Hellraiser Revival Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, & PC)

So, two things. Either you’re an absolute fan of Hellraiser. None of its creepy, body horror fazes you. Tell me you live for the gore and the unsettling feeling the franchise drills through your skull. Clive Barker’s Hellraiser is probably one of the most unnerving films and books you’ll read. Pleasure and pain, at their extremes. Visualized in full glory. Themes of self-mutilation, simply all of the ways to make you uncomfortable. Your guts spewing in bile or whatever makes you want to throw up. That kind of thing. Either you love the heck out of it. Or, let’s say my description so far has you intrigued. 

Because otherwise, you might not fully appreciate what Hellraiser Revival is. And notice I say “fully appreciate,” because I think either way, you’re going to still revel in the craftsmanship here. The level of detail and dedication to the theme. The dark fantasy. The body horror. It’s all been starkly brought to life on your big screen. So, no. You don’t have to be a fan to enjoy this game. However, it helps to be a fan. And if you haven’t watched Hellraiser, then it helps to have an interest in similar games. Resident Evil. BioShock. P.T. 

Although I reckon that you will still find Saber Interactive’s new passion project in its own league of horror. Of disturbing themes, images, and experiences, curated for the simple pleasure of making you squirm. Here’s what you can expect, as thoroughly explored in my review of Hellraiser Revival.

Setting the Scene

The stars of the show are Aidan Lynch and his girlfriend. I’m trying not to fault them for not being the most exciting couple to want to get to know. They’re your ordinary lovers, doing what ordinary lovers do, if you know what I mean. And if you don’t, Hellraiser Revival doesn’t hesitate to show you. Leaves nothing to the imagination is all I’ll say. And perhaps a reason for restricting this one to grown-up folks. Anyway, they’re fooling around with each other and with the Genesis Configuration. So, now we’re getting warmer. A tool similar to the classic puzzle box in Hellraiser that you don’t want to be messing with. 

It all happens so fast. Aidan’s girlfriend is the one to pay the price. But you have the chance to rescue her from the labyrinth she’s ground into. Yup, as in meat-grinded… Hellraiser Revival is disturbing. It’s incredibly vivid, painting images and experiences you might not want to see. And yet, you find yourself super intrigued. You can’t help wanting to experience more of it. More of the body horror. More of the blood and the spilled guts. I suppose it’s the theme that Hellraiser is built upon. The pleasure and pain concept that you end up actually loving the heck of it.

A Different Kind of Enemy

If you’re going to break the rules, if you’re going to push boundaries, at least go all the way. Don’t stop at the brink of the extreme. Push beyond it. I think that’s what I love about Hellraiser Revival. It knows the franchise it needs to live up to, and it doesn’t hold back from delivering the exact level of horror and fright that fans expect. And in video gaming format, it’s an absolute thrill to experience the familiar depictions of visceral tone. It’s a grotesque experience, perfectly so. It shows you extreme pain and how that might look like, how BDSM might feel like, and I absolutely loved every bit of it.

Mind you, it isn’t just the environments and settings that are faithful to the franchise. It’s the themes and characters, too. Trauma. Addiction. The return of fan-favorite Pinhead, who’s still voiced by Doug Bradley. Yay. This is the Hellraiser from the ‘80s. Except gamified. And that part’s hella exciting, too. I think the story isn’t perfect, although it definitely has its moments. The duality of pleasure and pain is already an interesting arc in itself. And I must say, Pinhead and the cult as the instruments to bring that home tease my senses in exciting ways. These aren’t your usual villains. They believe in their practices, and no matter your attempts at rescuing your lover, you have to make peace with the fact that you’re dealing with a different kind of enemy. One who’s indifferent to your pleas. One who genuinely believes they are doing what’s good for you.

Damn You, Chatterer

But let’s get to the actual gameplay. That, too, has its moments. Perhaps some of the best moments you’ll experience during your run-through. You have the puzzle-exploration side of it, and the combat. For the puzzles, I wouldn’t say that they’re out-of-this-world ingenious ideas that will blow your mind. But seeing as you solve them in a setting as unnerving as Hellraiser Revival’s labyrinth, it does elevate the tension by a staggering mile. You don’t have all the time in the world to stand idly by and solve puzzles. You have chase sequences that intentionally give you the run around a complex web of tight corridors and shifting environments. 

I particularly hated (translate to loved the heck out of) the sequences with the Chatterer. This gruesome being is unkillable. He seems to anticipate your every move. Just relentless pursuit of you, like he has no other mission in mind. A single-minded being you cannot fight. Instead, you crawl around obstacle-heavy, twisting paths and corridors. And if he catches you, the execution is instant and brutal. There are certainly more moments like these of helplessness, where you’re better off using stealth. Although the mechanics aren’t anything groundbreaking, they are serviceable enough. Throwing objects to cause distractions. Crawling around in the shadows. Still, executing one enemy seems to then alert more, and ultimately defeat the purpose of sneaking around in the first place.

Get Cracking

Fortunately, combat is mad fun. I suppose because of the gore and brutality of it all. Piercing skulls and ripping them apart with a blunt weapon. Wedging your daggers into the chest cavities of creepy Cenobites. Blood splattering. Heads exploding. I love the visual feedback of my efforts, even though they are standard melee and ranged attacks. But the enemies keep coming at you. Their aim is relatively decent, though they could definitely be wiser. Still, it’s a madfest killing Cenobites with whatever weapon you can get your hands on. This isn’t the game to spend hours optimizing your loadout because blunt weapons will break down anyway. Daggers are practically useless. And your ammo will run out so fast, you’ll be forced to adapt.

In fact, this is the survival horror aspect of Hellraiser Revival that elevates your gaming sessions to “entertaining” and “totally worth it.” When you engage both your mind and reflexes, I think that’s one of the things that makes a game satisfying. Shotguns are reliable. And their range is pretty decent. However, you can experiment with the assault rifle, even though you get it a little later. Remember the puzzle box that started all of this madness in the first place? Well, it’s more than a narrative tool. You use it during exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat. I particularly enjoyed its use cases in combat, serving as your sort-of magical secondary weapon. It can unleash fire that can seriously damage multiple enemies and even bosses. 

Verdict

So, you have a story that has some pretty heavy topics of pleasure and pain. Themes that are immediately compelling and that have been developed across the Hellraiser franchise. The setting is undeniably Hellraiser, too. With most games trying to keep it PG, I think it’s incredible that Saber Interactive chose to remain faithful to the franchise. They chose to explore body horror, gore, and psychological trauma to the extremes that the franchise deserves. And I think they have done a fantastic job at honoring the franchise. They have created an experience that looks and feels awkward, distressing, and absolutely fantastic for it. 

Naturally, Hellraiser Revival won’t be for everyone. But assessing it purely from a skill and competency standpoint, factoring in the disturbing narrative, settings, and grotesque designs, I think Saber Interactive has nailed yet another, admittedly, niche product. They have created a survival horror experience as resource-scarce as Resident Evil. You scramble around the Labyrinth, dodging danger every which way. There are moments of peak tension that stand out more than others. Some combat encounters are routine. But most of the time, you’re genuinely having a good time.