Hatred is one of the most powerful emotions any living being can have. It can fuel us to do irrational things at times, although it can also be the catalyst that forces us to improve on something we really don’t like. Wars have been started. Relationships have ended. Lives have been wasted. All because of one’s hatred towards something else they don’t understand, don’t trust, or outright have given up on. Hatred has us assuming the role of a man who is completely consumed by his anger and disgust of human beings. He’s an equal-opportunity hater, so if you end up crossing his path, you can be sure he’ll want you as dead as the guy next to you. And for a game fueled by so much hate, I didn’t end up hating it. I was just bored and frustrated.

Player Hater’s Ball

Hatred's an extremely shallow game that should be considered to be more of a murderous-rampage simulator than anything else. For a man who has so much hate inside of him, the main character doesn't go into any detail as to why he hates humanity so much. Did he get cut off during his daily commute again? Did he not get onions on his burger? Was he wronged by the government in some way? We'll never know because he's so wrapped up in being angry that Hatred forgets to give us a viable reason for thousands of people to die.

It also doesn't help the main objectives are as shallow as Hatred’s story. The vast majority of time I was playing, I was instructed to kill a specific number of people, then kill law enforcement, and then proceed to the next location. Side objectives, fortunately, offer a bit more variety as I can cleanse customers from a local coffee shop, “visit” the launch of a new phone, and set money inside of a bank’s vault on fire. Completing these side objectives rewards me with the ability to respawn, which often comes in handy as Hatred can get difficult. The Unreal Engine 4 shines at times as the physics in Hatred, specifically explosions, look nice and also destroys anything caught in its blast.

Human Holocaust

What makes Hatred such a controversial game is its lack of empathy. I spent hours killing innocent civilians who ran away from me in terror. Begging me not to kill them. Many of them pleading that they had families. I didn’t want to continue my murderous rampage, but I wouldn’t be able to proceed if I didn’t slaughter any and every person I came across in order to progress through the game. 

If killing innocent civilians is all there is to Hatred, then I question why it even exists. There are countless games out there where I can harm random people if I wanted to. I can perform a hit-and-run in Grand Theft Auto 5, throw an old woman at my opponent in Mortal Kombat X, and beat up random villagers in The Witcher 3. And the games I listed are way more fun than Hatred is as they have other, more meaningful activities to complete. Hatred isn't just heartless. It's pointless.

Aside from the obvious ethical considerations, I also didn’t want to continue playing Hatred because it was filled with noticeable bugs. Civilians ran towards me while waving their arms in terror, law enforcement would empty entire clips of ammo attempting to shoot me through walls, and vehicles are absolutely useless due to their low health and terrible handling. And those are just the tip of the iceberg. Frankly, it's an outright mess.

Controversial Content

A game like Hatred will always be seen as controversial because it isn’t filled with zombies, nazis, or terrifying monsters to combat. The protagonist isn’t attempting to save the world, leave the world of organized crime, or save the princess. In Hatred, you’re the monster, "The Antagonist," and as much as they try, no one can stop your rampage. Not heroic citizens shooting at you with random weapons they find, nor trained members of the military. And that’s what makes the general population afraid of games like Hatred. It empowers the monster, at times, even glorifying their efforts.

Hatred is a premise that may have worked if we had some understanding of motivation--either on the part of the player character, or a more satirical or social point envisioned by its developers. Instead, the violence is so arbitrary that it oscillates between disturbing and boring. When you’re asked to kill over a hundred civilians just because the game asks you to, it gets really old, really fast. If Breaking Bad had Walter White cooking meth just because he wanted to, viewers would have found themselves bored with his adventures. It was his backstory, motivations, and deteriorating condition that made his criminal activity entertaining to watch.

Hatred is a game that basks in controversy for the sake of controversy, while doing nothing to keep the curious interested in seeing it through.

This review is based on a PC code provided by the publisher. Hatred is available in digital stores for $19.99. The game is rated AO.