When envisioning a John Wick video game, most people’s minds would probably jump to a traditional shooter. The film franchise is based around a retired assassin gunning thugs down and punching others in the throat, so some kind of third-person cover shooter might fit the bill. That would be a bit too easy, though. It would also allow for players to turn John Wick, himself, into a bumbling idiot with their failures.
That’s what first struck indie developer Mike Bithell. A huge fan of the films, his ideal John Wick game was something that would allow players to execute missions with the precision and finesse that Keanu Reeves brought to the mysterious killer. While John Wick is still human, he rarely misses his shots and never looks like a fool when tearing through henchmen. He is always cool, collected, calculated, and deadly.
If not a shooter, then what genre would fit John Wick’s style? Why not something along the lines of X-COM? You could mix turn-based strategy with real-time elements, let players have a selection of options for how to deal with individual moments, relay data that is an approximation of what would be going through John’s head, and have enough of a hands-off approach that players can’t unintentionally make John look stupid.
Source: Destructoid John Wick Hex proves licensed games don’t have to suck