John Wick Hex Review for PC

John Wick is a franchise that has captivated the hearts of many across the globe. People have become incredibly enamored with the intense, high action series that delivers serious bad-assery every step of the way in the three movies that have graced our scenes before. Keanu Reeves delivers a seriously heart racing performance. People are attracted to John Wick as a character for his strategic mastery and cold blooded brutality. And thus, John Wick Hex graces the Epic Games Store for our playing pleasure. Does it scratch the itch that John Wick fans have?

John Wick Hex is not an FPS, instead developers at Bithell Games have decided to go for a top down strategy style to capture the feeling of John Wick’s calculating nature. Players must direct John Wick through levels composed of grids, all while enemies lie in wait under the “fog of war.” In addition to this, the strategy goes further by demanding that players watch the amount of bullets that they use, as they only hold 15 per level. To bypass this limitation, you can sneak up on enemies, throw your gun, or pick up ammo from fallen bodies that you pass by along the way.  This game is not a walk in the park. Be warned, these are not run and gun missions! Strategy must be used in order to advance to the next level!

The art style in John Wick Hex is incredibly pleasing to the eye. The colors and comic-book-like style harkens to superhero movies that add to the overall badass feeling of the game. In addition, the music of the title screen is just plain exciting. However, when the player is transported into the levels of the game, the surroundings lack the initial excitement that you are treated to in the title scene and opening sequence. The game loses a lot of its exciting color and surroundings, and the music turns pretty generic.

To this degree, I personally believe that the gameplay style doesn’t fit the “John Wick” franchise feeling. This game doesn’t feel fast paced, exciting, and doesn’t require you to think quickly on your feet. It instead isolates one aspect of John Wick—that being his calculating nature, and presents you with just that. I don’t feel like I am John Wick in this game, instead I think that I am someone that is directing John Wick, admittedly often times very badly.

John Wick Hex often pauses combat to explain things to you in extremely unexpected ways, which breaks up already slow-seeming combat to make it a little unbearable. The first few levels paused so much, I often wondered if my computer was messing up. I wish the developers found a more intuitive way to let the player know what was going on, or even taken out some of the more obvious prompts to allow for a smoother gameplay experience.

All in all, if you are looking for a solid strategy experience, I think John Wick Hex is a solid experience to have. It definitely pushes you to think about the moves that you make, and punishes you for any moves that put you at risk to the enemies. However, with the weight of the franchise on its back, I don’t think that Hex is able to lift it up to the greatest heights. John Wick as a character is not just the calculating man on screen, but he is the emotional roller coaster that keeps audiences invested in his story.

6/10

Check Out the John Wick Hex Trailer:

For more information and the latest updates, visit JohnWickHex.com, and follow @mikeBithell and @GoodShepherdEnt on Twitter.