JOHN WICK HEX (Bithell Games/Good Shepherd Entertainment – console & PC – 2019) – This weekend marks the release of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, arguably the coolest, most stylish action franchise in more than a decade. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then it’s clear you’ve been living under a dog house, and should stop reading and go watch the first two John Wick flicks right now before continuing…
Spoiler alert: John Wick is the revenge story to end all revenge stories; I warned you. Basically, Keanu Reeves plays a recently widowed hitman living out his days in suburbia when a gangsters decide to steal his car, kill his dog (that his dead wife left him) and shoot up his house. Vengeance ensues.
Now I bet you’re asking…where are you going with all this, “Cardinal” Brooks? Well, Epic Games has announced John Wick Hex, a turn-based strategy action game with lots of slick gun play and ass-kicking. The game is being developed in cooperation with the creative team behind the franchise, and has at least two of the main actors — Deadwood/American Gods‘ Ian McShane and Quantum Break/Destiny 2‘s Lance Reddick — lending their voice talents. It is unclear at this time if Reeves himself will voice Wick in the final release.
At least so far, Hex‘s reveal trailer looks great with its cell-shaded graphics and signature body count. Only time will tell if a strategy game can capture the chaos that is a John Wick movie. According to the Epic Games website, weapons you pick up will alter game tactics and the strategic direction you plan to use. Ammo will also be finite and “realistically simulated”. A button-masher, John Wick Hex is not! We’ll have more info on this unique release as we get closer to E3.
-Gary Brooks