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A VR Sociopath’s take on the game “Hatred”

Today I was blindsided by a video game announcement that I wasn’t expecting in the least. In my world there was no forewarning, no heads up and no mention of what this game was going to be about. There it was on my twitter feed as a message on how disturbing it was. Others called it disgusting and some even went as far as to call it “controversial”. The majority of commenters and posts seem to agree on one thing: it was a game unfit to be made. A game that should never see the light of day.

So obviously I had to take a look at it. I had to see what all the fuss was about. I hadn’t heard such strong words, gnashing of teeth and cries of foul since Flappy Birds and Six Days in Fallujah. Funny how #GamerGate didn’t hit my radar (unless I needed a laugh) but this “Hatred” game I had to check out.

And check out I did. Two minutes later I was dumbfounded. At a loss for words, with my jaw hanging open and my head reeling of the images I saw. In all my years as a Virtual Reality Sociopath had I never seen something so shocking, so graphic, and so amazing that I had to ask myself “This had to be a joke right?” But no it would seem. This game is real; this game is no ARG title or some parody. It was real.

And it was GLORIOUS!

When I read more into this game and why it existing I started to like the game more and more. Unlike other titles before it that merely intended the title to be some form of black comedy or tongue-in-cheek parody on the FPS genre, this game was the very thing that critics and news outlet firebrands charged FPS’s to be back in the day: a murder simulator. It was downright amazing (as well as refreshing) to see someone actually attempt to create something that was not just out of the norm when it comes to game releases, but goes completely against the very nature of what games are becoming. Even now some people are having a hard time trying to figure out what the underlying theme of this game is. It is just trolling because the current controversies in gaming? Is it just trying to be ultra-violent for violence sake? Is it trying to make a statement without saying a word?

You can go to Destructive Creations website where they tell you it’s a game that goes against the “polite, colorful, politically correct and trying to be some kind of higher art, rather than just an entertainment” mentality that they think the gaming industry is heading. That comment I don’t quite buy given the recent title releases of the Saints Row, Far Cry and Borderlands series, as well as the game South Park: The Stick of Truth. Even their charge as their game being a “propaganda tool” is a stretch given how most games out there have you performing violent acts similar to what is shown in their gameplay trailer video. No in truth what this game does is raise the bar and asks us if this game crosses that imaginary line in what we accept as violence in video games. And once again we gamers are asking ourselves if this game goes too far.

For me the answer is pretty obvious: No. No it does not.

In fact I dare to say that we all shouldn’t be shocked over this. This was bound to happen eventually. Given the current cry of how we shouldn’t limit ourselves and our imaginations, thus accepting all forms of opinion despite the audacity of it. We are seeing this concept in our current issues in our modern time. From politics to social issues to the very foundation of common sense in what we should consider normal, we are seeing opinions and ideas being shifted and pushed to the point where we are supposed to be tolerating and accepting of anything regardless if it goes against our moral or personal convictions. And if you don’t your either the racist/misogynistic/hatemonger/closed-minded and all out evil person or someone who doesn’t “get it?”

Whether this game “Hatred” is what it says it is or is judged upon what is shown, the underlying fact of the game is obvious. You play the part of a man who hates the world to the point where he goes out to kill ever last person he sees till he meets his own end. It’s pure violence in every sense of the word. Expect instead of it being the usual base violence we’ve come to see and expect in current video games, it goes one step further and puts us in the shoes of one who just kills for killing sake. Even now at this point I’m having a hard time trying to put my thoughts into words about this game. I know it is a game that I want as a Virtual Reality Sociopath but at the same time I want to dive deeper into the premise of this title though I’m not sure if there is one to be had.

Here’s what I’m trying to get at. Since video games have reached the point of being able to depict graphic, almost realistic visuals of killing in video games, people have seem to be forgetting what exactly what we are doing in these games. When I originally heard about this game it sounded like a more in-depth version of Grand Theft Auto series Free Roam Mode. You pretty much do the exact same thing in that version, gunning down people, stealing cars and causing general acts of wanton destruction until you get bored or your character dies. Sure back then people took offense but in the end people realized what it just was: a game mode that let you perform acts that would be considered socially unacceptable. And in fact isn’t that half the stuff we do in video games now a days? In an FPS your mission is to kill the enemy on the other side be it aliens, helgast, enemy soldiers or what have you? In a good portion of the games we play, from rated T to M, it has us killing something in a graphic way. From Call of Duty to Bioshock Infinite we were killing.

Now I know what you’re all thinking. But NSonic79, that was all in context. There was a reason for killing in those games. They were the enemy; they were trying to kill us. And for the most part I’d agree. In situations like that I follow the Malcolm Reynold’s train of thought: “if someone is trying to kill you, you try to kill them right back!” And at the end of the day this is what has gamers upset over the game “Hatred”, though you do have a purpose in the game, a set “mission”, it is one that goes against the very thing we are used to. We just don’t go around killing innocent civilians as a game level. When it was done before with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s “No Russian” level, it was met with controversy. Yet people seemed to have missed the context of what that level was all about. Yes you were killing unarmed civilians in an airport terminal, but it was also showing you the circumstances and situations that lead to this action. The level was intended to show you how it was the major issue as to World War III was started in the COD: Modern Warfare universe. It showed you, and let you experience, a moment in a game world’s history that would play a pivotal role in what was to come later on. As a form of interactive media it put you in the shoes of someone caught in the middle of something that no “normal” individual would ever have to contend with. It placed us in a no-win situation that demonstrated what people were willing to do to destabilize the balance of power in that world. Even when you had the option not to shoot, it was still a powerful enough scene to make you step back and realize if this is what’s going through someone’s mind as they do what they do. Or worse yet what else is going through their mind.

Hatred isn’t going to be for everyone. And even if you want to chalk it up as for what it is as a murder simulator, I think one might be missing out on the context of what this game title has to offer. The character that does the mass killing is just as barebones and generic as they come when you think about stereotypical killers. A single white, male with long hair and a trench coat with a general hatred for humanity that drives him to want to watch the whole world burn before his time is up. His speech alone in the trailer is basically the generic cliff notes of any would be mass killer that’s either been caught or left a note. I’m sure this was done on purpose, not to glamorize any known individual, but to leave a blank slate for players to put themselves in, much like how Bella in the Twilight book series was left so bland and generic so that any female reader could put themselves in her shoes.

For some when it comes to Hatred, the motives for the plot will be too much.  We’ve become accustomed with this unwritten rule of what we should expect out of our video games that have violence in them. A line of decency is assumed to exist in deciding what kind of killing is okay and what kind of killing is too far. When in true ALL killing is bad regardless if you’re doing it to defend yourself, saving the world or just letting out some pent up frustrations in the world. We’ve boxed ourselves up in when it’s right or wrong to killing. We enjoy watching shows that deal with these issues yet no cries of alarm were made known. Look at the current popular media that is hot right now. True Detectives deals with a serial killer who, shockingly, kills people. The Walking Dead has the remains of humanity fighting off zombies, and other humans, in the most visceral way possible. In the Game of Thrones we saw the Red Wedding Massacre. In the first season of American Horror Story we not only witnessed a high schooler perform a mass shooting but also see him get gunned down by SWAT officers in his own bedroom.  

Now that's "Quality Television"

Yes I know many will point out that that what I speak of is “visual” media. We don’t participate in those events; we only watch them in morbid fascination. My question is why can’t the game “Hatred” be treated the same way with its content? Be it interactive or not the context of the actions being performed still remain the same. If people want media that offers visceral carnage found in current shows and movies that seem to cross the line in respects to the act, then why can’t that be allowed in all forms of media interactive or otherwise? We’ve blown the heads off zombies in games we’ve faced off against other human opponents be it in the game level or in the fighting ring, we’ve faced off against unnatural creatures be it from outer space or other dimensions, why limit yourself now when it comes to a mere person that just wants to go out in a blaze of glory.

Hatred is not only a “murder simulator”. It’s also a means for someone to see what drives someone to perform one of the most hot button topics of our modern time. No one wants to think that anyone is capable of such evil. No one wants to admit that despite our good nature and in thinking we are good people as a whole, that any of us would be capable of performing “that”. You may agree or disagree with me on this but in the end of the day, we as humans are capable of great deeds or unspeakable evil. No one wants to admit it, no one wants to look inside themselves, no one wants to acknowledge that despite our belief that we as human beings are capable of greatness, we are also just as capable of unimaginable horror.

I know we’ve all had that dark thought in our minds during one point of our lives, the thought of wanting to kill someone. Be it a loved one who hurt us so or a random stranger who was just being ugly to you. Usually we don’t follow thru with that train of thought (or action) due to whatever limiter we have on ourselves, be it from moral convictions, social standards, character upbringing or lacking in that “cowardly courage” that drives others to decide in the act.

Hatred could be just a “propaganda tool” or it could be a means to look thru a window to ourselves and see a person that “could have been” in one crux point or another in our lives. Whether people see it that way or see it as the “knee jerk” reaction to wanton violence is up to the gamer in question. But the fact still remains. People cry out in wanting to have same sex options in games. People cry out demanding more diversity when it comes to game characters and to the people that develop them. People cry out and demand that sex scenes be shown since graphic violence is allowed.  People cry out that they want their gaming media be legitimized, seen as a form of art and be recognized for its powerful potential. And yet gamers will cry foul over a game that’s just a step up from the “Postal” series while they go back to playing their base violent video game of their choice.

It’s not like Hatred will ever get published. Seeing what became of Six Days in Fallujah is the perfect example of what this game will have to tend with. And even if it did for some strange reason get published, you don’t have to buy/play the game. We live in a world where the worst of the worst in media can be released to the masses in one form or another under the guise of “tolerance” and “enlightenment”.  No one is forcing you to accept the presence of one offensive media or another. You can freely live in blissful ignorance of anything that doesn’t fit your mindset like some have been able to with movies, books, tv shows and games.

Love it or Hate it, Hatred is what it is and what you can make of it. You may not like what you see and I respect that.  But for me I love the premise of this game. Not just because of my Virtual Reality Sociopathic tendencies, but because you don’t have to become a monster to face/understand one.

Ta-ta

“N”