It’s odd to see a title like John Wick Hex existing: a game made by Mike Bithell and his Bithell Games group (Thomas was Alone, Volume), a prolific indie dev, tasked with a movie license based on a Keanu Reeves comeback idea turned into an over-the-top action franchise. And yet somehow we live in a time where it’s not mandatory to pay full triple-A price for it.

If anything, this strategy game that is brandishing the John Wick name excels at what it does: deliver a “turn-based” title where all your figurative chess pieces move simultaneously to the flow of the action. In other words, a top-down isometric Superhot but with a grizzled assassin dubbed the Baba Yaga against the world.

The story is inconsequential – it takes place before the first film and deals with John Wick killing a bunch of mob bosses with narration from Lance Reddick and Ian McShane. But the action? Hardly, if playing a different kind of strategy game is your cup of tea.

Redline

See, everything in John Wick Hex is running on a timeline. See the top of the screen? All your actions and your enemy’s are determined by this. Everyone moves at the same pace. All actions -from shooting to crouching to recovering health- has a preparation time and an action time. During the prep bit, you can be interrupted or waylaid.

The upside? You can do the same to your opponent. If you see enemies coming at you or if they’re lining up their shots, you can choose to either go up close and beat them up, or just get out of sight. If you pay attention to the timeline and move just before the red bits hit the centre white line, you’re good.

You’ll be doing a lot of mental calculating and predicting; keep in mind that your resources like handgun clips and bandages are limited. You may even need to be creative and either chuck a gun to stun foes or even push them away to get away from lines of sight.

You will run out of ammo frequently, so making sure you down enemies with guns and then taking their spoils will give you more options. You also can use focus to do special “one-hit takedown” moves to clear enemy count, but you’ll need to find a safe spot to recharge that resource.

Needless to say, the six chapters where I’m going through the motions and kicking ass is pretty fun.

Seeing the cel-shaded graphics in motion with the atmospheric tunes blaring while I’m racking up a kill count from an “enemy respawn” door and figuring out my route gives me a decent amount of thrills.

Parabellum

Just some caveats: once you figure out how the enemy AI here works, particularly after the second chapter, you can find yourself in situations where you can funnel enemies to meet their Baba Yaga-branded beatdown; no guns required. In levels with a high enemy count, your “Wait” button is your best friend as enemies will come to you and home to your general direction, their mortality be damned. Suffice to say, strategy gamers will not get much of a challenge here after an hour or two.

Furthermore, the replay function after you complete the game looks…goofy. Basically, you’ll see an emotionless Keanu Reeves proxy walking like a hunched robot, aiming at enemies, and then kicking them in the nuts after a few hard chops on their shoulders. It’s fun to watch the first time, but it gets sadder with each replay if you’re hoping for some flair.

I am aware that this game is under an indie budget and constraint, but the record stands that John Wick Hex’s replays are unintentional comedies waiting to be turned to machinima skits.

Despite those hiccups, it’s a decent strategy title nonetheless, though I do wonder if tacking this already nice idea onto a John Wick license is necessary. Even without it, if the characters are replaced with more sardonic takes using action movie archetypes, I’d still buy it just for the gameplay alone.

It ain’t gonna curb stomp X-COM, but nothing can. Consider this movie tie-in a nice diversion from your other indie strategy titles that are out by the boatload this year post-FTL and Into The Breach.

Pros

• Unique visuals & music.
• An exciting take on turn-based combat.

Cons

• Enemy AI can be exploited easily.
• Replay mode loses all semblance of coolness.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100