Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival Reviews
While Pinhead and the unholy Cenobites have some divine pleasures waiting for you in the Labyrinth, they won't come without considerable suffering
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival is fine. There's some fun to be had with its puzzles, but doesn't do anything outstandingly well or offer anything innovative. Fans of Hellraiser may revel in some nostalgia but there are better games in this genre.
An appropriately mixed bag of grisly body horror, Hellraiser: Revival is a strange, scrappy, and never less than fascinating game.
While the studded scalp of otherworld antagonist Pinhead absolutely looks the part, it’s a shame that little else in Hellraiser: Revival has been nailed to anywhere near the same extent.
Rarely subtle, Hellraiser: Revival's rawness is truly shocking, but what's stuck with me more than the sights of sculpted, twisted muscles are the stories behind them.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival feels like a statement piece in both sex and violence.
I am pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Hellraiser: Revival. Its respect for its source material is apparent throughout, with the Labyrinth, the Cenobites, and the Genesis Configuration being standout pieces of the puzzle. The rest of the game isn't reinventing the wheel for first-person horror, but the "don't fix what isn't broken" approach works just fine here.
While this game should probably be banned, there are some solid gameplay elements here that borrow from popular franchises.
If you're someone who adores Clive Barker's horror franchise, Hellraiser: Revival might be worth a look for its faithful visuals and intriguing story. As a gameplay experience, however, it falls at several hurdles, with awkward camera controls, bang-average combat mechanics, and a plethora of bugs throughout.A few hefty patches could iron out the wrinkles and make Revival an adaptation worth experiencing. For now, I can't help but wonder if a new movie would have been a wiser use of resources.
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival does the iconic horror franchise justice with its story and atmosphere, both of which are top-notch and enough to justify its existence.
An uncompromising and faithful adaptation of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser universe, where the horror pleasures are let down by the pains of its combat.
It may not reinvent the wheel, but it effectively combines its gameplay elements in a way that's incredibly engaging.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Hellraiser: Revival is everything I wanted from a game based on Barker's series. The extremity of its depiction of the slippage between pain and pleasure, the visualisation of both the Cenobites and the Labyrinth, even the sheer visceral nature of the combat and environment. I might be a little biased as I am such a fan of the source material, but this stands out to me as one of the best horror tie-in games I can remember and is essential for anyone with even a slight fondness for the Cenobites and their dark delights.
Hellraiser: Revival offers a well-paced survival horror experience that's packed with fan-service, but also a Labyrinth-load of bugs.
Saber Interactive has hit the nail (pin) on the head with Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, offering up a delectably gory horror experience that pays homage to the cult franchise.
With oversight from Clive Barker himself, and a role reprisal as Pinhead from actor Doug Bradley, Revival aims to introduce new audiences to the discomfort of Hellraiser
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival definitely does not waste your suffering.
Clive Barker's Hellraiser Revival is a frustrating experience, as for every one thing it does really well, it does two things that will annoy the life out of you. Part of me was willing to see past the jank, as you have a pretty niche horror title coming to life in a new medium, and I certainly respect it for giving it a go.However, too often its design choices would irritate me, hold me back from progressing, or just straight up make me not want to play. While it's got little sparks of something special in there, Hellraiser: Revival is more pain than pleasure.
The atmosphere and characters spawned by Clive Barker's imagination are beautifully rendered, and the game has no qualms about showing extreme events uncensored.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival had all the components to become a hit. However, stylish design and well-written characters are unable to save mediocre gameplay and irritating puzzles combined with outdated mechanics. On top of that, in 2026 what's happening on screen is incapable of scaring an audience that has lived through a pandemic, an AI boom, and numerous military conflicts.
Review in Russian | Read full review