Does Wanting To Play Hatred Make Me A Bad Person?!?

For those of you who spend a good amount of time playing video games, whether it be on a PC or a game console, you have almost certainly heard of the video game, “Hatred,” which has been developed by the Polish company Destructive Creations.

That’s because this game essentially throws out any semblance of a plot and casts you as an angry psychopath whose goal is to kill as many people as possible before the authorities take you down.

That’s right: your only goal is to kill lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of people.

Cue predictable outrage!

There is no doubt the game is ultra-violent and fully deserving of the AO (adults only) rating the ESRB has given it.  More debatable is whether it deserved to be banned from Steam (it has since been reinstated) and whether people who choose to play it should be labelled sick, twisted, psychopathic, or any such term that implies that playing this video game proves you are either at best mentally ill, or at worst, an evil mother*******.

Full disclosure: I am a teacher.  I have three children.  I own a dog, a cat, and a turtle.  I do not have rage issues, nor do I fantasize about walking into a public space and opening fire.  My wife and I are doing our best to raise our children to be polite, respectful, hard-working, compassionate, decent human beings. And I want to play this game, long enough to decide whether it is fun or not.

Yes, the game is horrifying.  The main character is straight-up evil, with no redeeming characteristics whatsoever.  “Hatred” is essentially a killing simulator, giving you a taste of what it feels like to be on a suicide mission.  And yes, I question why a sane human being would put hours of time and effort into creating this game.

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However, I fail to see how this is vastly different from a movie about a mass murderer (“Rampage”) or a serial killer (“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” just for starters).  One of the best shows on TV right now is “Hannibal,” and lord knows there is some effed-up stuff going down in that series.   And don’t even get me started on people who play Grand Theft Auto, any of the Call of Duty games, any of the Assassin’s Creed games, any of the Hitman games, etc., calling this too violent.  I mean, are you kidding me?   Do you know how many people I have killed playing video games in my lifetime – we’re just now getting angry about it?

I hear the argument, “But you’re not killing civilians in those games; you’re killing bad guys!”  Or, in the case of Grand Theft Auto, “But you don’t HAVE to kill civilians – that is not a required part of the game.”  Come on – everyone who has ever played GTA has taken immense delight in running down innocent civilians, and the fact that you were not REQUIRED to do so doesn’t change the fact that you are willingly engaging in the slaughter of innocent characters.

This game might wind up being a total bore – sure looks like it is repetitive as hell – and it certainly qualifies as being in bad taste.  But horror is all about allowing us to face our fears head-on, and to experience some of the darker things in life that we are all naturally curious about.  Granted, video games take the horror genre one step further by allowing you to become an active participant in the story – but if firing up your PC and assuming the role of a nut job on a killing spree doesn’t interest you, fine – playing The Sims never interested me, so I just never played it.   Ignore the game, don’t give the developers any money, and move on with your lives.

We can debate whether making a game like “Hatred” qualifies as artistic expression, but some of the most popular films and literature in humanity’s history have contained obscene amounts of violence.  Art and video games do not make us violent – humans are violent creatures, and have been forever and always.  Personally, I hope that playing this game makes people a little queasy and gives people a bit more appreciation of life – but even if it doesn’t, playing “Hatred” doesn’t make you a ticking time bomb waiting to open fire in a crowded room.

Check out the trailer for “Hatred” and let me hear your thoughts on what is surely one of the most violent video games ever made!