Hatred: The ratings board is going to love this

There have been many, many titles in the history of video games that raised the ire of conservatives and progressive players alike. In the entire catalogue of titles released since the first chip was inserted into a motherboard, developers have been pushing the envelope with what they can and can’t do.

One of the most famous ones that come to mind is Doom, and maybe a bit after that was Heretic. Both titles were labelled satanic by almost every corner of the gaming community (depending on your view point), but look at where Doom took video games in general.

Hatred, from Polish developer Destructive Creations, is not exactly in the path to revolutionise the gaming industry, but it has been getting almost as much attention as Doom did in the early days. To put it in a different way, Hatred is 2015’s version of Postal.

The game is actually very simple to explain: there are no specific missions (besides the obvious) and your sole purpose in the game is to kill people. That might sound like just about every other first-person shooter, but there really is no reason for the wanton violence.

As the grisly voice-over in the trailer explains, “This is the time of vengeance and no life is worth saving. And I will put in the grave as many as I can.

It’s time for me to kill. And it’s time for me to die. My genocide crusade begins here.”

Yep, that is the entire game you play as a rampaging psychopath who simply wants to kill as many people as he can. The main character is well aware that he will not survive, which just further spurs him on. During certain points in the game, players can activate an execution, which will kill the poor citizen in an incredibly close-up and gory way.

We are not so sure where Hatred falls in the scope of video games, as it could be seen as extreme freedom of expression and creative vision, but on the other side of the scale it is senseless violence from a maniac who is keenly aware of what he is doing.

Doom had a lasting effect on the video games market, spawning a number of sequels and gathering a cult following. Heretic one the other hand, did see a sequel but more than that, it didn’t really have.

Could Hatred be the Doom of this decade? Only time will tell, but one thing is sure. The game is ultra-violent, it is mostly in black and white and the main character looks like the dude from Dethklok.

Needless to say, the announcement trailer has been met with mixed reaction, with most of the mainstream media calling the title “extremely violent, and very tacky” and “ultra-violent”.

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