The reviews have been surprisingly poor
A few weeks ago, we mentioned a game called Samson that was potentially getting an Xbox version, and how it seemed to be getting a serious amount of hype ahead of its release on April 8th.
Well, we’re now on April 9th, and the first reviews for Samson on PC have been surprisingly rough so far. It has a “Mixed” rating on Steam as things stand, while its Metacritic rating is a lowly 48 at the time of writing.
Looking at some of the most negative reviews, a lot of the criticism stems from its apparently repetitive and clunky gameplay, as well as a series of technical issues and a supposedly “bland” story. Others are much more impressed by the game though, and even the “most helpful” review on Steam right now mentions how Samson is “surprisingly alright” and a “no nonsense, straight to the point PS3 style driver/beat-em-up”.
Nevertheless, the developer has responded to the feedback, promising improvements in the future:
“We have been having a lot of fun watching folks have fun with the game and we released a game with flaws for a number of reasons. Early impressions are mixed and many of you are experiencing game-breaking bugs and performance issues. That’s unacceptable and we are listening to everyone’s feedback and are hard at work to deliver the game we spent years of our lives developing. Launching a game is a ton of work and I’m proud of the effort our team has put into seeing Samson from its initial concept, through release.
We are committed to the future of both Samson and Tyndalston and this game will grow over time on all fronts; quality, gameplay and content. Thank you all for supporting us and sticking with us this super exciting launch day. We will continue to keep our ears to the ground and improve the game with your support.”
So, what does this mean for us as Xbox console owners? It should mean that, whenever Samson arrives on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, we’ll be getting a much better game than the one that’s launched on PC this week. The dev has even revealed that a major patch will be getting rolled out on Friday for PC, and that’s just the start!
It could also indicate that we’ll be waiting longer for an Xbox release date. Prior to the release, the team mentioned that “the next step depends on you” and that they would “move straight into finishing console versions as the game performs”, but the immediate post-launch priority will surely be on polishing the PC version before a console release.
“As the game performs, we move straight into finishing console versions. No dates yet. We will be clear when we know – open and honest as always.”
Whatever happens next, Samson seems like one of those games that will benefit from more time in the oven before coming to Xbox consoles, and then hopefully it’ll be able to realise its potential further down the line. The concept is cool, the price is great ($25), and now we’re just hoping we can enjoy it to its fullest at some point in the future on Xbox.
There’s clearly been demand for it this week, as evidenced by some of the “rising queries” for Xbox and Samson on Google over the past 24 hours. Will the trend continue following these mixed reviews though? That remains to be seen.
Are you intrigued by Samson? Played it on PC? Want to get it on Xbox? Tell us in the comments below.
[source steamcommunity.com]
