As a middle-aged dude who grew up watching anime, kung-fu movies, and The Matrix, inject the John Wick sequence straight into my veins, please. I’ve spent the final couple of weeks re-watching the whole assortment to get pumped for John Wick: Chapter 4 on the large display screen and now that I’m caught up, I don’t need to hop off this vibe prepare.

Fortunately, I additionally grew up enjoying a heaping serving to of video video games, and there are a number of kick-ass ones which are completely excellent to select up and play to really feel like the person, the parable, the satan himself. Boot these up and develop into an absolute badass. Better but? They’re all fairly low cost!

The Hong Kong Massacre

John Wick: Chapter 4 contains an awe-inspiring top-down scene of Mr. Wick clearing out a French constructing with excessive, fiery prejudice. It nearly felt like a online game—and that’s as a result of it was impressed by a rad one. Director Chad Stahelski advised SlashFilm the scene was immediately impressed by The Hong Kong Massacre, a top-down shooter that launched in 2019.

“I had seen this video game and I’ll throw a shout-out — I think it was called “Hong Kong Massacre” — they did this prime shot and we had been doing a lot with the large muzzle flashes and it simply sort of clicked like, ‘Well, if I’m above, we shoot like this and we shoot like this, and it attracts these cool traces with the muzzle flash, and if I get the best flicker impact, it’s like Etch A Sketch. It seems to be actually cool,’” Stahelski mentioned. “And it was a different way to amp up the action and keep you in that video game mode that John Wick’s kind of known for, that first-person shooter kind of thing.”

Superhot

Speaking of first particular person shooters, the legendary Superhot (sorry, SUPERHOT. SUPER. HOT.) stays one of the best John Wick motion simulator to this point, particularly for those who’re in a position to play it in VR. Here’s an excerpt from our review:

“It’s a first-person shooter, except time only moves full-speed when you move. Stand still and everything slows to a crawl. Bullets hang in the air, red trails stretching out behind. People are practically motionless, frozen mid-charge.

Lucky for you, because the odds are overwhelming. You’re a one-man army, taking out anonymous red enemies en masse, watching bullets idly twirl past your skull, exchanging shots with statues. Pause. Running out of ammo and then throwing your gun at the nearest foe, putting him off guard just long enough for you to sneak in a punch. Pause. Grabbing his pistol out of the air as he falls. Pause. Spinning and shooting two more who’d snuck up behind. Pause. Dodging out of the way of two bullets arcing your direction. Pause.

This start/stop rhythm is the core of Superhot—more puzzle game than first-person shooter, more The Matrix or Equilibrium than Call of Duty.”

If you haven’t performed Superhot, repair that mistake now. And for those who’ve performed Superhot, it’s time to play Superhot once more. It’s at all times time to play Superhot.

Hotline Miami

But again to top-down, hyper-violent shooters with all of the vibes. Before The Hong Kong Massacre, there was Hotline Miami, a retro-tinged masterpiece with probably essentially the most completely banging soundtrack of all time. Here’s how we described it as soon as:

“Hotline Miami is still one of the best arcade-style experiences I’ve ever had. It was basically a tight, well-crafted version of Hitman on cocaine—blasting music, brutal murders, and adrenaline. As you played, you’d feel yourself gradually lose yourself in the experience. You’d allow yourself to slip into “the flow,” a kind of Zen state of unfeeling effectivity the place your murders grew to become nearly reflexive.

It was loopy. It was disturbing. It was addictive as hell.”

That’s John Wick af. Skip the sequel, though.

Sifu

More into fists than weapons? You positively need to try Sifu, which calls itself “a realistic third-person brawler with tight Kung Fu combat mechanics and cinematic martial arts action embarking you on a path for revenge.”

That’s true and Sifu completely slaps. It’s additionally John Wick af, simply with out all of the shooty bangs.

John Wick Hex

Finally, the precise John Wick recreation has to make this checklist, in fact. But John Wick Hex may be very, very totally different from the flicks and the opposite video games highlighted right here. It’s not an motion recreation by any means. Instead, it’s “a satisfying strategy game that aptly captures the feel of the films in a way no true action game could,” as we mentioned in our review.

“A hybrid of real-time and turn-based, the timeline governs all in John Wick Hex. Every action takes a set amount of time. Walk one hex? Maybe a second. Pick up a gun? Two seconds. Bandage your wounds? Four.

Your enemies are ruled by their own timelines, of course. And given the nature of the system, their actions aren’t necessarily in sync with yours. As I said, one enemy is simple. Wick tends to act slightly faster than his opponents, so you can almost always handle a single foe. When John Wick Hex throws more enemies at you though, it starts to play out almost like a dance. Almost like the films, really.”

John Wick Hex stumbles to the end line because of an insane issue spike and too-frequent deaths. But for those who’re open to a brand new sort of expertise—or just need to step within the sneakers of the real Mr. Wick somewhat enjoying by way of video games that match his vibes—it’s properly price enjoying. “I wish more tie-in games were executed with this level of craft, and with premises this creative,” we mentioned. “If they were, perhaps we’d see more of them—or at least more worth playing.”

Happy searching, Mr. Wick!