Samson Update 8 Adds New Takedown Jobs and Vehicle Combat Changes

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Samson Update 8 is now live, introducing a substantial set of new content and improvements alongside the game’s console launch. The update adds a new playable combat tutorial, five swappable jackets, new Takedown Jobs, additional enforcement factions, and changes to vehicle combat.

The update also improves mission variety, vehicle XP, loot placement, NPC navigation, and vehicle avoidance. Several mission-specific issues have been fixed, while new emergency respawn functionality and additional gameplay guidance aim to make the overall experience smoother.

Patch Notes

Tutorial and Onboarding

• Added a new playable, step-by-step combat tutorial that connects to Samson’s past before returning to Tyndalston.
• Added tutorials covering gameplay elements such as triggering Adrenaline Rush while driving and shoving enemies into hazards.
• Updated tutorials with images to make them more informative.
• Added gameplay hints at various points to help players progress.

Vehicle Combat

• Added visual indicators for enemy vehicle wheel weak spots.
• Enemy vehicle wheel weak spots now display a blue overlay when players approach the target.
• Wheel weak spots change to blinking red when they reach critical health.
• Ramming a wheel in its red damage state is often the fastest way to destroy an enemy vehicle.
• Increased Adrenaline Rush duration while driving to make its damage bonus easier to use against enemy vehicles.
• Made enemy vehicle combat more aggressive and dynamic.
• Enemy vehicles now attempt side rams more frequently and from a wider range of situations.
• Some enemies, including Paulie Flash in Chapter 2, use more defensive driving behaviour.
• Enemy vehicle drivers will normally remain inside wrecked vehicles during missions where the objective is only to destroy vehicles.
• Improved NPC vehicle avoidance for quicker responses to incoming vehicles.
• Added map markers for vehicle targets in missions.
• Ensured Enforcement vehicles do not spawn too close to the player.
• Fixed issues with Enforcement vehicles getting stuck when attempting to reach the player from a distance.
• Added trail lights and wheel weak spot highlights to the police car in Bust out Barry.
• Updated the police car in Bust out Barry so it does not consider pavements viable for driving.

New Player Jackets

• Added five additional jackets that players can unlock and freely swap between.
• Four jackets unlock progressively by earning between 2 and 12 Skill Points.
• The fifth jacket unlocks after completing the final Story Chapter.
• Unlocked jackets become available in the hallway of the player’s apartment.
• Previously earned Skill Points will retroactively unlock the applicable jackets when loading a saved game.

New Missions and Enemy Factions

• Added three new Takedown Jobs:
  • Culling of the Skulls.
  • Three Payments Due.
  • Black Top Bunco Boys.
• Added new Enforcement factions for Debt Collectors, Grim Skulls, and a standard Street Gang.
• Added new roadblocks for the new factions, excluding Debt Collectors.
• Increased the number of spawn points for all Enforcement factions.
• Spread Enforcement spawn points across the map to reduce response times in certain areas.
• Added new Debt Collector Enforcements to the Three Payments Due Takedown Job.
• Improved existing Crow Lane and Law Enforcement Enforcements.
• Adjusted mission population to provide greater variety across each in-game day.
• Reduced mission repetition until players have rotated through the game’s available missions.

Vehicle Updates

• Added a Partial Repair option to all garages, allowing players to restore a small amount of vehicle health for a lower cost than a full repair.
• Increased the chance of spawning an alternate Sandwich Board after the original board has been smashed.
• Increased the Nitro restored by smashing a Nitro board.
• Increased the repairs provided by smashing a Repair board.
• Moved the first Nitro Flask unlock from 50 to 25 Sandwich Boards smashed.
• Improved NPC vehicle avoidance.

Vehicle XP

• Removed XP rewards for destroying normal traffic cars.
• Increased XP gained from vehicle Takedowns.
• Added XP for destroying a mission target vehicle by depleting its normal health.
• Added XP when an enemy vehicle is destroyed in another way within three seconds of the player’s last damage.

Mission Updates and Fixes

• Increased fail distances in Fine Old Things, Wreck the Wrecking Crew, and Never too Old.
• Removed fail distances from most Takedown Jobs.
• Fixed the passenger seating position in No Return Fare.
• Fixed erratic fleeing NPC movement in Bad for Business.
• Replaced delivered cars with smashed wrecks in Unholy Trinity to keep the drop-off area clear.
• Fixed the Wanted-state warning in Unholy Trinity.
• Fixed an issue preventing some new Jack Missions from being completed after a previous mission had failed.
• Fixed Greet and Taunt sometimes producing no dialogue.
• Fixed Debt Collectors at the parking lot sometimes failing to despawn after knocking the player out.
• Fixed access to the southernmost parts of the map, including Lowline Circuit.
• Fixed an issue allowing players to pass through chain-link fences during certain moves.
• Reduced the time needed to kill enemies during the wall takedown move.
• Fixed the final beatdown issue in Not Too Old for Shit.
• Clarified the final objective in Heavy Hitters with an updated map marker, additional props, and revised objective text.
• Prevented Quit to Clinic from being used during onboarding and other situations where leaving the apartment is not intended.
• Fixed NPC navigation issues at the pickup gate in Big Take on Trader Street.
• Increased the required distance from the target in Make Him Pay to prevent players from becoming trapped in the factory.
• Fixed a rare Getaway Mission issue where a passenger could fail to use the fallback teleport into the player’s car.
• Fixed a rare issue where a mission objective could activate without being completable.

Respawn and Loot

• Added a Respawn at the Clinic option under Quit in the pause menu.
• Respawning at the Clinic effectively causes Samson to become Knocked Out and applies the relevant gameplay effects.
• Cash losses from the option depend on Skills, the current Perk, and the selected difficulty.
• Improved loot placement from knocked-out enemies to reduce the chance of items appearing inside walls.
• Prevented dead bodies from blocking interactions.

General Improvements and Fixes

• Fixed the Pay All option incorrectly displaying a higher number than the remaining debt when going to sleep.
• Fixed NPC vignette characters sometimes blocking movement on the staircase leading to the Clinic.
• Fixed the Incoming Call hint appearing while already on the phone.
• Fixed Violent Healing sometimes remaining active after being replaced by another Perk.
• Reduced the unlock thresholds for the Car Care and Crash Test Dummy achievements from 100 and 50 to 10 and 5.
• Fixed repeated cash rewards from completing the Pimping Hard and No Place Like Home Stories.
• Made the Skill Point Available notification flash to make it easier to notice.
• Fixed a Grim Skull gang money bag spawning in an unobtainable location.
• Fixed the Driver Perk not applying to The Meter’s Tickin’ Taxi Mission.
• Increased the range at which taxi passengers decide to enter the cab.
• Fixed Samson incorrectly saying Out of Nitrous while switching to the next nitro flask.
• Adjusted GPS settings to favour larger, established asphalt streets over off-road routes and shortcuts.
• Fixed combat music sometimes continuing after fights against Debt Collectors.
• Improved NPC navigation through doorways and when NPCs are close to each other.
• Improved camera movement and smoothness when entering and exiting vehicles.

Samson launched on PC on April 8, 2026, followed by PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions on September 21, 2026. The game was developed and published by Liquid Swords, with Update 8 released on September 21, 2026.

Have you noticed these changes? Share your thoughts in the comments!