Arkham meets the GTA series in the New Open-World Crime Game

A recently revealed crime action game titled Samson can only mean return Grand Theft Auto clones, and that's a good thing in my book. Samson to be the debut of the newly minted Liquid Swords, a studio created by the co-founder and former CCO of Avalanche Studios, best known for Just Cause series and criminally underrated Mad Max adaptation.

Liquid Swords hopes to use its talent and experience to produce Samsonwhich is undoubtedly quite different from Avalanche's previous work. Lacks over-the-top cartoon action Just Causeand when it's much closer Mad Max on the game front, its premise, tone, and structure look fundamentally different. Samson takes place in the fictional town of Tyndalson, a gritty urban jungle GTA vibrations that will chew you up and spit you out if you're soft enough. Samson, the play's eponymous hero, was honed by Tyndalson into the hardened, savage killer he called home for many years before he left. At the beginning of the game, he returns to his old town, where his past awaits him. With his family targeted by his enemies, Samson must repay his debts or face dire consequences.

Samson sometimes presents itself as Samson: Tyndalson Storysuggesting that Liquid Swords may already have some sequels or spin-offs in mind, using Tyndalson as a hub for the wider franchise.

Samson drives like – and sometimes even – a truck

Samson's closest resemblance to Mad Max is its supposed balance between melee and vehicular combat, which is itself heavily inspired Batman: Arkham games. On foot, Samson is a tank that hits hard with effective but unrefined combat techniques. It is not a copy of a famous one Arkham fighting formula, but the extreme focus on hand-to-hand combat without firearms, the process of parrying/deflecting enemy blows and using the environment to your advantage are all reminiscent of Rocksteady's famous superhero series. Together with SamsonWith its gritty and mature tone, this approach to combat could freshen up the oft-imitated gaming genre.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

However, melee is only one half of the combat pie. When Samson isn't throwing enemies over plywood walls and pounding them with his heavy fists, he's usually chasing them in a car. But Samson will obviously encourage players to do more than just drive these vehicles as they can be used as weapons Burnout-style showdowns as well. Car fights are nothing new in the gaming world Samson he has a lot of great titles to look at for inspiration so I hope he gets the most out of it.

Will Samson become a valuable criminal in the open world?

Something I want to learn more about is exactly how Samson presents its open world and activities in it. On the game's website, its environment is described as consisting of various “open-world districts”, suggesting that the map may actually be divided into explorable zones, rather than one seamless overworld. Alternatively, the phrase could suggest that Tyndalson will be characterized by its distinct districts, even though they are all technically part of a larger whole.

Similarly, Samson the site says of Tyndalson, “faces, factions and streets change as you ascend or descend.” This is another vague and enticing characteristic, as it implies that players will have some influence over the game world. Maybe Samson will feature some sort of reputation system that affects how NPCs treat the protagonist, or a faction loyalty system similar to Fallout: New Vegas has. Reactivity in all its forms can be a huge asset to any open world game, so it will be great to see if and how Samson is getting close to it.

More broadly, I'm curious to see what the open-world will offer as side content. Samson seems to be pretty entrenched in the city's criminal underbelly, but whether that will mean taking out targets, carrying out heists, or destroying enemy territory as a matter of practice, it's hard to say. Game like GTA 4 or GTA 5 will introduce players to a variety of open-world activities, from linear side quests to less demanding leisure activities. Although I doubt it Samson will feature a bowling or tennis minigame, its open world will almost certainly be enhanced by a variety of gameplay similar to that offered by its competition.

Game schedules and time limits may be what makes Samson special

Again, there is a lot more to reveal about this, but Samson It seems to be teasing some kind of time management mechanism in the game, which is, at least on paper, similar Persona games. Here are two bullet points from Samson pages that suggest this kind of structure:

Action Point System: Spend your limited points on missions that matter. Once you commit, you live with the result.
Daily Quota: A new number hits you every morning. Don't miss it and interest will rise, making tomorrow worse.

It seems that Samson players will need to carefully manage their time, framed as action points, to get the most out of each day in the game. Given the description of the daily quota, I assume that there is no day-night cycle and that the game is perhaps even organized into a predetermined timeline. This is somewhat unusual for this type of game, which only further piques my interest.