Film tie-ins aren’t really commonplace nowadays, beyond soulless mobile cash-ins. Yet the John Wick franchise seems perfect material for a sensationally mindless and satisfying action title. Yet John Wick Hex doesn’t take the obvious route. Instead of all out action …
Film tie-ins aren’t really commonplace nowadays, beyond soulless mobile cash-ins. Yet the John Wick franchise seems perfect material for a sensationally mindless and satisfying action title.
Yet John Wick Hex doesn’t take the obvious route. Instead of all out action it instead turns to, er, turn-based strategy.
Or at least, it seems turn-based. It actually sees you playing as the titular Wick in overhead stages that runs in real-time – yet pause each time you or an enemy move.
So you have all the time in the world to decide when to move, shoot, reload, and so on – but doing it all in a ramshackle order usually has disastrous consequences.
Enemies are often hidden as you have a limited line of sight, so charging head-first is usually ill-advised. The time you need to allot to every action is also made clear, meaning you have to plan the most opportune times to do everything – such as when to take cover and reload.
The game actually ends up feeling like you’re directing a scene from the films in terms of the precision it demands – which is remarkable considering how poorly the core gameplay seems to marry up with the game’s subject matter at first glance.
Sadly John Wick Hex is sullied a little by some strange presentation choices. The animation is strangely stilted, and on occasion the top-down perspective (which is of course is necessary) doesn’t help alleviate this issue. The replays showing the action from ground level are also horrible to look at.
This is not enough to detract significantly from the game’s originality and bravery in trying something different when it could have simply plumped for a safe concept however. Especially considering the reasonable price-point and the solid porting job to the Switch.
John Wick Hex is an essential purchase for any strategy game fans – especially those who have a soft spot for the films.
