John Wick Hex

About

"John Wick Hex" is a strategy game based on the film franchise, allowing players to step into the shoes of John Wick and use his gun fu combat style. The game is designed to make players think and act quickly, with each decision having immediate consequences. It features a unique blend of strategic and action gameplay, with an original story created for the game.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

58%

Audience ScoreBased on 382 reviews

gameplay45 positive mentions

story9 negative mentions

The game offers a unique blend of strategy and action, allowing players to feel like John Wick through its time-based mechanics.
The replay feature at the end of each level provides a satisfying cinematic experience, showcasing the player's actions in real-time.
The voice acting from the original movie actors adds authenticity and enhances the overall experience.

The animations are often janky and unpolished, detracting from the overall immersion and enjoyment of the game.
The gameplay can become repetitive and frustrating, especially with infinite enemy spawns and limited tactical options.
The lack of keybinding options and a confusing user interface can make the game feel clunky and less enjoyable.

gameplay
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
57%
10%
The gameplay of "John Wick Hex" features an innovative timeline strategy system that combines elements of time management and tactical decision-making, offering a unique experience reminiscent of games like "Superhot" and "Hotline Miami." However, many players find the gameplay repetitive and lacking in variety, with clunky mechanics and animations that detract from the overall experience. While the core mechanics are engaging and can provide moments of satisfaction, the game suffers from a lack of polish and depth, leading to a mixed reception regarding its long-term enjoyment.
- “The mechanics are easy to learn, but actual gameplay requires a good level of strategy.”
- “You're never more than a hair's breadth away from disaster, making the gameplay intense and satisfying.”
- “The gameplay itself I'd say is solid enough.”
- “The main problem of the game is that it feels like a prototype: it lacks variety in the gameplay, and its simplistic art style fails to hold up in the long run, especially with the lack of diversity and rigidity of the animation; the 'replay' animations at the end of each level are interesting at first, but end up underlining this lack of diversity and variety, as they all look the same and undercooked.”
- “The gameplay gets boring pretty fast with very little variation and the visuals are stylized but honestly come off more half-assed than anything else.”
- “John Wick Hex is sadly too shallow and repetitive for a strategy game with too few gameplay mechanics.”
story
79 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
78%
11%
The game's story serves as a prequel to the John Wick films, featuring comic-style cutscenes and original voice actors, which fans appreciate. However, many reviews criticize the narrative as thin, generic, and lacking depth, often feeling like a mere backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling experience. While some players find the lore expansion enjoyable, the overall execution is seen as clunky and unpolished, with repetitive missions that detract from the storytelling.
- “The plot unravels with an intriguing, albeit linear, narrative, offering fresh insight into the mysterious backstory of the Continental Hotel.”
- “Having the voice of the original actors (Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick) narrating the story is a welcome touch.”
- “It also comes with a story for John before the movies, which is amazing if you like the story of the films; you will expand the lore.”
- “The story varies from 'meh' to a peppering of more cringe... partly from the voice acting being a case of actors playing their character and reading a script in an empty room... effectively fulfilling a contractual obligation and collecting a paycheck.”
- “The graphical cinematics get depressingly tired quite fast, the story is thin and fills in a random chapter of John's previous life during his time as a younger assassin, and the gameplay is not much to write home about.”
- “The storyline is irrelevant and sometimes annoyingly unskippable.”
graphics
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
58%
16%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the unique comic book-inspired art style and its ability to capture the essence of the John Wick movies, while others criticize the overall execution, describing the visuals as underwhelming, simplistic, and lacking polish. Many users note issues with animations, camera angles, and a general feeling of the graphics being half-baked, which detracts from the overall experience despite some enjoyable aesthetic elements. Overall, while the artistic design has its merits, the technical execution leaves much to be desired.
- “The visuals are both spare and neon-drenched, like in the movies.”
- “The game also features a fantastic art style, capturing the look and feel of the John Wick movies perfectly.”
- “I enjoyed the graphics and coloration used because it gave off the gritty neon vibe of a city without resorting to a tired, old color palette.”
- “The graphics are very underwhelming too; I don't mind the style, but it doesn't render well.”
- “Everything about this game looks half-baked: vague/generic story, unpolished graphics, angles are cranky, despite being a tactical game you can go random most of the time, thus making it not that much of a strategy game.”
- “The graphics and animations are poor and play like a two-dollar mobile game.”
music
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
48%
14%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its ability to capture the essence of the John Wick films through a blend of techno, bass, and western influences. While some players found the soundtrack to be a standout feature that enhances the gameplay experience, others criticized it for being repetitive or not fitting the game's theme perfectly. Overall, the music is generally regarded as a strong aspect, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere despite some shortcomings in sound effects and synchronization.
- “From the great soundtrack to the movie-accurate art style, this is a game that any fan of John Wick should not miss.”
- “The game's soundtrack is a masterpiece, just like Soundwave's tapes.”
- “All that said, John Wick Hex was a short and sweet experience, with stylish visuals, music that took me back to the source movies, and a fresh take on turn-based tactical gameplay that felt like a mix of XCOM and Lara Croft/Hitman Go.”
- “The replays are also horrendous, janky animations, hexadecimal movement, and the mediocre music make what should be a badass fight scene into a really violent drunken bar fight.”
- “Repetitive music, imprecise controls.”
- “Music that doesn't sound like it fits the John Wick theme of the game at all.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
93%
The stability of the game is widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, clunky animations, and unresponsive controls that contribute to a feeling of being unfinished and unpolished. Many players experienced game freezes and softlocks, forcing restarts, while others noted minor glitches that, although not game-breaking, still detracted from the overall experience. Overall, the game is perceived as a buggy mess that hampers enjoyment and gameplay.
- “Buggy animations, limited and confusing abilities, push/cover attack that inexplicably helps you to get shot and other questionable gameplay mechanics illustrate how unpolished and unfinished the game is.”
- “The game has an awesome core mechanic but it is unpolished, buggy, and unbalanced to the point that it is sometimes unplayable.”
- “This game is a terribly buggy mess with some of the worst lag I've ever seen on such a simple game.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
10%
70%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to the need to restart stages after taking damage, which leads to resource depletion in later levels. Many reviewers express that the grinding becomes a chore, with some even suggesting that it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game, making it feel repetitive and boring. While some acknowledge interesting mechanics, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grinding experience is a significant drawback.
- “A lot of grinding is required.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The tedious die-try-again-learn-nothing play loop has pissed me off so much that I don't recommend this, not even for free.”
- “Once I hit the midway point, the game immediately became a tedious chore.”
- “Beyond that frustrating aspect making the game feel really tedious, the upgrades they offer are really passive abilities.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
29%
43%
Overall, the game offers a moderate level of replayability, particularly for completionists who may enjoy multiple playthroughs to achieve 100%. While some players find the experience enjoyable, the game's short length and random enemy placements contribute to its replay value, encouraging varied play styles based on different perks. However, not all users feel it has infinite replayability, suggesting a mixed reception in this aspect.
- “You want a game that's fun and has plenty of replayability and mechanics that are at least consistent.”
- “The game is rather short, but with possible random enemy placement and encounters, it makes it replayable.”
- “This provides a lot of replayability for the completionist, and I, myself, beat the game three times in order to get 100%.”
- “You may have to change your play style based on what perks you buy, so this adds an element of replayability.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
50%
Overall, the game's optimization is mixed; while it runs well on lower-end systems with only minor glitches, some users report that the menus and animations require improvement, and there are concerns about its performance on PC.
- “Performance-wise, the game runs fine on my potato, and I encountered only a few minor glitches.”
- “The short individual level length lends itself to replays and improving on personal performances.”
- “The game is in need of some improvements to the menu, performance, and possibly even animations.”
- “It's in need of some improvements to the menu, performance, and maybe even animations.”
- “Poorly optimized for PC?”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Character development in "John Wick Hex" is criticized for its limited progression and subpar character designs, which detract from the overall immersive experience. While the game's aesthetic captures the gritty atmosphere of the franchise, the choppy animations further hinder the depth of character portrayal.
- “The color palette, character designs, and environmental details capture the grim, high-stakes world of John Wick, contributing to an immersive gaming experience.”
- “Limited character progression: John Wick Hex falls short in character development.”
- “The character designs are a miss and the animations are choppy in a bad way.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its inventive design and strong homage to its source material, with each mission offering a unique and beautiful ambiance that enhances the overall experience.
- “Despite its flaws, it showcases an inventive approach to the strategy genre and pays homage to its source material through its atmospheric design and storyline.”
- “The mission design is perfect; every mission has its own atmosphere, and it's beautiful.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of the game is criticized as a cash grab, with minimal effort evident in its design, leading to a frustrating experience where players are forced to watch ads before engaging in gameplay.
- “Pretty safe to just stay away from it; it's another cash grab movie tie-in game with minimal effort put in.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The absence of voice acting is noted as a significant shortcoming, as it diminishes the emotional depth of the narrative, making it harder for players to connect with the characters and story.