{"id":1526478,"date":"2026-03-14T21:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T21:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dk8HvmGtWLBe8vtwpDTJkU"},"modified":"2026-03-14T21:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T21:16:20","slug":"i-desperately-want-the-just-cause-creators-new-open-city-game-to-be-great-but-im-not-convinced-by-its-latest-trailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/i-desperately-want-the-just-cause-creators-new-open-city-game-to-be-great-but-im-not-convinced-by-its-latest-trailer\/","title":{"rendered":"I desperately want the Just Cause creator’s new open-city game to be great, but I’m not convinced by its latest trailer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the last couple years, I’ve been desperately craving a good open-city game, the kind that arrived with such regularity in the Xbox 360 era that we foolishly took them for granted. Yes, I know that Grand Theft Auto 6<\/a> is due to launch later this year. But I’m after something more arcadey and knockabout, like Watch Dogs<\/a> or Sleeping Dogs<\/a> or something else about car chases with ‘Dogs’ in the title.<\/p>\n

I’d hoped that MindsEye<\/a> would be that game, and clung to that hope right up until release. Sadly, all the scepticism around it proved justified, and MindsEye was nowhere near ready when it released in May last year.<\/p>\n

My eyes then turned to Samson<\/a>, an open-city game developed by Liquid Swords, founded by Just Cause<\/a> creator Cristofer Sundberg. It puts you in the role of the titular Samson, who returns to his home city of Tyndalston with a large debt hanging over his head, one he intends to settle by hook or by crook (mostly crook).<\/p>\n

Samson is, I should point out, not aiming to be as grand a project as MindsEye, and definitely <\/em>not as big as a modern Grand Theft Auto. While the city is (mostly) freely driveable, it’s designed to have a much tighter loop than GTA, with its creators stating they are “trying to pursue fewer things”<\/a> than Rockstar. <\/p>\n

Said loop works like this: each in-game day, you have to meet a daily quota of cash earned, otherwise the interest on the debt you owe will go up. It couples this with an “action points” system limiting the number of missions you can take on. Combined, these systems are designed to push you into making quick decisions and living with the consequences, a pressure intended to push you into chaotic car chases and fistfights.<\/p>\n

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