John Wick Hex Reviews
The game's at its best when you're being forced to adapt, but it has a bad habit of introducing scenarios that feel like they require trial and error
Early on, John Wick Hex seemed far too random to enjoy. But as I spent more time with the game I got used to its systems and how it functioned and I started to enjoy myself more and more. Each level is a tactical game of cat and mouse and strategy and planning are vital. Positioning is key and thinking ahead of time is paramount. The story, graphics and especially the cutscenes are nothing to write home about but luckily the gameplay makes up for it. If you are up for a strategy title, John Wick Hex is fun as long as you are willing to give it a bit of time.
Part action, part strategy, John Wick Hex is an incredibly challenging and highly stylized game that is both thrilling and infuriating at the same time.
John Wick Hex is a fantastic game. It combines real strategy in a gameplay that feels truly unique in the RTS genre. It really captures the world of John Wick and brings the character from the silver screen faithfully onto the PC. There is a fluidity to the combat, but one that falls ever so slightly short of the effortless slickness that we've come to love about the title character. Missing that trick takes a near perfect game to just a notch below, but puts it squarely in good company as a top game of the year.
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.
Review in Italian | Read full review
When all is said and done, John Wick Hex is an exceptional licensed game, and a wonderful strategic shooter even away from that. It's the kind of game that's high quality and enjoyable, even if you are clueless about the John Wick movies themselves. The perfect kind of licensed game, that works as well as an introduction to the franchise as it does as an extension of it. Absolutely worth playing.
John Wick Hex succeeds by building a uniquely time-based strategy framework but is pulled down by a lack of polish and repetitive elements along the way. If you can accept it’s rougher elements it’s well worth playing, but ultimately it could’ve used some additional development time to flesh everything out and really capture the flair of the Wick franchise.
From top to bottom this is meant to make you feel like Keanu’s iconic assassin, and when it pulls off the trick Hex feels like nothing else out there. Unfortunately after a few hours the devs run out of surprises, and with a strictly limited moveset you'll likely become more aware of all the things that movie Wick does that his videogame counterpart simply can't.
John Wick Hex is a clever turn-based strategy offering with some cool mechanics that, when everything comes together, can absolutely make you feel like you're Keanu Reeves' unstoppable assassin, kicking, punching and shooting your way through an endless procession of hapless goons. However, there's an unpolished element to proceedings, with a lot of repetition across the seven levels on offer, janky animations, shoddy replays and some unreliable AI behaviour that begins to grate after a time. With some more variety and a touch of polish, this could have been a really nice little movie tie-in, however, as it stands it's just alright; a brilliant idea that needed more time in the oven.
John Wick Hex is a fantastically unique adaptation of the film property, and even if it doesn't quick stick the landing, I have to applaud Mike Bithell and his team for bravely trying something different with something as loved as John Wick. The gameplay is sharp and tight, brilliantly adapting the inner workings of John Wick's mind into a gameplay mechanic and making you feel like a top-tier assassin when you pull it off. While a bit rough around the edges John Wick Hex is a great licensed adaptation with a bold fresh take on the existing property.
This is a game where the triumphs come from tiny marvels of efficiency and careful planning rather than kinetic skill.
With courage, originality and a certain boldness, Bithell relies on the evidently inexhaustible innovative charge of his creative flair, absorbing the good things done by Super Hot and Hot Line Miami, giving us back an experience that is paradoxically at the antipodes and at the same time perfectly in line to the spirit of John Wick.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
Review in French | Read full review
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 nice, fun, and stylistic bite-sized adventure that's absolutely worth your time.
John Wick Hex is a sharp-dressed, tactical, dog eat dog shooter that offers an unforgiving challenge with smart action and an authentic layer of style.
John Wick Hex plays like a top-down Superhot but isn't nearly as entertaining as the film.
Much like the man himself, John Wick Hex is straight-ahead and unwavering. It sets out to do one thing - simulate the fights of the movies - and does so with consummate efficiency.
If you’re a fan of XCOM, Final Fantasy Tactics, or strategy games in general though, I would still definitely recommend giving this one a look regardless.
Although John Wick Hex doesn't play like you'd expect considering the source material, it still is a fun and entertaining title. The narrative is kept on the lighter side, really only existing so that you have a name to hunt through each of the chapters. The actual gameplay is delivered intriguingly, something I would never have thought of.