John Wick Hex Review – Calculated combat

The John Wick film franchise is amazing. Not only are they filled with over the top actions set-pieces and spectacular violence, but they’re also the reason Keanu Reeves is back in vogue. With a franchise this huge in the public consciousness, it was only a matter of time before it made its way to other media. After a middling performance with John Wick Chronicles, the franchise is back with a bang in John Wick Hex.

Set before the first film, John Wick Hex focuses on our titular hero as he hunts down crime lord Hex, who has kidnapped Winston and Charron. The storyline is simple, and is presented like a graphic novel. Static images of the characters conversing move along the screen as they discuss Wick’s hunt. It’s an interesting choice for the series, and one that pays off. We’re not playing Wick the man, but Wick the legend; The almost mythological assassin that stalks the streets of New York in service of the High Table.

The voice acting is on point. Ian McShane and Lance Reddick reprise their roles as Winston and Charon respectively. Their performances feel comfortable, like their slipping into a favourite pair of shoes. They’ve been playing these characters for five years so far, and it shows. Troy Baker brings a certain menace to his role as Hex, that at times gave me goosebumps. A voice that is missing is Keanu Reeves. Wick isn’t voiced at all, which makes sense from a story point of view, as the story is being narrated to us. But it’s still a shame that the actor who made this role famous is sitting this one out.

There were some awkward animation moments. Characters would often rag-doll oddly or fall in a manner that’s akin to tripping on a pebble on bin night. Characters and objects would sometimes clip, and it would lead to some very strange moments during playback. Things look relatively fine from the top-down camera, but get in close and, oh geez, it can get real wacky. There’s also a lack of variety when it comes to actions. John, and the goons he’s up against, often will just repeat the same animation frames for actions over and over again. This is fine if you’re only using melee once and a while, but the lack of variety becomes noticeable with repetition.

Time is your biggest resource, weapon, and adversary in John Wick Hex. Every action takes time, from reloading your weapon, healing your wounds, and refocusing, to shooting, parrying, and taking down your opponents. These actions happen simultaneously alongside the enemy. Often, you’ll find yourself in the middle of an action only to get stunned because the goon managed to pull off their action before you could.

As you play you quickly learn to manage this as you get into the groove of gameplay. There’s a certain rhythm too it.  Figuring out which action may be the best for the moment often comes down to a matter of seconds. Can you shoot the bad guy before he’s able to get a shot off, or would it be better for you to throw your gun to stun him and go in for melee? Would a parry be the best option here? Or would ducking for cover and waiting for them to chase you work better? Figuring out those questions takes time, and experience. I often found myself having to replay entire sections because I had made too many bad choices and put myself into a no-win scenario.

Expedited mode adds to the stress by only giving you 4 seconds to decide the next action. Things can get hectic quickly. I often found myself panicking as I made the wrong move and had to scramble to correct my mistake. It’s at moments like those I wished the game had a dash action, so I could either bull-rush my opponent or quickly get to cover and out of sight. Instead, John just walks at a leisurely pace and it’s extremely frustrating.

In the end, I found myself trying to conserve ammunition as much as possible, as the shooting took the most time out of all the actions. Often it was just easier to sneak behind an enemy and deliver a few quick melee blows or a takedown and then move on to the next target. Eventually, I was chaining attacks and moving around the combat like Wick would in the films. I’m not going to lie, watching the replay of each level at that point felt extremely satisfying.