John Wick, Probably my favourite series to date. When the licensed John Wick: Hex game was announced I was, to say the least, a little excited for its release. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. However, as the old saying goes. Never meet your heroes. We’ll get to that in a few minutes. John Wick: Hex is set many years before John meets his wife and leaving the seedy underworld of murder for hire. A Gang boss named Hex Kidnaps old friends from the continental Hotel, Winston and Charon. As an act of revenge against The High Table. This move is a show of power and in the hopes of gaining a seat at the table. The High Table deems this as a huge No-No. The High Table then hires Wick to take care of Hex and his Organisation.  

Gameplay

  The story is told through voice-over, and missions are rather on the simple side. Reach the end of the level or kill a set number of enemies or end-level bosses. If you’re expecting a first-person shooter this where you will close out the tab and go back to Call of Duty. Instead, the game is a tactical shooter, but rather than a grid system. You have a timeline that dictates how you move throughout the level. When you complete an action or see a new enemy time stops. Here is where you decide what move to make next. A lot of moves take a fraction of a second. Planning your next move can take much longer as you consider your surroundings. The timeline at the top of the screen shows you how long an action will take. Take too long and an enemy can interrupt what you’re doing and gain the upper hand. Even though the gameplay is relatively solid. In my testing on the PS4, there were times where bugs kind of ruined the experience and immersion for me. The controls can be cumbersome and clunky at times making moving a bit of a chore. I’m a huge stickler for this aspect so your mileage will vary.

Graphics.

  The graphics are surprisingly simple yet beautiful to look at. The Comic book art style works for this game. Taking you to dark ally ways. Neon lit clubs and a snowy mountain or two. The graphics are one of the highlights of John Wick: Hex. With minor glitches and hiccups on the PS4 version.

Sound.

  Sound is another one to the highlights of the game. Austin Wintory offers a remarkable score that sets the tone for every area of the game making them unique which ties in John Wick: Hex, Despite the levels having the same objectives

Closing Thoughts

  Although I’m a huge fan of the John Wick series. To a point where I own a few replicas of the guns in the movies. The audio although superb, and the graphics amazing with the comic book style. It was the clunky and cumbersome controls that left a bit of a sour taste.  I Genuinely wanted John Wick: Hex to be the game I was so excited to play, but like most officially licensed products it falls just short of their mark and can almost be guilty of beating the so-called “beating the dead horse” saying, to get as much money off it as possible. That seems to be the case with John Wick: Hex. Although The game has its flaws. It is a relatively okay game overall. It misses a few checkmarks that I would consider great, but it shows with a little oversight it can be an okay experience.  

John Wick: Hex is available for PS4, Xbox, and PC