Violent video games have been a mainstay of the medium for decades. It is one of the largest complaints parents have against video games, as well as the scapegoat used by a majority some to blame for school shootings such as Columbine and Sandy Hook.
Last week, Destructive Games, an independent developer from Poland, released a trailer for its game Hatred.
The game is not for the weak of heart or stomach, as the game revolves solely around a mass murderer fed up with humanity.
“My name is not important, but what I am about to do is,” the character says in the opening of the trailer. The viewer is then flooded with brutal images of the long-haired, black-metal looking character slaughtering civilians as they beg for their lives.
The game developer”s has stated that the game is meant to go against the norm in gaming.
In an interview with gaming site Polygon, Destructive Games Creative Director Jaroslaw Zielinski said that the “game doesn”t pretend to be anything else than what it is and we don”t add to it any fake philosophy.”
The core gameplay of the game is violence, much like Doom or Wolfenstein before it – both of which received their fair share of criticism.
The fact of the matter is that some games are simply disgusting, but at the same time they are intriguing and entertaining. Slasher films and zombie movies are the same. They aren”t made for the child audience, just as games like Hatred aren”t.
They are meant to be cathartic, not a scenario simulation or training.
The uproar is to be expected, just as there is always an uproar with the release of a new Grand Theft Auto game. The difference is that Hatred doesn”t add missions or stories to dampen the violence, it throws it in your face.
But, just as with films, there are those who say the game shouldn”t have been made in the first place. And the answer to those concerns is simple: don”t play the game, just as you wouldn”t watch any of the horror films involving torture such as Saw or Hostel because you don”t want to see it.
Additionally, just as with films or music, there are countless alternatives for those who don”t want to play a game such as Hatred. So if you don”t like it, don”t play it. I, for one, will be giving it a shot, if only to see what all the fuss is about. For all we know, the worst parts of the game were included in the trailer, leaving hours of mundane gameplay to battle through.
The creation of games like Hatred is part of the joy of independent development, it allows experimentation. Granted many of those experiments will fail, but they will lead to a greater understanding throughout the medium and the culture surrounding it – and in order to attain a fully comprehensive perspective of where the medium stands and where it will go, all facets of the field must be experimented with.
But it is best to simply remember: it is only a game. A violent game, granted, but only a game.
