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Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival was announced last year by Saber Interactive, and the developers hoped to push the boundaries of horror gaming. I think they did a fairly good job of achieving that. The game barely takes any time to show you just how disgusting things can get and how uncomfortable it can make you feel throughout your playthrough.
While most horror games usually start slowly before gradually becoming more eerie, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival takes a completely different approach. It opens with an intimate scene involving erotic fetishism that quickly goes horribly wrong, barely giving you any time to process what the hell just happened.
I spent quite a few hours with the game, partly because of its beautiful visuals and the environmental puzzles it had to offer. While there were things I absolutely loved, I also found a few areas where I believe the experience could have been considerably better. Let’s start with what Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival gets right.
A Faithful Hellraiser Experience With a Disturbing Story
I believe one thing Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival does extremely well is offer the disturbing Hellraiser experience one would expect from the franchise. The story may sound relatively simple, with the main character, Aidan, trying to save his lover Sunny from Pinhead and the Cenobites after they accidentally activate a mysterious puzzle box called the Genesis Configuration, which takes Sunny to their dimension.
However, the story is much deeper and darker than that. As Aidan enters the Labyrinth to save Sunny, he finds himself in a place filled with disturbing architecture, torture chambers and supernatural horrors. It has everything that will make you uncomfortable. The place is full of Cenobites who see pain as a form of pleasure and barely understand ordinary human emotions.
And of course, there’s their leader, Pinhead, who initially comes across as calm, intimidating and someone who speaks in a very controlled manner. One of the many great things about Pinhead is that he’s nothing like a traditional, mindless villain. Instead, he believes that pain and pleasure are closely connected.
Although I liked the story and how faithful it was to the franchise, it felt a bit rushed at times. There were also several moments where the bond between Sunny and Aidan didn’t feel particularly convincing, which was quite a turn-off. I also believe that the protagonist plays a major role in making a game memorable, but Aidan didn’t come across as particularly compelling. His personality felt rather uninteresting, which was another major disappointment for me.
An Unsettling Atmosphere That Doesn’t Always Deliver on Horror
Honestly, I have mixed opinions when it comes to the atmosphere of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival. It does have disturbing visuals that are actually going to stay in your mind for a while and often remind you of the Hellraiser identity. The twisted architecture of the Labyrinth and its unsettling locations are particularly impressive.
I love how the developers designed the Cenobites in the game, as they are genuinely going to scare you because of their insanely disturbing animations. The gore in the game will make you very uncomfortable at first, but I believe the game goes a bit too far with it and overrelies on gore, which eventually reduces its impact as you progress through the title.
Another thing I found pretty boring is the predictable horror, as the game doesn’t offer many memorable scare sequences, and most encounters become easy to anticipate once you’ve faced them a few times. Though I understand that the developers wanted to build tension through gore and an unsettling atmosphere, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival does lack genuine scares, which I believe could have played a huge part, especially given the horrifying designs of the Cenobites.
Combat and Survival Mechanics Feel Inconsistent
Honestly, this is where the game truly disappoints me, as it offers very repetitive enemy encounters. Most of the time, you have to sneak up on enemies and take them down like you’re playing an Assassin’s Creed game. While it was fun at first, it quickly became predictable and far too easy to take down enemies.
However, the Genesis Configuration and its supernatural abilities made the experience much more enjoyable. It could be used to manipulate enemies during encounters, help you solve puzzles and provide a combat advantage, as Aidan gets to use supernatural abilities alongside weapons to take down his enemies.
Although some encounters were fun, most combat sequences felt unnecessarily dragged out. Aidan was also given limited healing supplies, making boss fights much more frustrating to deal with. This was easily the weakest part of the game, and I believe the developers could have done much more to make combat engaging instead of relying so heavily on the game’s disturbing imagery to carry the experience.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of the Hellraiser franchise who loves experiencing disturbing imagery and unsettling environments, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is a great option for you. However, if you’re someone who wants a horror game that genuinely scares you and offers plenty of jumpscares, this might not be the right choice.
Overall, I believe Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is a great title that stays faithful to the franchise and offers a disturbing story that can leave an emotional impact. Despite its shortcomings, it delivers an experience that you won’t forget anytime soon after putting down the controller.
(6.5 / 10)
Above Average
(6.5 / 10)A PC review copy was provided by the publisher.
