John Wick 3 arrives in theaters May 17, but the John Wick franchise apparently has other plans, as well. Wednesday morning Mike Bithell, creator of Volume and Thomas Was Alone, announced an action-strategy John Wick spin-off game. John Wick Hex will attempt to bring the film series’ brand of close-combat “gun-fu” to a hex grid setup. While a release date has yet to be confirmed, John Wick Hex will release on consoles and PC via the Epic Games Store.
Gameplay in John Wick Hex will attempt to recreate the action sequences in the John Wick movies with an XCOM flair. With a variety of weapons at their disposal, players will control every move that John Wick makes while managing finite ammo.
Visually, there’s clearly a dramatic change from the realism of the films. John Wick Hex will embrace the stylized tone of the film and use that to create a graphic noir design with rich coloring. The game will still build on the same motion and movement from the films, just visually stylized.
John Wick Hex isn’t just a clever arcade-style recreation of the John Wick action scenes, however; it’s an independent experience and story. According to early details, John Wick Hex is created in cooperation with the creative team behind the films. The story will be completely original and will feature voice work from actors including Ian McShane and Lance Reddick, reprising their film roles. There’s no word on whether Keanu Reeves himself will be joining the cast.
John Wick fans can see for themselves what John Wick Hex will look like in action via the game’s announcement trailer. While a majority of what’s shown is cinematic footage from the game, there are a few brief glimpses of gameplay. Viewers can see the player selecting an action from a list of options based on situational conditions. They’ll have to deal with range, armor, visibility, accuracy, and most importantly how long each action takes to complete.
Just how well John Wick Hex can recreate a full action sequence remains to be seen, as the trailer only shows glimpses of gameplay, but for strategy game fans there’s a lot to be excited about. Expect more information regarding John Wick Hex to be revealed in the future.
John Wick Hex has no current release window and will be available for both PC, exclusively via the Epic Games Store, and consoles.
