Clive Barker has always been one of my favourite authors. From his superb short stories collected in The Books of Blood to longer tales such as Cabal (filmed as Nightbreed) and The Hellbound Heart, which would be the basis for the Hellraiser movie and franchise. Barker is also no stranger to the world of video games, having been heavily involved in the underrated supernatural FPS, The Undying, and the interesting but flawed Jericho. While Barker is not credited as the main author (that being Antony de Fault), Hellraiser: Revival was written in collaboration with Barker to ensure that it remained faithful to the series. And faithful it is.
I came to Hellraider: Revival as a long-time fan of the franchise and so was excited, if somewhat anxious about what would be delivered. Anyone who has watched any of the Hellraiser films after the first trilogy will know how far the franchise fell, but with Barker’s involvement, the result is a Hellraiser game that fits alongside both the original novella, films, and the very good 2022 reboot movie to offer a story that takes in all of the imagery and ideas of the world of the Cenobites whilst also being an enjoyable and visceral first-person experience.
I think the main narrative and the many small nods to the wider canon worked well with my prior knowledge but everything felt self-contained enough that it would be understandable for newcomers too. I actually hope that the game serves (appropriately) as a gateway for a new wave of horror fans to discover Barker’s writing.
First up it’s important to stress that this isn’t a game for anybody who may find excessive violence, gore, sexual themes, and suicidal themes difficult. All of these are central to the story being told (albeit taken to gratuitous extremes in the former examples) but Saber’s take on Hellraiser does not pull any punches. I knew what to expect going in, but was still taken aback at several points at just how far this version of the savage delights went. For me this became a strong positive, but this really is a game that won’t be for everyone.
You play as Aiden Lynch, an ex biker gang member who has left his previous violent lifestyle in order to pursue a passionate relationship with gallery curator, Sunny. Their passion takes the form of BDSM and drug use, a path which coincides with Sunny’s discovery of the Genesis Configuration, a puzzle box that offers the thrills of untold pleasures. Upon opening this box during a particularly frenetic evening together, the Cenobites are unleashed and offer Sunny the eternal ecstasies that she has been seeking. What follows is Aidan’s attempts to battle a sinister cult and rescue Sunny from the infernal labyrinth in which she has been taken. With twists and turns along the way, the story moves past a simple ‘rescue the damsel’ narrative to take in challenging and emotional discussions of addiction, pain, and the nature of desire.
You also get to shoot stuff and beat cultists to death with blunt instruments.
The first-person perspective works well for this story as it pushes you right into the bizarre and gory world of the game. There are a number of moments where the punishment inflicted on Aiden feels more immersive because of this perspective, but story cutscenes take a wider view and feel suitably cinematic – and mostly impossible to show on YouTube as streamers found with the demo.
Revival looks good, with the various earthly locations feeling distinct and architecturally coherent, whilst trips to the Labyrinth are as disorientating and terrifying as you might hope. The voice acting is solid, too, with Doug Bradley returning to voice the Hell Priest (popularly known as Pinhead) and Xalavier Nelson Jr. providing a real sense of humanity to Aiden’s plight. Audio design accompanying is incredible, especially in the Labyrinth sections, but also throughout the various dungeons, external locations, and the main sex club in which the cultists are based. The Deluxe version I received for review contains the Soundtrack and a Novella version of the story and I anticipate listening to the music a lot in the coming months.
Given the helplessness of many of the characters in Hellraiser stories (the Cenobites themselves being unstoppable representations of the blurred line between pleasure and pain) I was expecting gameplay in keeping with the likes of Outlast but Aiden is no shrinking violet and gets his hands very, very dirty during his quest to rescue Sunny. The very beginning of the game sees you sneaking through a dungeon in the nude and avoiding confrontations before a cutscene provides you with your first weapon and introduces combat. Quite where Aiden is stashing coins and crafting resources while unclothed is not something to really dwell on. Sneaking is still useful, however, as there are a number of scenes with instant death mechanics, as well as being able to pick off regular foes with stealth attacks.
You’ll use a range of melee weapons to beat back the cultists, with both bladed and blunt weapons being useful against normal and armoured enemies respectively. Weapons are fragile, though, and break easily, so you’ll need to scavenge others from dead bodies and the environment in larger battles. You also gain access to a suitably wide range of guns, with the usual suspects of handguns, shotgun, and rifle. I found the shotgun to be somewhat underwhelming apart from doing damage to stunned bosses, but every weapon has distinct use cases.
With a gun in one hand, the Genesis Configuration can be held in the other, becoming an important part of Aiden’s arsenal. It lends you finishing moves, a la Doom 2016, the ability to draw in fire and expel the flames, and more.
As you explore the sordid world of Revival you’ll come across a number of puzzles ranging from simple object interactions to keypads requiring environmental clues to solve. These are all solidly designed but not particularly groundbreaking and fit the survival horror framing well. Maze sections are incredibly tense as you’ll find yourself chased by the sinister Chatterer, and you even have some magic puzzles, for which you use the Genesis Configuration to manipulate parts of the Labyrinth to make progress.
