Leaving the controversy at the door, Hatred is a solid 90's isometric action game, with 80's horror cheese, and cringe inducing parodying of what is considered edgy.

Hatred is a very playable game for fans of adrenaline and bloody thrills, although the content of the game is a bit controversial. The game could be longer, more diverse and better optimized (Unreal Engine 4 is hungry for power). And given the overall quality Hatred did not deserve all the media buzz surrounding its development and most likely it won't be remembered in a few years' time.

For all of the shock and hullaballoo following its path toward release, Hatred is nothing special or particularly egregious in the world of video game violence, except for the fact that it relies on that violence alone. The game takes itself extremely seriously and has plenty of extremely violent content and murder, but it ends up feeling more like camp.

Hatred delivers some fleeting sadistic satisfaction and a gorgeous art style, but quickly becomes a tedious chore. After all the controversy, it's disappointing that the finished product is mechanically flawed and otherwise completely forgettable.

It is without a point. It fires its Uzi rounds aimlessly and manages to hit nothing. It’s not bad, it’s not horrific, it’s not reprehensible and it’s not memorable either.

I have to kill everbody. It works, but it's a primitive piece of garbage. It's so bad, it's almost funny.

Hatred, as a piece of transgressive art, is a failure. It's dull, its violence crass and unconvincing, and its understanding of humanity shallow at best. But it's worth looking at, if only to understand why, and if only to interrogate what, if anything, could be gained from peering closely at something so horrible.