From its opening scene of graphic sexual fetishism gone awry, Hellraiser: Revival makes its intentions clear: this is a survival horror adventure not for the squeamish. The game's explicit content, blending extreme violence with visceral depictions of BDSM, creates moments of tension that stem as much from potential onlookers as from its onscreen threats. However, beneath its veneer of gore and shock, Revival struggles to offer substantial gameplay, hampered by heavy-handed storytelling, repetitive chase sequences, and uninspired boss encounters.
The narrative follows Aiden, a wisecracking protagonist with addiction issues, who strikes a deal with Pinhead to resurrect his murdered girlfriend. This involves slaughtering cultists and feeding their hearts to her partially reanimated form, a premise that echoes the first two Hellraiser films. Despite this disturbing foundation, the plot's delivery is often static, relying on lengthy exposition dumps from secondary characters rather than dynamic presentation. Even Pinhead's moments, voiced by the original actor Doug Bradley, fail to fully captivate when surrounded by less engaging narrative segments.
Gameplay Mechanics
The core shooting mechanics in Hellraiser: Revival are competent, if familiar, drawing heavily from the survival horror genre and notably the Resident Evil series. Players wield an assortment of upgradeable pistols, shotguns, and machine guns, supplemented by breakable melee weapons. Ammunition scarcity necessitates strategic use of all available resources, encouraging players to dismember and decapitate the hedonistic hordes that stand in Aiden's path. However, the game suffers from an overzealous aim assist that can target the wrong enemies and an inability for Aiden to vault over obstacles, leading to frustrating moments where essential items are just out of reach.
Enemy variety is also somewhat limited, with players largely facing machete-wielding cultists, ghouls, suicide-bombing beasts, and crawling, legless creatures. Stealth opportunities exist, with distractions like thrown bricks and bottles, and violent stealth kills. However, the lack of a peek-around-corners mechanic, similar to that found in Silent Hill: Townfall, often forces players into direct combat when attempting stealth. This is exacerbated by stalker enemy types who can detect players through bushes even when stationary.
The Genesis Configuration
A standout feature is the Genesis Configuration, a reimagining of the series' puzzle box that grants Aiden telekinetic powers. This allows him to hurl environmental objects at enemies, with usage tied to a 'suffering' bar that is replenished by staggering foes and performing grisly execution moves. These powers are balanced by limitations; the suffering bar prevents players from becoming overpowered, and the short duration for holding objects in stasis prevents the kind of sustained environmental manipulation seen in Dead Space. Later in the game, these abilities expand to include fire manipulation and a devastating super move that chains and dismembers multiple enemies simultaneously, though its late arrival limits its impact.
Boss fights are a significant disappointment. While some, like the Sister of Mercy shrouded in blood mist or a beast trapping the player in a suspended cage, offer unique challenges, many devolve into boring, close-quarters encounters. Repeatedly facing the same bosses, such as a skinless freak and a slug-like cenobite fought a total of four times, diminishes any sense of novelty or engagement.
Puzzles and Environments
Puzzles are generally straightforward, involving tasks like finding bolt cutters or deciphering four-digit keypads. Some exceptions lean into the game's more risqué themes, including a treasure hunt for adult toys in a bondage club and a combination lock requiring the arrangement of couples in an orgy. While not particularly challenging, these moments offer a unique, albeit sometimes crude, flavor.
The game borrows heavily from other survival horror titles without significantly improving upon them. A cabin defense sequence, reminiscent of Resident Evil 4, feels less panicked and inventive. A looping hallway segment, akin to P.T., lacks the psychological terror and puzzle depth of its inspiration. Even basic gameplay elements can falter, such as an elevator sequence where enemies can be easily bypassed by exiting through the front door, negating intended tension.
The Labyrinth
When not engaging in combat, players are whisked away to the Labyrinth, a starkly designed maze that effectively captures the ominous atmosphere of the Hellraiser films. Its Escher-esque architecture, looming Leviathan, and insect-like cenobites create an intimidating environment. The telekinetic powers are used here to manipulate the environment and create paths, and dash mechanics are employed to avoid instant-death traps. However, the repetitive chase sequences featuring the Chatterer cenobite quickly become monotonous.
Technical Issues and Replayability
Beyond minor bugs like enemies clipping through walls and audio dropouts, the PlayStation 5 version of Revival suffers from more significant issues. A safe that was opened and looted could inexplicably re-lock, and a safehouse door became stuck, preventing access to merchants for an extended period. These glitches, while not game-breaking, made certain sections more of a grind than intended.
Hellraiser: Revival lacks the replayability of its genre inspirations. Despite two endings, they are unlocked through a single binary choice at the story's climax, requiring no second playthrough to experience both. The game offers no New Game+ mode or other unlockables, concluding with a quote from Pinhead that suggests the player's suffering has only just begun, a sentiment ironically underscored by the game's lack of rewarding post-completion content.