The horror junkies who traveled to Texas this year for the annual genre event called Fantastic Fest were treated to something unexpected: commercials before every screening for a video game. Of course, this was no mere puzzle game: It was the launch of something aimed directly at people willing to spend fest prices on world premieres of indie horror flicks. Pinhead was about to return in Saber Interactive’s “Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival.”
The preview, with its full-frontal nudity, S&M imagery, and extreme violence, made it clear this wasn’t a family-friendly resurrection of the Cenobites. And yet the consensus at FF was a bit poisoned by the long history of awful video games based on film IPs. It probably wouldn’t be any good. Believe it or not, it’s pretty fun, and a reminder of what made Barker’s universe popular enough to return 40 years later.
One element that likely enhanced the production of “Revival” from the start was the involvement of the author of Books of Blood, collaborating on a script rich with storytelling detail that even some sequels to Barker’s 1987 horror masterpiece couldn’t match. It’s hard to convey to people who weren’t there how much of a shock to the genre system Barker’s 40-year-old film was when it hit theaters. A Faustian study in sex and violence, Barker tapped into something primal, unafraid of the kind of for-adults-only imagery and themes that usually terrified studios. It’s rich with atmosphere and actual tension, a film that feels almost dangerous in its willingness to go anywhere.
“Hellraiser” was such a hit that it spawned nine sequels and a reboot, and almost none of it was worth watching. It feels like only a matter of time before a TV version finally gets off the ground, given the success of “It: Welcome to Derry” and “Crystal Lake.”
The creators of that inevitable TV series would be wise to play “Revival,” an experience that understands “Hellraiser”’s roots in a way so many mediocre sequels and forgettable reboots failed to. This intense game follows a survival-horror template that feels heavily inspired by “Resident Evil,” with a blend of stealth, ammo rationing, puzzle-solving, and even inventory management.
A “Resident Evil” game with Cenobites? It’s an occasionally remarkable experience that overcomes a few shoddy, repetitive mechanics to work when it needs to. It’s a game that’s consistently harrowing and very much “for adults only” with its blend of extreme violence, references to sexual bondage, and nightmare fuel creatures who want to rip you apart before you die. This game very much wants to tear your soul apart.
You play Aidan Lynch (Xalavier Nelson Jr.) in first-person. Eschewing much of a set-up at all, you’re dropped into a nightmare landscape known as the Scarlet Church after sadomasochistic sex with your girlfriend Sunny that involves the legendary “Hellraiser” puzzle box, aka the Genesis Configuration. Sunny ends up literally ripped apart by Cenobites, the monsters that are worshipped by the Scarlet Church, which means you first have to evade and kill cultists who bow to the very creatures that killed the love of your life. The cultists are led by a monster named Marlowe, who wants the Genesis Configuration to turn his people into Cenobites themselves.
This means you have to sneak around both cult members and creatures from the other side, using stealth and limited weapons to survive. The latter includes melee weapons that degrade with use, while firepower includes shotguns, SMGs, and more open as the game progresses. One of the title’s most engaging mechanics is using the infamous box as a weapon: you can grab environmental objects and hurl them at your enemies. Snatching a saw blade from one bad guy and hurling it at another? Pretty badass. Aidan eventually upgrades to the point where he can use the box as a fire hurler, grabbing flames from torches and other sources and setting monsters aflame.
“Hellraiser: Revival” also leans heavily on puzzle-solving in the “real-world” segments, but even more so in stretches where you find yourself in the Labyrinth, often chased by a Cenobite as you navigate the trap-filled maze to escape to a reality that’s not much safer. These stretches are remarkably thrilling, adding pace to traditional puzzle-solving and stealth gameplay that’s often lacking. They can also get a bit repetitive, as can the game overall, but they show developers taking risks by varying the structure through experiences that balance stealth, combat, and pure terror.
There’s also something admirable about how remarkably adult “Revival” is, coming off more intense in terms of sex and violence than any of the movies (and, arguably, a bit too much, if there is such a thing in Barker’s world). It feels both of a piece with the films—even Doug Bradley returns to voice Pinhead—and more ambitious than any of them since “Hellbound: Hellraiser II.” Horror franchises struggle when they try to repeat what made the sequels exist in the first place, but “Revival” understands the first two movies better than any follow-up, embracing a chaos the sequels often portrayed only superficially. This is an incredibly dark game, one that’s both extreme in its violence and adult in its sense of humor—for example, one mission requires you to find S&M devices like paddles and dildos to proceed. This is not your mom’s RPG.
There are places in which “Revival” could have used another round of developer notes. The physics are often clunky, whether it’s inconsistent aiming or glitchy melee physics. The resource allocation is downright bizarre; sometimes I’m loaded with ammo, and other times a boss battle feels almost impossible. One puzzle-solving technique involves using the box to move platforms, but the puzzles are poorly designed and executed. Some of these could be dealbreakers, but horror fans will forgive what “Revival” gets right instead of focusing on how it could have been better. It’s also worth noting that the game’s launch version was pretty glitchy, but it either ran smoother as I got further or was patched into a better existence.
Horror fans are a remarkably forgiving lot. Many of my friends from Fantastic Fest have already played and loved “Revival,” and anyone who has read Barker or gotten a thrill out of this universe should join this Hellfire Club. It’s not a perfect trip to Hell, but it’s a memorable one. (75/100)
The publisher provided a PS5 review copy of this title. It is also now available on Xbox, Switch 2, and PC.
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