Since its release in 2017, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard has revitalized the survival horror genre. Iconic titles like Alan Wake 2, the Silent Hill 2 remake, and remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 4, plus RE: Requiem this year, owe much to Biohazard’s influence. Each game brought its own unique style, but Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, while borrowing many of their mechanics, pushes past what most would consider taboo and tests the limits of how extreme survival horror can get. It’s one of those games where you wouldn’t want anyone in on you while you’re playing this game.

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is a first-person survival horror action game developed and published by Saber Interactive, officially released on October 8, 2026. Written in direct collaboration with franchise creator Clive Barker, the game expands the legendary horror canon and features the iconic return of Doug Bradley voicing Pinhead. It is available on Steam (PC), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Demon to Many. Angel to Few.

Hellraiser: Revival starts off with one of the wildest video game prologues ever made. It’s one of those things that will actively excite you and at the same time scare the bejesus of you. You play as Aiden Lynch, a biker gang member who is put on countless painful trials to bring back his beloved. 

The game starts off with Aidan and his girlfriend, Sunny, having sadomasochistic sex involving the Genesis Configuration, a puzzle box given to Sunny. Responding to their lust and pain, the box summons the Cenobites: the Child, the Cabalist, the Fallen, and their leader, the Hell Priest, aka ‘Pinhead. ‘Pinhead summons hooked chains that tear Sunny apart and knock Aidan unconscious. All of this is presented in excruciatingly gory details, especially when Sunny gets torn to pieces.

Things keep getting worse for Aiden as he first gets abducted by a sex cult that mutilates people and is obsessed with summoning the Cenobites, and then there’s the Cenobites who put Aiden through countless gruesome trials in order for him to resurrect Sunny. Depending on the playthrough, the game also features multiple endings, but tales like these rarely ever get a happy ending. 

While its story and presentation may not be as groundbreaking or polished as Alan Wake 2 or Resident Evil Requiem, its uncensored and uncompromised perspective on horror gives it a dark tone that we have not seen since 2003’s Manhunt. On top of that, the iconic performance of Doug Bradley as Pinhead really shines in the game, making this experience more harrowing than one could ever imagine. He truly is an angel, in the form of a demon.

Pain and Pleasure, Indivisible

While the gameplay mechanics and inventory management in Hellraiser mirror those of modern Resident Evil games, its sadomasochistic presentation gives it a distinctive flair that blurs the line between pleasure and pain. This is first evident when Aiden struggles to remove a knife from a living man’s abdomen, only for a cultist to arrive and demonstrate the “proper” method—twisting the knife before pulling it out—killing the man in the process and taking pleasure in the act.

This is also reflected in the killing animations and the levels that are filled with chummed bodies, decapitated heads, limbs, and people enganging in activities that you can’t see while your parents are around. This creates a tense atmosphere that most survival horror games fail to achieve and very few actually manage to master. 

That being said, it too has a fair share of flaws of its own. The major gripe that most will have from this game is how similar it is to Resident Evil when it comes to level design, map design, combat, inventory management, and save system, which are almost one-on-one replicas of each other in some aspects. Be as it may, while borrowed, the game executes most of these things quite well, and the overall experience remains fun.

The Genesis configuration adds a bit of flair to combat with abilities like telekinesis and pyrokinesis, letting you hurl objects and unleash fire on enemies. However, it doesn’t offer anything distinct enough to carve out a unique identity. Whether it’s breakable melee weapons with mods or firearms with upgradeable attachments, the overall experience feels quite similar to games you’ve likely played before. 

On a side note, I really didn’t enjoy the puzzles with the Genesis configuration or the Labyrinth levels that came with the frightening chase sequences. However, thanks to Pinhead, the experience didn’t end up feeling too sour.

Hellishely Beautiful as Ivory and Ebony

Despite its rather modest pricing as an AA title, Hellraiser: Revival has the visuals that rival that of a modern AAA game. It’s really beautiful in terms of visuals and art style. The environment details at places are simply stunning. If you have the stomach to handle its grotesque imagery, you can truly relish this hellish game.

It doesn’t have any fancy graphical features like RTGI or path tracing; this greatly benefits the overall optimization of the game. On the Ultra preset with some of the settings set to high, the RTX 5070 Desktop GPU was able to push 110-144 fps at 1440p with DLSS set to the Quality preset. 

But this adversely affects the size of the game, which is over 76 GB due to its static lighting and assets. In comparison, games like Onimisha: Way of the Sword and Blood of the Dawnwalker are much smaller in size, occupying only 55-56 GB of storage while having an open world of a much larger scale than this game. 

Real Talk

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is one of the most unsettling survival horror games ever made, one that may be difficult to stomach for some but the one that would be deeply relished by the Hellraiser fans. It’s an uncompromised take on Clive Barker’s legacy with stunning performances from its cast. While many of its mechanics may be borrowed from the well-established horror franchises, in execution it manages to stick the landing. 

FINAL SCORE: 80/100