If you're a fan of tough guys who beat up thugs and put the pedal to the metal in muscle cars, the Samson looks like it's for you. This is the debut game from Liquid Swords, a Swedish studio founded by former Simple matter And Mad Max developer Christopher Sundberg, and reflects the gritty, destructive open-world chaos that both of them are known for.
Samson is set in a fictional industrial metropolis called Tyndalston, which the leather-jacketed protagonist calls “the asshole of the world.” The story is about a dude who has debts. Every day this dude wakes up with a daily quota of paying off what he owes to bad people and this problem is getting worse by the hour unless he takes action.
This action involves punching thugs in the face or hitting them with makeshift weapons as part of Mad Max-style fights in alleys and convenience stores, or getting behind the wheel of your all-black muscle car and using it to race people, ram them off the road, or some combination of both. Police chases will begin if your punching and driving gets too rowdy, giving you the opportunity to use your skills on the guys in blue.
As you progress, you'll work your way through the various factions of Tyndalston's districts, spending action points to choose which missions you dedicate Samson's limited time to. There's a story about unearthing a dude's past in town and saving his family to give extra motivation to get out there and wreak havoc.
While a game about constantly worrying about money may hit a little too close to home considering what the real world is like for non-wealthy people at the moment, I'd really like to see if Liquid Swords manages to deliver the satisfying brutal rollercoaster ride that this game is usually supposed to shine through. It's more like the desert looting from Mad Max transposed into an urban setting than the more exotic running around a map and blowing shit up in Just Cause, and I'm definitely partial to the former. We hope the gritty city doesn't feel a little boring compared to the backdrops Sandberg and his colleagues worked on at Avalanche Studios.
Samson will be released in early 2026 and you can add it to your wishlist on the website Steamif you're so inclined.
