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John Wick Hex

Bithell Games explores the world of John Wick with a unique take on everyone's favorite dog-loving hitman. But is John Wick Hex just another in a long line of failed movie and video game crossovers? Our review.
66%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
story, stability
58% User Score Based on 764 reviews
Critic Score 75%Based on 38 reviews

Platforms

PCPCXboxXboxXbox Series X|SXbox Series X|SPlaystation 4Playstation 4WindowsWindowsPlayStationPlayStationNintendo SwitchNintendo SwitchMac OSMac OSXbox OneXbox One
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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
John Wick Hex screenshot
John Wick Hex screenshot
John Wick Hex screenshot
John Wick Hex screenshot
John Wick Hex screenshot

58%
Audience ScoreBased on 764 reviews
gameplay90 positive mentions
story18 negative mentions
  • The game captures the essence of John Wick's fight style, requiring strategic planning and quick decision-making.
  • The timeline mechanic adds an interesting layer to the gameplay, allowing players to see enemy actions and plan accordingly.
  • The real-time replay feature after completing levels is a fun addition, showcasing the player's actions in a cinematic manner.
  • The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and lacks variety in combat options, leading to a monotonous experience.
  • Animations are clunky and unpolished, detracting from the overall immersion and enjoyment of the game.
  • Enemy spawning can feel unfair, with infinite respawns making certain levels frustrating and tedious to complete.
  • gameplay
    272 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "John Wick Hex" features an innovative timeline strategy system that combines elements of real-time and turn-based mechanics, focusing on math and time management. While the core mechanics are easy to learn and initially engaging, many players find the gameplay repetitive and lacking in variety, with issues such as clunky controls, limited combat options, and unbalanced enemy placements detracting from the overall experience. Despite its unique concept and potential for strategic depth, the game suffers from a lack of polish and diversity, leading to a mixed reception among players.

    • “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 is so unique and creative; it’s a new form of RTS games and the best thing about it is that it can be fast or slow, depending on your speed.”
    • “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.”
    • “Gameplay is repetitive, shallow, and unfair.”
    • “John Wick Hex is sadly too shallow and repetitive for a strategy game with too few gameplay mechanics.”
  • story
    158 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    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 reviewers find the narrative to be thin, generic, and lacking depth, often feeling like a mere backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling element. While it offers some insight into the franchise's lore, the overall execution is criticized for being clunky and unengaging, with repetitive missions that detract from the experience.

    • “The whole thing itself is pretty clunky but you can see there was a lot of effort put into it; the story, the gameplay, and music are amazing. The characters of Winston and Charon have been voiced by the actual actors playing those two characters in the movies, and I was so happy when I realized that.”
    • “Having the voice of the original actors (Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick) narrating the story is a welcome touch.”
    • “The title follows an original story that takes place before the John Wick movies, with comic book style cutscenes between each mission.”
    • “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.”
    • “They've spared no expense for the voice actors by the sounds of it but the story is poor and makes no difference to the gameplay.”
  • graphics
    90 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players finding them underwhelming and poorly executed, often describing the animations as janky and lacking polish. While some appreciate the unique comic book-inspired art style and its attempt to capture the essence of the John Wick movies, others feel it ultimately falls short, appearing simplistic and repetitive. Overall, the visuals are seen as a significant drawback, detracting from the gameplay experience despite some positive elements like color and aesthetic design.

    • “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.”
    • “Artistically, Hex shines with its unique comic book-like aesthetics.”
    • “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 real-time tactical game, you can go random bullshit 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
    42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    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 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 and occasionally mismatched with the game's action. Overall, the music is seen as a strong point, though it could benefit from further refinement and variety.

    • “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.”
    • “Repetitive music, imprecise controls.”
    • “Music that doesn't sound like it fits the John Wick theme of the game at all.”
    • “Soundtrack is okay but a bit bland in places, story seems a bit unimaginative, visuals are okay for the most part, though of course a bit simplistic.”
  • stability
    28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The stability of the game is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, clunky animations, and unresponsive controls leading to a frustrating experience. Players have noted game freezes that require level restarts, unpolished mechanics, and a general sense of being unfinished or abandoned by developers. While some minor glitches are mentioned as non-game-breaking, the overall consensus is that the game suffers from significant stability issues that detract from its potential.

    • “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
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to the repetitive nature of restarting stages after taking damage, which leads to resource depletion in later levels. Many reviewers express that the passive upgrades do little to alleviate the grind, making the experience feel like a chore, especially after reaching the midway point. Overall, the grinding contributes to a sense of boredom and dissatisfaction, with some players recommending against the game entirely.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “A lot of grinding.”
    • “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
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    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 chosen perks. Overall, it seems to cater to both casual players and those seeking to explore different strategies.

    • “The game is rather short, but with possible random enemy placement and encounters, it makes it replayable.”
    • “You may have to change your play style based on what perks you buy, so this adds an element of replayability.”
    • “This provides a lot of replayability for the completionist, and I, myself, beat the game three times in order to get 100%.”
  • optimization
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's optimization is generally satisfactory, running well even on low-end systems with only minor glitches reported. However, there are calls for improvements in menu navigation, overall performance, and animations, particularly for PC users.

    • “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 maybe even animations.”
    • “It's in need of some improvements to the menu, performance, and maybe even animations.”
    • “Poorly optimized for PC?”
    • “Performance-wise, the game runs fine on my potato, and I encountered only a few minor glitches.”
  • character development
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in "John Wick Hex" is criticized for its limited progression and subpar character designs, which detract from the overall experience. While the game's color palette and environmental details effectively convey the grim atmosphere of the John Wick universe, the choppy animations and lack of depth in character progression leave much to be desired.

    • “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.”
    • “Limited character progression: John Wick Hex falls short in character development.”
  • atmosphere
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is praised for its inventive design and strong homage to its source material, creating a captivating experience. Each mission is noted for its unique and beautiful atmosphere, contributing to the overall immersive quality of the game.

    • “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.”
    • “+Mission design is perfect; every mission has its own atmosphere, and it's beautiful.”
  • monetization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game is criticized as a cash grab, with users feeling that it lacks effort and creativity, resulting in a disappointing experience. Players are discouraged from engaging with the game due to its reliance on ads and minimal gameplay innovation.

    • “Pretty safe to just stay away from it, it's another cash grab movie tie-in game with minimal effort put in.”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The absence of voice acting is frequently noted as a significant drawback, as it diminishes the emotional depth of the narrative, making it harder for players to connect with the characters and story.

75%Critics’ scoreBased on 39 critic reviews

Buy John Wick Hex

9h Median play time
11h Average play time
6-27h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 8 analyzed playthroughs

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