Few action film franchises appear to be crying out for a video game adaptation as loudly as the John Wick series does.
Sometimes it feels as though fight scenes are being done by video game characters: kicks, spins, punches, shooting. Everything seems perfectly at home in a Call of Duty-style adaptation from the 1990’s.
These kind of games are becoming less popular, owing to the market’s saturation. However, the franchise still begs for some adaptation.
Of fact, at least one development team has previously attempted to create a John Wick video game version. John Wick Hex did not perform well, either critically or commercially. Nonetheless, the developers had the right concept.
It allowed individuals to rush into situations and blow away. Kick and punch when the mood struck. However, the game did not do the movie credit by practically forcing the player to overthink.
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They had to decide how to move, when to move, and how to escape their opponent’s shots. There was a little too much planning required, and the game did not make it enjoyable enough.
However, if a developer decided to give it another shot and turn the movies into a side-scrolling, shoot-em-up beat-em-up, the game could perform rather well. As long as they introduced enough new features.
Putting John Wick in a pixelated 2D scene accomplishes two things at once. The first is that it reduces the gore in the films, making them more accessible to individuals who may not enjoy all of the blood, guts, and slaughter, hence making those films popular among a particular segment of the population.
However, establishing the film in a world that isn’t remotely realistic takes away somewhat from the gore, grossness, and seriousness of the killings that the Keanu Reeves character and other members of that world are forever in during the four films that have been released thus far, as well as the spinoffs and future films.
The series does not seem to end. This enables the game to be played in a variety of levels and scenarios.
There will be several settings available for the side-scrolling game.And because the images are pixelated and 2D, there’s more leeway to go overboard without being as deadly serious as some of the films have been.
Several beat-em-up games have been created over the years, revitalising a video game genre that was prominent during the arcade gaming period.
Because all of these games have been produced over the years, there are numerous possibilities for incorporating aspects from the John Wick film franchise.
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Players may be able to traverse through levels and combat waves of enemies with hand-to-hand weapons.
There could also be a variety of guns to blast villains, which are either dropped by typical villains or picked up in various packages as players go through the levels.
There would seem to be a hundred ways in which a John Wick side-scrolling beat-em-up could go to create an instant entry into the video game world immediately after watching one of the movies or spin-offs that have been released since those terrible mobsters first killed John’s puppy and realized they had crossed the wrong man.
There are numerous characters in the John Wick universe who would make excellent candidates for video game adaptations.
While these kind of movies tend to make developers believe that everything needs to be ultra-realistic, putting the game in a manner reminiscent of The Simpsons arcade game can be therapeutic.
There’s also the fact that these types of games can be played in little increments. Scott Pilgrim games, for example, can be played in little chunks whenever the mood strikes. Play through the level and then turn the game off, or even go watch another John Wick film.
Sources suggest that there is an expensive John Wick game on the way, but it does not seem like a game that would turn out like Cannon Fodder.
It will probably be money spent into something in which players take on the character of Wick, but that is the kind of game that really takes off.
In fact, it sounds like a video game adaptation that takes itself too seriously. Some people will undoubtedly decide that this is what they are looking for.
For everyone else, the opportunity to simply enter a level and bash a bunch of foes in some clean, cartoonish fun may be far more entertaining.
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Games that strive too hard to replicate the films on which they are based don’t do well. Going in a different path with a John Wick game may be far more successful.