Destructive Creations (studio)
18 (certificate)
01 June 2015 (released)
06 July 2015
Hatred immerses the player into the uneasy role of a nameless trench coat wearing thug whom is pretty angry at everyone and everything in the world. He is a clear representation of the Trench coat Mafia or the extremist outcast who society deems undesirable. So you’ll not be shocked to know that his life goals include mass murder and to rain anarchy on civilisation. It’s an unsettling concept for many but one with gameplay that’s not been seen before. GTA and Postal offer the chance to rampage through the streets and commit horrendous acts of brutally, but with choice to do so or not. Hatred subtracts the freedom of choice to either be peaceful or not and instead forces you to commit these horrendous crimes.
It’s a bold statement of a game and the developers seem keen to produce something for the sake of entertainment rather than for art. I was not sure what this game’s point was meant to be, but feel it’s an exercise in what games were originally intended for with a touch of satire. However it's satirical nature is not the strongest and the game does have somewhat of an identity crisis, not knowing what it should be. Postal worked as it relished in it's over the top nature and profound satire on modern day culture. Hatred wants to embrace the same values but also produces something grounded and unsettling. It never truly works out like that and instead it's meaning feels lost. But it's a statement more than anything else and the level of brutality works in it's advantage.
Hatred is a twin stick shooter where players will control “The Crusader” in an isometric view. Meaning the world is observed from a “top down” manner where everything is beautifully bathed in black and white. Overall, Hatred’s experience boils down to roaming a large open area in New York and taking out as many innocents and police as possible. This includes obtaining numerous and destructive weapons that will help in the mass murder and completing a host of objectives that represent a problem with society, such as blowing up a coffee shop or burning down a bank. It’s mechanically simple and easy to get into.
Hatred portrays a visually stunning game-world and the destructive environments look absolutely stunning. The high level of detail for the particle effects and destruction feel genuinely organic and are impressive to look at. There is a huge amount of freedom in the game, giving players the option to take on objectives as they please. You can shoot, drive vehicles and create massive chain reactions that decimate whole areas. The gameplay does get repetitive as the game progresses in one direction, never to bring in new elements or challenges to escalate the risk. Yet there are a host of side objectives that pop up on your progression. Mostly these involve killing people but others include destroying vaults of money. So again, this doesn't help Hatred break away from its repetitive manner. But Hatred does offer an extremely intense experience that pushes player limits and skills than any COD game.
A certain problem with the game involved a particular mechanic, the health. In order to regain health, you need to execute fallen NPCs as there are no health packs to pick up. A neat idea but which is flawed for one reason. The game is pretty difficulty even on the easy mode. This mechanic would have been used well for filling up a meter and releasing a more powerful attack when it was filled. Hatred is brutal in nature and with no checkpoints it’s even worse.
There are however respawn points, earned by completing certain objectives. But even these can get a little tiresome on the player progression. As many side objectives themselves are too tough and could waste these vital respawns.
Hatred is not the most pleasant experience and is definitely not a game for people who can’t distinguish fantasy from reality. Not a great game in terms of dynamic gameplay but one that is spectacle to observe for its destructive nature and a good way to vent our some anger as oppose to actually going on a mass murder.