on doors, ignore you entirely, or—my personal favorite—magically slide out of the way of your speeding car like they’ve been greased up with butter. It’s immersion-breaking and, more importantly, it just isn’t fun.
And the driving? Don’t get me started. For a game that wants you to bond with your car—similar to the 'Magnum Opus' in *Mad Max*—it sure does make it hard to care. Repairing your signature muscle car costs almost as much as a mission payout. It’s like owning a Ferrari but only being able to afford the petrol if you sell a kidney every Tuesday. Most players, including our friend at IGN, just end up ditching the 'special' car for any old boxy sedan they find on the street. It’s a missed opportunity for that sense of 'ownership' that makes gaming so rewarding.
But the real kicker—the thing that makes me want to throw my wand into the sea—is the state of the game itself. We’re talking about 'progression blockers' and game-breaking bugs that soft-lock your save file halfway through the story. Imagine grinding through hours of repetitive missions, finally clearing your massive debt, only for the game to cough, wheeze, and refuse to let you finish. It’s like reaching the end of an epic quest only to find the treasure chest is empty and the dungeon exit is barred by an invisible wall.
I’m always a cautious optimist. I love an underdog story, and I love it when a smaller studio tries to punch above its weight class. Liquid Swords has the talent, and they’ve clearly got the eye for detail. But *Samson* feels like it was pulled out of the oven way too early. The 90s setting is skin-deep—no car radios, no period-accurate vibes beyond the payphones—and the gameplay pillars are crumbling under the weight of the visuals.
So, what’s the verdict from your favorite digital wizard? If you want a gritty brawler, go play *Sleeping Dogs*. If you want that 90s crime itch scratched, go back to *San Andreas*. And if you want a game that makes you love your car, *Mad Max* is still sitting there waiting for you. *Samson* has the bones of something special, but right now, it’s a ghost town I wouldn't recommend visiting until the developers cast some serious patching spells.
It’s a reminder that in this industry, buzzwords and high-fidelity textures are no substitute for a game that actually works. We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? Let’s hope Liquid Swords can turn this around, because Tyndalston deserves better than to be a beautiful, broken museum of what could have been.
Tags: Open World Games, Game Reviews, Indie Gaming, Action Adventure, Gaming News
Original article: IGN South Africa