‘Hellraiser: Revival’ is bloody, grotesque, sexy, and a new gold standard for IP horror games. Pain and pleasure, all in one.
Hellraiser is having something of a revival. Get it? Anyways. I had the pleasure of taking a first look at the new release, Hellraiser: Revival. And let me tell you. Not bad. Not bad at all. But if you are averse to sex or blood, stay away. This is a Resident Evil-esque survival horror game absolutely packed with gnarly body gore and bloodshed. And when I say packed, I mean packed. It is Hellraiser, after all.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is typical first-person survival horror. Melee combat, firearms, though the addition of the Genesis Configuration gives you a few supernatural options. And puzzles. Sweet, sweet survival horror puzzles. Puzzles include finding combinations for locked cabinets, picking locks, adjusting the Genesis Configuration to fit specific slots, finding items, and opening locked doors. Nothing here is particularly revolutionary, but it’s streamlined and still manages to scratch that erstwhile survival horror itch.
The combat itself isn’t bad. Not the best, for sure, but it remains serviceable throughout. Enemies have a frustratingly large health pool (either that or I wasn’t doing much damage with my particular kit). Melee weapons break easily, sometimes before killing even a single enemy, but it still felt satisfying enough. The rest of the game is otherwise standard survival horror fare. Navigating the cult compound and eventually snaking your way through the Labyrinth. These Labyrinth sections regularly included infuriating chase segments. Chatterer, for instance, chases you through segments of the Labyrinth, teleporting in front of and all around you as you run for your life. It sounds great in theory.
However, there is one major problem here. These segments regularly involve using the Genesis Configuration to interact with the environment. Except it is slow. Infuriatingly slow. So slow that Chatterer regularly caught me. Snapping my neck, ripping my arms off, biting my throat out. It looks gnarly, sure, but it stymies progress. I died to him in those Labyrinth chase scenes more than anywhere else in the game. Some of that was my fault, for sure. Skill issue. But most of it was me knowing what to do and simply not being able to interact with the environment quickly enough to pull it off.
There are boss fights, too, though they are few and far between. Each has unique mechanics that shift up the combat just enough to make these fights novel and interesting, and I wish there’d been more of them. In part because there are only a handful of enemy types, and for as grotesque as they are, they did get a little repetitive after a while. But what can you expect from a Hellraiser game? This isn’t a universe chock full of numerous monster varieties, though a few new mutations have been created specifically for this game. The Unworthy, for instance, are new to the franchise, but they fit comfortably into the broader Hellraiser universe. They’re disgusting, strange, and just familiar enough to feel like they belong. I would much rather have that than being compelled to fight Frank, Julia, or Pinhead over and over again.
STORY
It’s Hellraiser. It’s sex and blood and BDSM and drugs and hedonism. That’s it. That’s the basis of the story.
The game opens with our protagonist, Aiden, and his partner, Sunny, having some pretty rough sex. I mean rough. Needle-play rough. Aiden grabs the Genesis Configuration and starts cutting Sunny with it. This, of course, catches the attention of the Cenobites. Sunny is ensnared by Pinhead’s signature chains and is torn apart. In true Hellraiser fashion, death isn’t necessarily the end. A bloody mattress provides a means of reviving Sunny. So Aiden makes his way through the compound of a cult, the Scarlet Church, that worships the Cenobites, gathering the hearts of those marked by the Genesis Configuration, in order to feed them to Sunny.
Pretty gruesome. Especially because, spoiler, she sucks. Aiden isn’t exactly a flawless protagonist, but she’s definitely worse. The story isn’t trying to reinvent Hellraiser, and I don’t think it needs to. The franchise is built around people pursuing the absolute limits of things they probably shouldn’t be pursuing. Pain, pleasure, sex, drugs, mutilation, and the desire to experience something beyond human limits. And then Cenobites show up. And everybody has a bad (or very good, depending on your viewpoint) time. Revival understands that. It doesn’t just take a generic survival horror story and throw Pinhead into it. The cult, the Labyrinth, the Genesis Configuration, the body horror, and the general atmosphere all feel like they belong organically in the established universe.
SOUND
The soundtrack, too, is solid. There were some incredible sound effects. And by incredible, I mean nasty. Plenty of sounds in the game made me physically uncomfortable and recoil, which is exactly what any player would want from Hellraiser. However, there were a few issues. The audio regularly cut out when “banishing” certain enemies with the Genesis Configuration, primarily during bosses or minibosses, though I suspect the developers will patch that out upon release. In keeping with the story, the music and soundscape aren’t exactly revolutionary, but they are refreshingly true to the source material.
VISUALS
Visuals are where the game really shines. Hellraiser without the gore and the sex and the Labyrinth? It would be nothing. So when I tell you that there is plenty of blood, and sex, and spooky gray walls you have to navigate, believe me. The cult compound, complete with sex clubs and torture rooms, is detailed and filled with exactly what you would expect from a group that worships the Cenobites. There are sex toys everywhere. Knives and spikes and whips. Swings and stocks. The Labyrinth is dark, winding, and full of fleshy growths. And the body horror is excellent. There were some genuinely disgusting creature designs indicative of developers not afraid to get freaky with it. Which is good. I don’t want generic monsters for Hellraiser. I want to stop and wonder what the hell happened to that poor bastard.
REPLAYABILITY/VALUE
The game is not a particularly long one. It took me roughly 13 hours to finish, and I tend to take longer than most when playing through a game. What can I say? I like to take my time. That said, the base version of the game is only $39.99 USD, and the deluxe is $49.99 USD. Hellraiser wisely delivers a compact narrative and gameplay experience rather than unnecessarily padding out the length. And, notably, in an era of asymmetrical multiplayer IP horror, it’s worth noting that Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is decidedly a single-player experience. No online. No lobbies. Just you, some weapons, and hordes of nasty Cenobites.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In all, Hellraiser: Revival was pretty great. Seriously. Especially for an IP tie-in game. This is proof that not every horror franchise game needs to be an asymmetrical multiplayer game. A first-person survival horror game is exactly what so many of our favorite franchises need. And Hellraiser is practically made for it. You have the Cenobites. The Labyrinth. The Configuration boxes. The body horror. People making terrible decisions. What more do you need?
Hellraiser: Revival isn’t perfect. The combat could be better. The enemy variety is a little limited. The Labyrinth chase scenes can be infuriating. And some audio bugs need to be cleaned up. But I had a damn good time playing it. And it felt like Hellraiser. That’s the part that matters. It didn’t slap a familiar villain on the cover and call it a day. The game understands the sex and the pain and the grotesque imagery that makes Hellraiser what it is.
It’s bloody. It’s weird. It’s disturbing. It’s occasionally frustrating. And it’s a hell of a lot of fun. If you’re a Hellraiser fan, I think there is a lot you will find to like here. And if you’re a fan of survival horror in general, I think there still is plenty for you here. Maybe just don’t solve the box.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is developed by Saber Interactive. The game is available on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
