Hatred |
Format: PC
Out: 1/6/2015 (online) Publisher: Destructive Creations |
by Gary Alexander Stott
Hatred raised a lot of controversy in the months prior to its release, and it's easy to see why – its premise is bold. A game that revolves around a hateful spree killer as he attempts to murder as many victims as possible was inevitably going to spark some kind of moral outrage. However, as shocking as Hatred might seem at first glance, it really offers nothing new outside of its narrative context.
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The game's missions focus wholly on violence, mayhem and destruction. Kill innocents, kill police officers, blow up buildings to kill innocents, steal vehicles to kill police officers – kill anything that moves, basically. Nothing that players haven't done a million times before in games like Postal and Grand Theft Auto. The unnamed protagonist is a hilariously botched attempt to create a dark and edgy character. Dressed all in black with long, greasy hair, he is a master-class in nineties character design. Whether intentional or not, his lines almost come across as satire as he utters the sort of cringe-worthy nonsense Duke Nukem would be proud of. Indeed, his quips sound less like philosophy and more like teenage angst. They're funny at first, but soon become annoying when heard for the tenth time. Moreover, if the point of the game is to enable players to take out their frustrations through a nameless avatar, why give him a voice at all? It's a questionable design choice, and the game's terrible writing doesn't do it any favours.
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A run-of-the-mill tutorial introduces players to the mechanics of the isometric, twin-stick shooter: point, shoot, crouch, sprint, dodge. Additionally, the player can throw grenades, molotovs and flashbangs. These mechanics are all perfectly serviceable. They work as intended, but soon grow stale as the game offers nothing particularly innovative with regard to its weapons. The only deviation from the basic shooter formula comes in the form of executions – finishing moves that can be performed on downed victims. These are satisfying at first, but watching the same animations over and over again soon becomes tedious. Unfortunately, performing executions is the only way to regain lost health, and so the player is forced to do so constantly. There is an option to turn the longer executions off, but players shouldn't have to alter the default settings in order to make the game more enjoyable.
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The game's difficulty doesn't help, either. Even on the easiest of the three options, the title presents a significant challenge. Single-use respawn points are available, but are only awarded upon completing side missions which (surprise, surprise) also involve killing everything in sight. Clearing an area of inhabitants is akin to picking up dozens of dropped marbles. It's easy when they're clustered together, but it soon becomes boring and repetitive searching for individuals as the population thins out. Chasing red dots on a mini-map simply isn't fun. For a game that attempts to offer an outlet for stress and frustration, Hatred can be remarkably stressful and frustrating. That said, the AI isn't very smart and can be taken advantage of in certain situations. Bottlenecking enemies within a narrow staircase is one reliable way to take control of particularly intense situations, but it always feels cheap and is something the AI should be able to react and adapt to.
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Hatred does have a few interesting features, however. Its visual style is quite striking and helps it stand out from other games in the genre. Selective colouring casts most of the world in black and white, while elements such as fire, sirens, blood and explosive objects are rendered in colour. It's a somewhat arresting touch that adds an element of style to its otherwise uninspired level design. Environments such as sewers, train carriages and cities are dull and generic. That said, there are some interesting set-ups to wreak havoc on, including a political rally with far too many unlucky attendees.
There's also something to be said about the destructibility of Hatred's environments. Entire walls can be blown apart using explosives and doors can be shot to pieces. This adds a degree of satisfaction to the shooting mechanics and helps to make them more fun. The game might have benefited from putting more of an emphasis on environmental destruction, but unfortunately it doesn't take much of the spotlight.
There's also something to be said about the destructibility of Hatred's environments. Entire walls can be blown apart using explosives and doors can be shot to pieces. This adds a degree of satisfaction to the shooting mechanics and helps to make them more fun. The game might have benefited from putting more of an emphasis on environmental destruction, but unfortunately it doesn't take much of the spotlight.
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For all of the controversy concerning Hatred's focus on killing innocents, the degree of violence in the game really isn't that shocking, especially when compared to something like Mortal Kombat. Shooting, stabbing and burning are as bad as it gets, none of which look particularly shocking from its top-down viewpoint. Civilians don't stay unarmed for long, either, picking up weapons and fighting back as soon as the going gets tough. Context aside, it plays like any other game in the genre. Moreover, it's hard to take anything the game depicts seriously as it tries so fervently to be edgy that it borders on parody. For all intents and purposes, the controversy surrounding the title seems unjustified.
What this all boils down to is a mediocre and repetitive shooter framed by a thin narrative. It might appear bold and shocking to an outsider, but Hatred is in reality an unremarkable and often tedious game that offers nothing new to the genre. |
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