Movie tie-in games can be hit or miss. They can be amazing as the recent spiderman games or they can be utter trash, the latter one being the most common. So I was hesitant when I heard John Wick got a tie-in game released on PC, PS4 and now Xbox and Switch as well. So let’s find out together if it’s worth it for a fan of the franchise to pick this one up or if it’s just a cash grab under an already well-known title/franchise.
John Wick Hex is a turn-based action/strategy game, where you step in the footsteps of Keanu Reeves. The story of the game ties into the events within the John Wick franchise. The story will play out as a visual novel. Containing comic like screens, but instead of having speech bubbles, it has voice acting. The game contains two levels of difficulties. These are Operator, which is your normal difficulty and then there is Expedited. Here you will have only 7 seconds to decide your next move.
It’s the name of the game
In John Wick Hex, your movements are tied to a hexagon-based grid. You can’t really move all that far on the grid, only being able to move 3 tiles in one move. Each action will take up a certain amount of time. This goes for you and for the enemy, so try to outspeed your enemies. The time freezes whenever your move is complete or when you are interrupted by an incoming attack for instance. Actions are performed by selecting from a menu. Depending on your position and stance, specific actions are available and have a higher/lower accuracy.
Melee attacks can only be performed when being close to the enemy. There is sadly no quick way to melee attack an enemy that is farther away. You need to move close and then separately select the attack. Melee attacks take up focus, a sort of stamina. This can be recharged but it will take up time. Melee attacks are really powerful able to knock out even the strongest enemy and give you the ability to roll. For longer ranged attack you use your gun, either by shooting or by trowing the gun. Bullets are of course limited but the guns dropped by the enemies can be pick-up as well to get some extra shooting going. Every move besides the time it takes to perform, also has other stats, like damage, accuracy, ability to stun etc.
Clunky game mechanics
They claim it is a strategy game but the only strategy that matters is your position on the map. But there is the problem, you can only see a couple of tiles in front of you. How does the game expect me to be strategic if you can’t see the enemies in front of you or around a corned because they are surrounded by darkness. I know that you can’t see the enemy sometimes because they are behind cover but arrows will appear showing where the enemies are at in the darkness, so what is the point of having the darkness than?
This makes you A: forced to approach and get out behind your cover and start walking towards the enemies. This takes up more time which means that you will probably get shot before you can even act yourself. The other option, B has you waiting around. You can’t just hold the wait button down until the enemy is where you want them. Every time the enemy moves the game will be paused. This is also a returning problem when an enemy is approaching with cover in front. You can target the enemy but the action will be denied when he goes behind cover again. When the enemy is in line of sight again, the game gets paused constantly even if you can’t do anything within that time frame. This all makes the gameplay way slower than it should.
A replay you don’t want to watch
The replay function is a nice addition. Since the game is top-down this replay features take your into the game from a side angle, getting you more engaged in the game. But this replay does come without some problems. The coolness of the replays quickly changes into silliness because it’s not well executed. Because the game is on a hexagonal grid going straight forward will make your character do a silly zig-zag walk, the camera angles are also all over the place and glitchy making it unbearable to watch half of the time. The game has a lot of other unpolished visuals and janky animation with glitches occurring quite often.
No depth in gameplay and strategy
Because the gameplay is so badly executed there is no point in being strategic. The only part that matters is your position on the map. There are boss battles but they are as lame as the rest of the game. Shooting the boss from a distance is almost impossible. Once you get in close range you won, because you can always act before he does.
There isn’t a high score system or anything. Just complete your mission and continue. They don’t change up the structure of the game. So when you have played 30 min you have seen all the game has to offer. This doesn’t help to game the game some well-needed depth. When completing a map you get shown the side objectives you needed to complete to earn names. This forces you to replay the same map again to 100% the game which is annoying. Just give us these targets from the start so we know what we’re dealing with. By completing maps you will earn coins as well. This upgrade Keanu Reeves to make some attacks have farther reach or cost less focus etc.
Conclusion
I would not recommend you buying John Wick Hex. Don’t be fooled by thinking something under the John Wick brand is automatically good. It lacks the charm of the movies, isn’t well executed and feels more like a cash grab than a project someone put his heart and soul into. For a price of €20 better games can be bought.
