When it comes to movie and video game crossovers, most developers fail to capture the spirit of the movie’s characters while also bringing their own spin to the world. Bithell Games has managed to do both here, and if John Wick Hex is as close as we ever get to becoming John Wick, then it’s close enough for me.

One of the best movie adaptations of all time and an impressively original strategy game that manages to rival even the best action titles in terms of tension and adrenaline rush.

As a fan of the movies and a fan of creative approaches to games, I've had my eye on John Wick Hex since the day it was announced. Its bizarre approach works satisfyingly well in the context of how John Wick would think in the same situations: risk versus reward, careful observation and planning, plays and counter-plays. It is a simple game to understand yet rewarding to attempt to master. It also makes a compelling case of how great movie-inspired games can be if developers really think outside of the box.

John Wick Hex is a fantastic game. It combines real strategy in a gameplay that feels truly unique in the RTS genre. It really captures the world of John Wick and brings the character from the silver screen faithfully onto the PC. There is a fluidity to the combat, but one that falls ever so slightly short of the effortless slickness that we've come to love about the title character. Missing that trick takes a near perfect game to just a notch below, but puts it squarely in good company as a top game of the year.

John Wick Hex is an exceptional licensed game, and a wonderful strategic shooter even away from that. It's the kind of game that's high quality and enjoyable, even if you are clueless about the John Wick movies themselves. The perfect kind of licensed game, that works as well as an introduction to the franchise as it does as an extension of it. Absolutely worth playing.

The decision to make Hex a strategy game was a smart choice, translating John’s famous precision and actions in a way that an FPS game simply couldn’t achieve. Whilst it’s a shame that Bithell Games couldn’t get Keanu Reeves on board with his co-stars, Hex proves to be a fun experience, one which challenges players but is never unfair in its difficulty. It’s a solid adaptation of the franchise and will leave fans satisfied.

John Wick Hex is a nice, fun, and stylistic bite-sized adventure that's absolutely worth your time.

John Wick Hex is a sharp-dressed, tactical, dog eat dog shooter that offers an unforgiving challenge with smart action and an authentic layer of style.

For an RRP of $20 USD, John Wick Hex is a no brainer. It’s a layered strategy game perfect for long sessions or short stints. As a bonus, it runs on my potato of a work PC too (albeit a bit choppily), so it’s perfect for a little lunchtime leisure.

A graceful dance of lead and fists through some lovely set pieces and a whole lot of unsuspecting thugs. Nurturing quick, adaptive thinking, John Wick Hex is an excellent distillation of the franchise.

John Wick Hex is not what you would imagine in a cinematic universe, but it manages to turn around that action without filters to purify it and turn it into pure strategy by scheming Wick's mind in the video game.

John Wick Hex is unlike anything you’ve played before. Something between a strategy game and Superhot, that works much better than you would expect. Give it a try.

It's incredible how a turn based strategy game could look like the fast paced John Wick movies. But in John Wick Hex you can understand how the mind of a top class killer works, without the risk of being shot.

John Wick Hex is a movie tie-in that doesn’t go for the lowest common denominator. What could easily have been a generic real-time action game works wonderfully in this form—converting the pace of the movie action into a very elegant illusion of it. It works admirably despite the within this somewhat sparse presentation, and feels like an idea that the developer could evolve into something really special in the future—with or without the John Wick license.

John Wick Hex is a turn-based strategy game that breaks every rule and sets a new standard.

Combining realtime and turn-based gameplay, John Wick Hex somehow manages to nail the feeling of the movies.

John Wick Hex feels like an action flick starring a voiceless Keanu Reeves. It may not go as deep as the movies story-wise, but it's a great adaptation of a successful franchise. I admit that the first few hours were a bit frustrating since the game doesn't tell you to be careful with the bandages, but John Wick Hex is the kind of game that you want to keep playing even when it punishes your every mistake. I admire some of the design choices made by the developer, such as turning John Wick Hex into a strategy game rather than a pure top-down shooter. Even though it's far from being a perfect game, I had a lot of fun playing John Wick Hex.

Fun and entertaining, John Wick Hex hits the target and successfully transforms the hectic action of the movie saga in a brilliant boardgame-like strategic game with a great level design and an intriguing twist. The time management mechanic is crucial, intense and demanding, but quite fair and when dominated give a lot of satisfaction. Sometimes the difficulty curve is not well balanced and, overall, it lacks of the last touch to shine, but it's a solid good game, made with style and care.

It's not a perfect game, but John Wick Hex still lives up to its premise and creates a new blueprint for how to adapt a film property. Hopefully, it does well enough for a sequel because I'm dying to step back into the shoes of John Wick.

Much like the man himself, John Wick Hex is straight-ahead and unwavering. It sets out to do one thing - simulate the fights of the movies - and does so with consummate efficiency.

Part action, part strategy, John Wick Hex is an incredibly challenging and highly stylized game that is both thrilling and infuriating at the same time.

John Wick Hex has turn-based gameplay at a pace you’ve likely not experienced before, and it intricately balances its systems to give you a sense of being an expert hitman while also making it feel earned. It’s a slick and well-oiled game that succeeds in giving you a new, engrossing way to experience John Wick and its signature brand of chaotic action.

The important thing is John Wick Hex has an abundance of intuitive and original ideas, and it’s fun and engaging to play. It’s certainly worth your time if you like strategy games, and if you also happen to be a fan of the films then that’s just the icing on the cake.

John Wick Hex is not the action shooter you would expect from the film adaptation. But only because of its unique turn-based style, you really feel like a dreaded hitman who is determined to reach his goal. And that's a great feeling. [Issue#299]

John Wick Hex is a surprise in a number of ways, but the biggest is how much it hits the mark in terms of conveying what it's like to be John Wick himself. While it falters in some key areas, the overall experience is a good one.

Despite those frustrations, I continually returned to John Wick Hex because the core mechanics are incredibly tight. Thanks to Hex’s clever time management systems I always felt one step ahead of my enemies and capable of constructing the kinds of sophisticated close-quarters gunfights that make the films so exciting. John Wick Hex might hit the same note over and over again, but it’s one incredible note.

Unfortunately, some technical uncertainties make the inexperience of the creative choices of the English studio and author much less effective, but the work remains a fresh and original idea both for shifts lovers and for more pure action, succeeding in each case to build a satisfying and balanced play structure.

John Wick Hex is a clever tactical action game, with a very resounding aesthetic and sound.

John Wick Hex seems mediocre at first glance, but after spending a few time on it, the game turns out to become interesting. Since it provides a surprisingly fresh experience that replicate the killer instinct from the movie series.

John Wick Hex succeeds by building a uniquely time-based strategy framework but is pulled down by a lack of polish and repetitive elements along the way. If you can accept it’s rougher elements it’s well worth playing, but ultimately it could’ve used some additional development time to flesh everything out and really capture the flair of the Wick franchise.

The high random factor in the absolutely necessary restarts in each level, the somewhat too high degree of difficulty for my taste and the associated frustration factor makes from John Wick Hex not a bad, but also not a recommended game.

John Wick Hex is the last form you might expect a John Wick game to take, but this unique, inventive puzzler kept my mind racing from beginning to end. While the gameplay and interesting story shed light on some important aspects of the film franchise, the sometimes punishing difficulty and surprising lack of focus on John Wick himself left me a little disappointed. This isn't a perfect video game adaptation of a film, but it's certainly the most original one I've ever played.

John Wick Hex is a worthwhile playthrough for those with a fondness for turn-based strategy games or a desire for a challenge, but remains tough to recommend to those who only want another opportunity to spend time in the established world of John Wick.

The way it approaches tactical battles, make John Wick Hex not only interesting, but quite unique. But it also starts to show the lack of diversity too soon.

Despite its weird approach, John Wick Hex shows it has well understand the character : you’re always trying to find the most optimized way to hit and kill. The game doesn’t evolve much more beyond that, though.

John Wick Hex offers very good gameplay which focuses on tactics rather than action, which is a nice break from the movie, but the low budget has had profound effects on the graphics that feels like they're from an antique mobile game.

Despite its punitive difficulty and the rigidity, John Wick Hex remains a good adaptation of the movies. Artistic direction and the way you go into action are enjoyable and the pleasure of having managed to get out of a critical situation is a real satisfaction.

John Wick Hex is a fun tie-in that fall on depth and progression in mechanics, never managing to win the heart of the player.

John Wick Hex is a game made for the franchise lovers. Since this is a minor production, there are pros and cons: there are indeed good gameplay and a good idea, but also a lack of progression and a feeling of repetition that makes you lose a little the desire to continue further.

John Wick Hex is a simple, smart tactics game but its distracting lack of polish often thwarts its attempt to distill the fast action of the movies into deliberate gameplay.

Fans of the film will certainly find things to like, but as you dig deeper into John Wick Hex, more and more of its flaws begin to surface. Bithell has always proven himself a creative game-maker, but he can't stick the landing on this one.

The gameplay in John Wick Hex definitely captures the essence of the impressive choreography seen in the movies, albeit with some caveats. Namely the animation variety is very restricted and, in some cases, seems a bit incomplete. Moreover, the abilities of John Wick are a bit limited and remain as such throughout the game. Nevertheless, it still remains a clever twist in the turn-based genre, by letting the action unfold simultaneously for both our character and the enemies, creating some quite challenging combat scenarios with unexpected depth to them.

John Wick Hex does a lot of things right and has personality to spare. It can also be irritating — sometimes overwhelmingly so — but it kept me coming back for more, even after realizing that I probably won’t see the end credits anytime soon.

The janky animations of John Wick’s acrobatics spoil the whole movie-to-game experience. And to think that motion capture could have made it one of the most interesting games of this fall. [13/2019, p.65]

It feels best when you're making snap decisions, the action moving along with a satisfying pop, pop, pop rhythm that echoes the films. [Issue#133, p.104]

John Wick Hex is a fun experience, but one that woefully fails to deliver on its premise. Nothing really demonstrates this more than the ability to play back each completed mission in real-time. The idea of watching all of your methodical, turn-based actions playing out in cinematic, gun-fu action is certainly tantalizing, but actually manifests as watching janky, eight-way movement alongside strange collision detection, limited animation and questionable camera angles.

John Wick Hex's early pretence of fulfilling strategy gives way to a maddening trial and error experience that simply doesn't do the license justice.

John Wick Hex tries to get you into the mind of an assassin. However, the execution falls flat, and it quickly devolves into a repetitive slog, with little content, polish, or much of that strategy the developers were aiming for.

John Wick Hex has a solid enough foundation, but it largely fails to build on its core concept. It's a one-dimensional tactics game that moves at a glacially slow pace and features few unique wrinkles. It offers a slightly deeper look at the lore, but otherwise it adds little to the burgeoning John Wick-verse.

John Wick Hex plays like a top-down Superhot and isn't nearly as entertaining as the films it's based on, but delivers an equally high body count.