John Wick Hex
John Wick Hex plays like a top-down Superhot but isn’t nearly as entertaining as the film.
John Wick Hexisn’t nearly as entertaining as the films it ’s based on but definitely delivers an equally high body reckoning . Developed by Bithell Games , creators ofindie titles likeThomas Was AloneandSubsurface Circular , John Wick Hexplays like a board game version ofSuperhotviewed from a top - down view , but unfortunately unrefined invigoration and a fluctuating difficultness breaking ball keep this motion-picture show - found shooter from being as fun as it could be .
InJohn Wick Hex , players take on the nominal function ofKeanu Reeves’John Wick , a former and current assassin tax with determination and confronting the game ’s villain , the also - titular Hex , who narrates the account both through comic al-Qur’an - style animated cutscenes and with voiceovers during gameplay . The intact secret plan is coated with a slick , classifiable graphic novel cel - shading evocative of thePlayStation2’sXIII , and while it does n’t do a great job quicken the stark reality of the link - in celluloid ’s filming , John Wick Hex’slanky - legged art style is enough to make the deed look unparalleled .
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The secret plan ofJohn Wick Hexis played in seconds . Two secondment , to be precise , displayed at all times at the top of the screen door in a ready to hand timeline format which not only include information about John ’s own upcoming action but the intentions of enemies around him as well . In thebestJohn Wickscenes , Keanu Reeves ' reflexes can at clock time feel almost second-sighted as his character flick around , drives over , sound off back , and tear enemies with grace and ease in an almost superhuman manner . In the game , asJohn Wickthemselves , the player can see it all coming .
LikeSuperhot , every step and every natural action inJohn Wick Hexmoves time forwards , but players can take as long as they want adjudicate on their next move . Much like an acute board - top game ofStratego , John must take his sentence and consider the available free areas , foeman , and environmental endangerment if he want to make it through level unscathed . complicate matters is the vision cone , which obscure any and all enemies player ca n’t see from their current location . Thankfully this works in 360 degree and is not limited to the direction John is facing , but it mean enemies may sneak up on him from a previously cleared way due to some degree featuring plain outright re - engender opponents .
For most levels , stealth is both encouraged and ultimately fruitless as finally a door will open somewhere off screen and an opposition will start shooting , thus alerting everyone to John ’s front . Individual levels are cleave up by location , with each locating sport a fistful of different stage for the player to fight their agency though . wellness and ammunition are carry over between stage , and although the game allow John to stash patch and extra clips in select grade throughout each emplacement one hard stage can still destroy a run if the player make more than a few stupid decision .
Difficulty inJohn Wick Hexcomes in wave . Some levels bring in enemies one at a meter , have them almost comically easy to deal with . Other level introduce multiple opposition at the same time , and since John can only ever do one thing at any one minute it becomes exponentially hard to make do with them without taking damage . While the former may be a statement that one could make about most game , specially those in the shooter musical style , it’sJohn Wick Hex’slimited option for booking which make heavy face-off with enemies frustrating rather than beatify .
John can sprout , he can move , he can scrunch , hit , button , parry , and he can perform a " squelch " on foe . If he ’s out of bullets , or if the player is just feeling froggy , he can also shake off his gun at opposition , but another one will need to be pick up if he want to elicit again . Enemies have both stamina and wellness meters , with select boss grapheme needing to be worn down with melee attempt before John is able-bodied to belt down them properly . The takedown move is particularly utile as it is a one - strike kill for most of the weaker foe and also get the histrion direct where John lands after the move ’s animation is over , often allowing for a mountain chain reaction - style mode of period of play where a room full of low - level enemies can be taken down in fast succession without ever having to do anything other than the same move over and over .
Upon completion of a level players are given the option to watch a replay of their actions , now played at full speed in normal time and shot from theoretically cinematic angles . This car-mechanic is a fantastic approximation for bit - base games in theory , showing what actually go on as opposed to the stilted , slow - down " game " translation the player just experienced . In practice a combination of uncompleted life and thespian intention turn these section into sticky pantomimes of aJohn Wickaction scenerather than the stylise embellishment they would care to be . Many time , even when not holding a heavy weapon , Keanu Reeves stand hunched on projection screen , his hands clasped around an inconspicuous pistol , ostensibly because that ’s his nonremittal position . Enemies who lie writhing on the ground appear dead to be standing straight up when John decides to move them , seemingly because that ’s the place they need to be when that animation act as out . There are no transitional skeleton between these actions , they just pass suddenly . In regular gameplay , from top - down and zoom along out , this is fine . When replay at normal speed and viewed through close , dramatically angle lens of the eye , it just await featherbrained , not part ofthe world ofJohn Wick , and since these scenes are delivered as a reinforcement for dispatch a level the fact that they ruin any dramatic tension a player may have somehow experienced is far ruder thanHalle Berry ’s dogscould have ever been .
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John Wick Hex , for all its cinematic inhalation , lacks the refinement to grasp what it ’s trying to reach for . Hardcore fans of the action thriller picture show may find some use in ill-treat into John ’s shoes for another adventure , but everyone else is likely better off just watchingJohn Wick : Chapter Three - Parabellumagain .
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John Wick Hexis out October 8th on both Windows and Apple PC . AnEpic Games Storecode was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review .
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