I hated Abby, because the scene in which she kills Joel, deliberately portrays her as a villain.
No,
you're the one casting her as the villain in that scene.
From her perspective, Joel is the villain. He's a hunter and smuggler, who murdered her Doctor father, and most of her friends and people she cared about, and doomed all of of humanity to the Zombie apocalypse.
It doesnt get much more villainous than that.
And this is the exact point the reviews above were trying to make. You hated Abby because (to you) she was the villain. She killed someone you cared about (Joel).
The irony is she only killed Joel, because he killed someone
she cared about (a lot of people she cared about) and doomed humanity to hell on earth.
So tell me again; who is the villain?
Also, her friends were eager to kill Ellie,
No, they were not. A few wanted to (the dude Ellie cuts on the face, and the Latin American dude) but the Doctor (who Ellie later tortures and murders) and Abbys boyfriend Owen both opposed killing her, with Owen actually stopping the former two from killing her.
Abby herself was not eager to kill Ellie (or Tommy) either and ordered the others to let them both go.
After the game has shown the player that both Abby and her friends are villains, the game goes to great lengths to try and make them look sympathetic, but never quite succeeds.
No, you're missing the point!
Abby and her friends were always sympathetic!
Imagine playing a game where you start as Abby, with your loving goodly Zebra hugging father, and you're seeking to end the zombie apocalypse and save humanity. Then, suddenly, your father (and most of your friends) are brutally murdered by a hunter and smuggler, thwarting that goal and dooming all of humanity in the process.
Years later, you finally track the man down, and kill him (like in the game), but spare his brother and a young girl.
You then return home, and those two people come after you (even though you spared them) and
brutally torture and murder your friends one by one.
Your problem is you're missing the point the game is making.
There are no heroes or villains. There is just violence begetting more violence.
This is not entirely true. There are several deaths in the game that are unrelated to Abby's revenge quest, but are the direct result of Lev's actions, such as him deciding to go off on his own, despite being warned not to do so.
None of which would have happened if Joel hadnt have murdered Abbys dad, dooming Lev and the rest of humanity to the Zombie Apocalypse. The Wolves wouldnt even
exist (they'd still be the Fireflies!) and Abby and her friends would never have joined them!