The occasional reader of this blog will undoubtedly understand that we here at BroCast love us some gosh darn video games.  We’ve name-dropped Bioshock ad nauseum, written reviews on Swashbuckling Pirate Assassins, and challenged friends to play Octodad while drunk.  [Also, Paul totally wrote something yesterday about Borderlands]

Any excuse to use this gif.

Earlier today I caught this article on Kotaku written by Nick Grayson for a game called Hatred.  I had never heard of the title before.

The trailer is embedded on the Kotaku page, but I’ll embed it here for you just because:

…This isn’t a game that looks like any fun to me.

After having done about 100-something episodes of BroCast News I can assure you that we’ve reported (and also chosen not to report) on some of the terrible things that people have done.  This game capitalizes (and glorifies) it.

Of course, I’d started writing this article a week ago, but at the time of revising, this is still fresh in the minds of the people of Ottawa – where yet another crazy moron decided to take a gun into a government building.

You know, like how Hatred features a trenchcoated vigilante who attacks a government building…

Oh hey — is that the NYPD?

Fuck you, game.

I’m not having this discussion about video games vs real life, and the way the game dares to be different.  Knee-jerk reaction is exactly what I wrote above, and I believe that when it comes to games and presentation context is everything.

(Ben Gilbert’s article makes for a great read about Hatred‘s trailer that can actually be discussed.  I know you won’t read it, but I told you so.)

I submit to you Three Very Qualified Enemy Types where it is completely justified to kick all the ass.

1)  Nazi’s

My most recent gaming adventure took me into the role of BJ Blazkowicz, (yeah, that’s not fun to spell at all) a soldier who fails a crucial mission.

As a result the Nazis go on to win World War II…

I know it’s France, but still, nope.

…so naturally since the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, you wake up in the 1960’s the game gives you all the guns, takes you off the leash and says “fetch.”

And fetch you do.

Because, Nazis.

Really, there’s never a bad excuse for badass-asskicking when it comes to Nazis.  Do you need convincing?

2)  Monsters

The scope for what it means to be a monster can vary–blobs, super soldiers, aliens–but it does not take a lot until the claws, talons, and disfigurements come–at the end of the day these things are still classified as monsters.

And usually it’s kill or be killed.

Nope nope nope.

Or stalked.

OR FACE-EATEN.

I don’t know many friendly-monster/alien video games, but I seem to recall the last one was buried in a landfill.

When you must choose between them and you, you should never feel bad about putting off a monster’s supper indefinitely.

3) Robots

Robots have one objective:  Pursue X.  You are X, and they are relentless in their pursuit.

They don’t tire.

They don’t feel pain.

But may breakdance.

They can also be creepy-as-fuck.

Because anything that breaches the uncanny valley and tries to be more like you, whilst trying to kill you, put on your skin and replace you, should be considered a threat.  You needn’t feel remorse for crushing an android’s dream of going as You for Halloween.

All three of those enemy types are completely fair in-game, but–again–the context is crucial, (and it the plot is relevant, then so much the better).

Do we really need games like Hatred that explore murder as the objective instead of the means to reach the objective?

(Play Goat Simulator instead)

Instead, can’t we just lay the smackdown on all the Nazi’s, Monsters, and Robots?

Game on.