John Wick Hex

John Wick Hex does a lot of things right and has personality to spare. It can also be irritating — sometimes overwhelmingly so — but it kept me coming back for more, even after realizing that I probably won’t see the end credits anytime soon.

John Wick Hex offers very good gameplay which focuses on tactics rather than action, which is a nice break from the movie, but the low budget has had profound effects on the graphics that feels like they're from an antique mobile game.

It feels best when you're making snap decisions, the action moving along with a satisfying pop, pop, pop rhythm that echoes the films. [Issue#133, p.104]

The gameplay in John Wick Hex definitely captures the essence of the impressive choreography seen in the movies, albeit with some caveats. Namely the animation variety is very restricted and, in some cases, seems a bit incomplete. Moreover, the abilities of John Wick are a bit limited and remain as such throughout the game. Nevertheless, it still remains a clever twist in the turn-based genre, by letting the action unfold simultaneously for both our character and the enemies, creating some quite challenging combat scenarios with unexpected depth to them.

The way it approaches tactical battles, make John Wick Hex not only interesting, but quite unique. But it also starts to show the lack of diversity too soon.

Fans of the film will certainly find things to like, but as you dig deeper into John Wick Hex, more and more of its flaws begin to surface. Bithell has always proven himself a creative game-maker, but he can't stick the landing on this one.

John Wick Hex is a game made for the franchise lovers. Since this is a minor production, there are pros and cons: there are indeed good gameplay and a good idea, but also a lack of progression and a feeling of repetition that makes you lose a little the desire to continue further.

Despite its punitive difficulty and the rigidity, John Wick Hex remains a good adaptation of the movies. Artistic direction and the way you go into action are enjoyable and the pleasure of having managed to get out of a critical situation is a real satisfaction.

Despite its weird approach, John Wick Hex shows it has well understand the character : you’re always trying to find the most optimized way to hit and kill. The game doesn’t evolve much more beyond that, though.

John Wick Hex is a fun tie-in that fall on depth and progression in mechanics, never managing to win the heart of the player.

John Wick Hex tries to get you into the mind of an assassin. However, the execution falls flat, and it quickly devolves into a repetitive slog, with little content, polish, or much of that strategy the developers were aiming for.

John Wick Hex is a fun experience, but one that woefully fails to deliver on its premise. Nothing really demonstrates this more than the ability to play back each completed mission in real-time. The idea of watching all of your methodical, turn-based actions playing out in cinematic, gun-fu action is certainly tantalizing, but actually manifests as watching janky, eight-way movement alongside strange collision detection, limited animation and questionable camera angles.

John Wick Hex is a worthwhile playthrough for those with a fondness for turn-based strategy games or a desire for a challenge, but remains tough to recommend to those who only want another opportunity to spend time in the established world of John Wick.

The high random factor in the absolutely necessary restarts in each level, the somewhat too high degree of difficulty for my taste and the associated frustration factor makes from John Wick Hex not a bad, but also not a recommended game.

John Wick Hex is a simple, smart tactics game but its distracting lack of polish often thwarts its attempt to distill the fast action of the movies into deliberate gameplay.

John Wick Hex has a solid enough foundation, but it largely fails to build on its core concept. It's a one-dimensional tactics game that moves at a glacially slow pace and features few unique wrinkles. It offers a slightly deeper look at the lore, but otherwise it adds little to the burgeoning John Wick-verse.

John Wick Hex is the last form you might expect a John Wick game to take, but this unique, inventive puzzler kept my mind racing from beginning to end. While the gameplay and interesting story shed light on some important aspects of the film franchise, the sometimes punishing difficulty and surprising lack of focus on John Wick himself left me a little disappointed. This isn't a perfect video game adaptation of a film, but it's certainly the most original one I've ever played.

John Wick Hex's early pretence of fulfilling strategy gives way to a maddening trial and error experience that simply doesn't do the license justice.