John wick hex platinum9/17/2023 ![]() ![]() When I knock down an enemy, shoot his backup while he’s stunned, finish him off with my fists, and then toss my now-empty gun across the room at a new enemy, I’m choreographing my own little action sequence. Those mistakes were made all the more frustrating because making the right choices feels so good. Sometimes, I couldn’t even pick out John in the clutter, and that lead to mistakes. More than a few times, I got killed by an enemy because I couldn’t pick them out behind the piles of dead bodies, dropped weapons and their overlays, and my own actions menu. Bithell Games/Good Shepherd Entertainmentīut all of that information can also lead to a very muddled screen. John Wick himself may have to keep everything in his head from moment to moment, but the game does much of that work for me, thankfully. I see how much ammo every dropped weapon has left. I get information about enemies and their weapons (or lack thereof) by clicking on them. The fog of war makes the battlefield and cover clear and easy to spot, while obscuring enemies that aren’t in my line of sight. Generally, the gameplay works beautifully. You might have steadier nerves than I do, or be less prone to decision-based panic, of course. John Wick Hex does have an “Expedited” mode where I only have five seconds to make every decision, but just the thought of that makes my palms sweat and I refuse to try it. And that creates tension without creating stress. I get to weigh each option and choose John’s next action as carefully (or carelessly) as I want.Įven with all the time in the world, I still get outmaneuvered and surprised by enemies when I make a bad choice, gamble on a risky shot, or focus on one enemy instead of the entire battlefield. It pauses indefinitely whenever John completes the action I choose or he spots a new enemy. The game gives me plenty of time to make my decisions. It’s a battle of wits, and it all comes down to who gets to a firing solution first, or who can throw the first punch. A shot with a 40% chance of landing feels like a huge risk if missing means that everyone else gets to attack before I’m able to move myself away from the brawl. I don’t worry about the note on the timeline about the enemy firing unless I can see that it’s going to happen before I’m able to fire a round off myself or disarm that enemy. Or I can play the odds, knowing that John is hard to hit when he’s moving, and roll out of the way. I can strike first with my fists or my gun and interrupt them. I can break the sight line or duck behind cover so that John doesn’t get shot at all. When an enemy is aiming at me and ready to fire, it appears in the timeline as a pink block - the stylized color of blood in John Wick Hex - and I choose how to react. Everything is technically happening at once, but the action is broken up into moments that can interrupt the actions of your opponent, or your own attacks.Īnd I can see what my enemies are going to do in their own timeline, which informs my decisions. Time is represented by timelines at the top of my screen with each action - both mine and my opponents’ - as discrete chunks along a possible future. Bithell Games/Good Shepherd Entertainment The timeline at the top shows me that this enemy is planning on shooting me. A clean run sets me up well for the next gunfight, while a series of mistakes might make the next area nearly impossible for me to overcome. My ammo and health carry over for several levels at a time, so every decision - every bullet fired and every mistake made - feels that much heavier. And to do that, I have to manage my time and ammunition, check sight lines, and weigh the odds of success for each move I make. To get to them, I have to lead John through a couple dozen levels full of bad guys who all need to be taken out to keep his forward momentum. These allies are Winston, the owner of the movies’ Continental Hotel, and Charon, the hotel manager - Ian McShane and Lance Reddick portray the characters on film and voice their characters in the game. My goal is to rescue a pair of John’s allies from a disgruntled crime boss. John Wick Hex plays like a board game (or, more accurately, a tabletop wargame). I tell John what to do, it’s up to his muscle memory to execute my commands perfectly. The only other controls I have are for the camera, so I can pan, tilt, and zoom to see the level and plan John’s next move. The controls are simple: I click a destination to move, choose a target, and then choose an action from a list of options. Clicking on an enemy brings up a list of actions to choose from. ![]()
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