PaterAlf: Yes, played it (got it from Desura back then, because I was curious after the controversy) and didn't complete it because I got bored very fast. And the fact that there are many worse games out there (agree about Hello Neighbor) doesn't make this a good one.
But say yourself: Don't you give it way too much praise? In your first post you talk about various bad design decisions. And yet it is one of the best games of the last half-decade? But only when you complete it? Because the glory only shows at the very end? I believe that you really like that game (and maybe it even is great with the FPS mod), but that objectively that can't make it one of the best indie game in five years.
But we are getting very off-topic. Maybe we should agree to disagree (tastes are different) or continue the discussion somewhere else.
Ahh, yes, the good old Desura build! I'll have to dig it up one of these days and check if the mods are compatible with it (the Steam version is not DRM-free I'm afraid).
My initial impressions were VERY similar to yours. We both got suckered into buying it, played it for 10-30 minutes, figured that we had already seen all the juicy stuff in the trailers, that initial impression was backed by the general consensous and we tossed it aside. Which is why most people write it off as having only the controversy to go for it. Which I'm afraid is far from the truth, because there is soo much more effort that clearly went into this game.
Take the attached screenshot for example. Can you name any games (include AAA titles if you want) that have environments where you can do that kind of damage while still having this level of graphical fidelity? Because I can't think of any, to be honest. Did you know that if you throw molotovs, the fire will spread Far Cry 2 style and eventually engulf an entire house?
The only real mistake Hatred made is not making it an FPS (or even adding an FP mode) in the first place, so you'll miss out on all that. Other than that, it doesn't have that many flaws, to be honest. The crosshair is easily fixed in the main menu.
Let's put it in more "objective" terms. Hatred currently has a 43 rating on metacritic. "Objectively", I'd say the base game should get a score in the higher 60s-lower 70s. With the FPS mod installed, the rating would hover around the 85 mark, with the added caveat that it I had more fun with it than most other recent games in memory, and that I stand 100% behind (I'm really not saying it lightly when I say that it's one of the most fun indie titles I played in recent years).
I think we can meet somewhere in the middle and say that, if people were to put the controversy from years ago aside and give the game a fair chance, they'll actually find a surprisingly well-made game, which has its flaws, but which doesn't nearly deserve the level of hatred (ha!) it got upon release.
PaterAlf: And yet it is one of the best games of the last half-decade? But only when you complete it? Because the glory only shows at the very end?
This part kinda mixes up two different points: I'm saying it gets more challenging (and therefore more satisfying than just "kill everyone in gratuitously brutal ways") as the game progresses. At the very end is when I said the mask finally slips and you realise that the whole thing was basically a parody of itself.
PaterAlf: But we are getting very off-topic. Maybe we should agree to disagree (tastes are different) or continue the discussion somewhere else.
Yeah, I spoke my mind anyway: gog, releez Heatread pls!