Hatred (video game)

. The game's interiors can be explored and destroyed. Hatred is a shooter game presented in an isometric perspective in which the player character and protagonist is a mass-murdering villain who "hates this world, and the human worms feasting on its carcass" and embarks on a "genocide crusade" against the entire human race. The player can carry three weapons and an assortment of grenades, as well as drive some vehicles. Health is regenerated by performing executions on incapacitated people; the moves made to kill those victims often involve cinematic switches of camera perspectives, but can also be a "safe execution" (which can be toggled to occur every time instead) where The Antagonist simply points his firearm down and shoots the victim akin to the original Postal and its Redux. If the player is killed, the level restarts entirely unless the player completed additional sidequests that provide a limited number of respawn points. The character's voice acting is deliberately kept to a minimum, with his ideology and motivations largely left open to interpretation. == Plot ==

The plot of Hatred revolves around a man only known as "Not Important". Disgusted by human society and general existence, Not Important decides to commit a "one-way trip" spree of killings in New York City using his arsenal of weapons. Travelling from his neighborhood to 1 Police Plaza, Not Important kills dozens of civilians and NYPD officers, prompting a government response. After escaping the police by train, he devises a plan to carry out his mission of committing suicide and killing millions of people by blowing up a nuclear power plant near the city. To accomplish this, he needs a Composition C plastic explosive, which he gets by storming the Fort O'Connor military base, wiping out the entire base before heading to the power plant. He manages to enter the nuclear power plant and plants the explosive on the nuclear reactor. He then attempts to overload the nuclear reactor using the security system. Whether he succeeds or fails, soldiers arrive and shoot him multiple times in the chest while he laughs. As he dies, he activates the explosive trigger; the power plant explodes, levelling New York City and killing millions of people. == Development ==

Hatred is the first game by Destructive Creations, a video game developer based in Gliwice, Poland. Most of the company's staff previously worked at another Polish developer, The Farm 51. The game uses the Unreal Engine 4 game engine and Nvidia PhysX physics. The Unreal logo was removed from the trailer at the request of the engine's developer, Epic Games. vocalist for Polish black metal band Infernal War and industrial blackened death metal band Iperyt; the song "Particular Hatred" by Iperyt appears in the game. Instrumental songs from Norwegian death metal band Blood Red Throne also appear in the soundtrack. The team chose to work on a single platform due to the team's small size, hoping to distribute the game through Steam and GOG.com if allowed. On December 16, the game was returned to the service, and an apology to the development team was sent by Gabe Newell. and was approved successfully on December 29. On April 11, 2020, Destructive Creations announced that they would be porting the game to the Nintendo Switch. It is unclear whether the game will be released in its uncensored form as Nintendo, like Sony and Microsoft, has a policy of not licensing or selling AO-rated games for its video game systems. Marketing In January 2015, Hatred was given an "Adults Only" (AO) rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The rating effectively prevents any mainstream retail distribution of the game in the United States, or on video game consoles as all three major console manufacturers forbid AO-rated games on their platforms. Hatred is also the only game to be rated AO and have no sexual content at all. One of its developers disputed the rating, stating that they were "not quite convinced" about the rating due to its association with sexually explicit games, adding that "it's still some kind of achievement to have the second game in history getting AO rating for violence and harsh language only. Even if this violence isn't really that bad and this harsh language isn't overused." A second trailer was released the same month, along with pre-order details. It showed new weapons (such as a flamethrower) and new execution animations. Developers claimed that shortly after the release, developer tools for Hatred would be made available. The game was released on June 1, 2015. Shortly before the game's release, Twitch announced a ban on all AO-rated games, making it one of the few prohibited games on the streaming platform. The first set of additional downloadable content, titled Survival, was released in September 2015, for free on Steam. The content adds three new maps for Survival mode, three new playable characters, "Story" and "Insane" difficulty modes, new sidequests, new rank systems, new leaderboards and new achievements. The content contains the ability to use several cheat options, including unlimited ammunition, "God mode", and all weapons unlocked. On October 22, 2019, the game received new DLC by way of a spin-off comic book series in conjunction with Behemoth Comics. The books are periodically released digitally on Steam individually or in a bundle with the game. == Reception ==

Pre-release Several video game press outlets responded negatively to the game's announcement trailer, particularly in condemnation of its "portrayal of wanton violence". Polygon Ben Kuchera wrote that the trailer was a "rhetorical failure" in that it attempted to shock viewers, but ultimately reflected the 1990s "shock culture" aesthetic. Destructive Creations responded that they did not support the organization, The Guardian, Rock, Paper, Shotgun and Kotaku described Hatred as a "mass murder simulator". Post-release Hatred received generally negative reviews. It holds an aggregated score of 43/100 on Metacritic based on 46 reviews. Rock, Paper, Shotgun said that "Hatred fails in every way", stating that the game falls short in terms of entertainment, technical competence, and "to be a controversial, shocking experience". Chris Carter of Destructoid was also critical of one-note gameplay while noting several technical issues. == References ==