Samson Review

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From the start, it was clear that Samson: A Tyndalson Story wasn’t trying to be like Grand Theft Auto, even though it also features urban crime. It was presented as a shorter, more focused action-adventure game, and it was available for only $24.99. I was definitely looking for something like that. Many players, myself included, are tired of huge open-world games, and a tighter, more streamlined take on the gritty crime genre felt like a good fit.

I wasn’t asking for much from Samson – just a decent indie game with a good story and enjoyable gameplay. Sadly, even those modest hopes weren’t met. While games like Hollow Knight and Clair Obscur show what indie games can achieve, Samson feels like a warning: not every promising game succeeds, and it’s disappointing to see that happen.

Despite a few bright spots, Samson is a disappointing game that’s hard to enjoy. The gameplay quickly becomes repetitive, the story is either boring or unintentionally funny, and numerous technical issues and strange design decisions make the experience even worse. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Samson Is a Small, Repetitive Sandbox

The game Samson begins with a simple animated intro: Samson has just been released from prison, but his sister, Oonagh, has been kidnapped and a $100,000 ransom is demanded. Samson must return to his hometown of Tyndalson, reconnect with his former crew, and complete a series of criminal jobs to earn the money to save her. This forms the core gameplay: players choose from various jobs on a small map, each earning money and taking up time, similar to how it works in Persona. You need to reach a daily financial goal, and more lucrative missions generally take longer to complete.

Samson’s gameplay starts to fall apart with its missions. Each one feels empty, lacking a compelling story or structure, and boils down to repeating the same three actions: racing, car takedowns, and brawling. The biggest problem is the repetition – you’ll play the same missions multiple times throughout the main story. Unfortunately, these repeated missions are identical each time, and there’s no way to earn extra rewards or improve your score for doing well. It quickly becomes frustratingly boring and uninspired.

While the core gameplay could be smoother, the driving itself feels pretty good – solid and realistic. I especially enjoyed the Street Trials, which were challenging time-based races. Most other missions involve either racing to a point or crashing into enemies, but unfortunately, there isn’t much variety. Once you’ve done one type of driving mission, you’ve basically experienced them all.

Okay, so a lot of the game revolves around either driving or, honestly, just getting into fist fights. They do try to mix things up with ‘on foot’ missions, but it’s not a huge deal. Like, the Jack missions are basically just the Beatdown missions where you have to pick up a few random things after or during the fight. The fighting itself isn’t amazing – it feels a little clunky and doesn’t always respond when you want it to – but you kind of get used to it. It’s a shame, though, because I was hoping it would become a really deep and satisfying combat system, but it just stays…okay. It gets the job done, but it’s not something I’d rave about.

Gamers often describe big, open-world games as having a lot of space but not much substance – like an ocean that’s only a puddle deep. That’s exactly the case with Samson. Its map is small enough to quickly learn, but it’s completely empty. There’s nothing interesting to find, no side missions, and no rewards to collect. Samson‘s world feels both expansive and shallow, truly like a puddle.

Story Doesn’t Come Close to Saving Samson

Unlike many games, Samson doesn’t use cutscenes to tell its story. Instead, the narrative unfolds through simple conversations, whether face-to-face or over the phone, without any cinematic flair. Unfortunately, the story itself feels rushed and underdeveloped. There’s a lack of tension—Samson’s regular calls with Oonagh never suggest she’s in danger—and the dialogue is often so bland that it’s difficult to stay engaged.

Despite what the game’s marketing implies, Oonagh’s ransom doesn’t increase over time. You begin with a $100,000 debt and must pay at least $3,000 each day, which will eventually rise to $3,400, but that’s the highest it goes.

Beyond the side jobs, Samson includes 14 story missions, but they don’t connect to the main story with Oonagh, making the overall narrative feel fragmented. These missions center around Samson’s “crew,” a predictable and stereotypical criminal group – they’re tough and direct, and presented as the ‘good’ guys, in contrast to other, more obviously villainous gangs. It feels like a naive take on organized crime, and it doesn’t even reach the level of games like GTA or Sleeping Dogs. Unlike those titles, Samson lacks any sense of fun, humor, or meaningful character development. Given the game’s limited gameplay, a strong story could have helped, but the writing in Samson simply isn’t good enough.

The world of Samson is both as wide and as deep as a puddle.

Samson Is a Glitchy, Poorly Designed Mess

Beyond its main problems, the game Samson is filled with smaller issues in its design and how it runs, which really overshadow any good parts it might have. I found tons of bugs, from harmless visual quirks to game-crashing errors and problems that prevented me from finishing missions. For example, I’m stuck and can’t complete chapter 13 because of a bug in chapter 12. Strangely, another glitch unlocked chapter 14 right away, letting me see Samson‘s confusing and disappointing ending, even though I couldn’t progress normally.

Samson also has some frustrating design flaws. For example, failing a mission means losing all the money you earned that day and having to restart from the beginning. You can pay to restart without losing money, but both options feel overly harsh, especially when failures happen due to bugs or minor mistakes like accidentally leaving the battle area. There are other small annoyances too, such as not being able to heal while holding a weapon, but these are less significant.

It’s never good to criticize a studio’s first game, but pretending Samson doesn’t have serious problems would be dishonest. While you might be able to find some enjoyment if you go in with low expectations, or hope for improvements after the bugs are fixed, the truth is Samson is more than just flawed. It feels uninspired, unfulfilling, and relies too heavily on ideas from other games. Honestly, I can’t recommend playing it unless you absolutely have to.

Samson releases on April 8, 2026 for PC. Game Rant was provided with a Steam code for this review.

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2026-04-08 16:07