Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival
Mad Head Games · Horror, Action, Adventure
Overview
Experience a new chapter in the legendary horror series like never before. Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival takes first-person action horror survival to the next level. Wield the powers of the Genesis Configuration puzzle box to survive your bargain with the infamous Pinhead.
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Play the story of Aidan, who must use the power of a mysterious puzzle box – the Genesis Configuration – to help his girlfriend Sunny’s escape from the otherworldly hellscape of the Labyrinth.
Wield the powers of the box to survive your bargain with the infamous Pinhead and do battle with the horrific cult devoted to the Cenobites.
A New Story in Hellraiser's Canon – Unwittingly kickstart Pinhead’s ritual to unleash greater pain and pleasure than ever before.
Harness the Power of the Box – Combine the unique, hellish abilities of the Configuration with an arsenal of earthly weapons to inflict bone-breaking, flesh-searing pain - or is it pleasure? - upon masochistic enemies.
Fight Against Unholy Enemies – Take on hell's wretches, deviants, cultists, and even its most infernal priests in a story-driven horror survival game.
From the game's Steam store page.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT3,651 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
What reviewers praise first is how faithful and unflinching Hellraiser: Revival is: the Cenobites, the Labyrinth, Doug Bradley back as Pinhead, and gore, nudity and BDSM imagery that nobody toned down. The art direction and atmosphere get nearly as much praise, and a good number of players also mention smooth performance or the $40 price. Reviews written in launch week were 96% positive, and those from the days after were 93% positive.
Combat is the most common complaint. Melee hits feel weightless, the dodge only goes backwards, weapons break quickly and armored enemies soak up scarce ammo. Players also object to repetitive chase and stealth set pieces, launch bugs such as falling through the floor after a ladder, and a short campaign with no New Game Plus. Reviews on both sides can draw the same line between the adaptation and the game: one negative review calls it "A 10/10 adaptation but a 5/10 game.", and a positive one says "It's a 7/10 video game, but a 10/10 hellraiser experience."
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
A faithful, unflinching HellraiserHigh
27% of reviews (1,003) talk about its faithfulness to the films and books, its lore, or its gore, nudity and BDSM content. Some fans of the first two films call it the best Hellraiser since Hellbound, and a few call it the only true sequel to that film. Players who had never seen a Hellraiser film say the game explains its world well enough to follow, and a few say it made them want to watch the movies. For some, the lack of censorship is the main draw, and dozens of reviews add a warning: "If you're squeamish I wouldn't recommend even trying this game." The players who push back on the content are covered in the section on how explicit is too explicit, below.
Art direction, atmosphere and the LabyrinthHigh
23% of reviews (846) praise the visuals, atmosphere, environments or art direction, and the Labyrinth gets singled out by name. Players mention its shifting structures and the smooth transitions between the real world and the Labyrinth, and a few say they took dozens or hundreds of screenshots along the way. Sound design and the licensed club music get praise too, and one player wished for a photo mode.
Story, Cenobites and Doug Bradley's PinheadHigh
24% of reviews (874) bring up the story, the Cenobites or the voice cast, and 4% (150) name Doug Bradley or the voice acting directly ("Almost cried hearing Doug Bradley as Pinhead again"). Some players like that the Cenobites talk to and deal with the protagonist instead of just chasing him. A minority find that protagonist, Aidan, bland or call him a "simp", and some think the endings are abrupt (see the frustrations below).
Strong value at $40High
11% of reviews (400) bring up the price or whether the game is worth the money, mostly to say it is. "For only $40 this game is a steal." is a typical line, and a few say they would recommend it even at full price. Players who disagree mostly tie the price to the game's length, which is covered under length and replay value.
The Genesis Configuration powersMedium
7% of reviews (255) mention the puzzle box powers: telekinesis, launching saw blades, turning fire into fireballs and the Hell Chains. Players enjoy using them in fights ("the Genesis Configuration is so fun to use"), and several compare them to Half-Life's gravity gun or BioShock's plasmids. A few wish the box had more abilities or more objects to throw.
Runs smoothly for an Unreal Engine 5 gameMedium
5% of reviews (196) praise the performance or optimization, and 3% (120) volunteer that they hit no bugs or crashes. Good reports come from players on older GPUs, on Steam Deck and on Linux, and one writes that "Some devs need to learn from these ones on how to optimize a game". The minority with stutters or crashes are covered under the bugs below.
A single-player adaptation instead of asymmetric multiplayerMedium
4% of reviews (134) thank the developers for making a story-driven single-player game instead of another four-versus-one horror title: "Finally a horror game that isn't Dead by Daylight multiplayer slop." Several want other horror licenses handled the same way.
Where players are split
Plays like modern Resident EvilHigh
14% of reviews (499) compare it to Resident Evil, usually RE7, Village or RE4, pointing to the inventory grid, merchant, crafting and key-hunting. Others name Outlast, BioShock and Condemned. Often the comparison is a selling point ("If you like RE 7/8 you definitely enjoy Hellraiser."), and some describe it as a throwback to the AA horror games of the late 2000s. A smaller group finds it derivative and less polished than the games it borrows from, summed up as "Temu Resident Evil game wearing Hellraiser's skin."
Length and replay valueMedium
5% of reviews (194) bring up the short campaign, the lack of New Game Plus or low replay value. Players report finishing in roughly 8 to 12 hours. Some like that it "Doesn't overstay its welcome", while others think it is thin for the price and ask for New Game Plus with carried-over gear, unlockables or a horde mode, since "the game would significantly benefit from a ng+". Several who recommend the game still advise waiting for a sale for this reason.
Difficulty and the save systemLow
3% of reviews (103) discuss save points, checkpoints or difficulty spikes. Reviewers explain that the settings above Normal remove autosaves and that the top one, Hellraiser, rations saves with tokens, so a death can send players back through a long stretch they had already cleared. Some enjoy the tension this creates ("Hellraiser difficulty is way to play, Its actually makes you manage resources"). Others find the replays tedious and argue that "increased difficulty should not mean increased tedium of saving the game", and a few hit spikes even on Easy.
How explicit is too explicitLow
A small group finds the content too much or says the shock fades: "You get about two hours of interesting locations, and then the novelty wears off." A few others think it holds back: "Feels like the game WANTS to be edgy and naked but just does not dare to go full on." A few streamers warn that playing it on YouTube can get a channel banned.
What frustrates players
Clunky combatHigh
16% of reviews (572) discuss combat, and 43% of negative reviews (82 of 193) mention it. 7% of all reviews (261) describe it as clunky, janky, stiff, weak or repetitive, against 4% (157) who call it fun or satisfying. The problems players list are consistent: melee lacks impact, the dodge only goes backwards and is too slow for the enemies, there is "no block or parry, a useless dodge", hits sometimes don't register, and fights turn into hordes in small rooms. Reviewers who loved the game raise it too ("Combat gets repetitive, though."), and a film fan who did not recommend it puts it more bluntly: "the combat is unbearably janky and the gameplay is repetitive". A few say the guns and box powers get better as upgrades arrive.
Launch bugs: falling through the floor, softlocks and crashesMedium
6% of reviews (224) report bugs, glitches or crashes. One comes up repeatedly: falling through the world after climbing a ladder in the sewers, before the first merchant. Some players could not get past it ("I kept falling through the floor in a specific, unavoidable spot."), while others got through by retrying or capping the frame rate. Other reports include enemies or a boss that became invincible, a Hell Chains ability that was never granted, an inventory bug that deleted gun upgrades, bugged achievements, and crashes or stutters for a minority. A few players noted that a patch fixed what they had hit.
The resource squeeze: ammo, breaking weapons, cramped inventoryMedium
5% of reviews (165) complain about scarce ammo and crafting materials, fragile melee weapons or the inventory. Melee weapons break after a handful of hits ("The melee weapons are about as durable as cotton candy dipped in water"), upgrades and attachments eat inventory space, some say the storage box comes late or runs out of room, and only the weak starting knife never breaks. A few suggest dropping to Easy, and a few finished the game with mods or Cheat Engine for extra ammo.
Repetitive chases, forced stealth and set-piece sectionsMedium
3% of reviews (121) criticize the chase, stealth or Labyrinth sequences. The first Chatterer chases get praise, but players say later chases repeat the same script with instant deaths and long replays ("Really wanted this to be a good game, but the Labyrinth chase levels...no thanks"). The forced stealth section with the Sister of Mercy, the Leviathan sequence and a cabin defence against a horde are named, and some call the stealth itself unreliable. One player opens a negative review with "Sister of mercy part is annoying to play."
Armored enemies and recycled bossesLow
2% of reviews (75) complain about bullet-sponge bosses, armored enemies or reused boss fights. Players say the same mini-boss comes back up to four times and that boss arenas drain the ammo you saved: "Every boss is just a resource sponge, testing your patience."
A weaker final stretch and endingsLow
2% of reviews (62) say the last third drags, falls off or ends abruptly. Players describe more filler fights and fewer new ideas toward the end, and some find both endings unsatisfying. One positive review puts it as "Last quarter of the game tended to drag on, but otherwise enjoyed it."
Missing PC options: FOV, HDR and head bobLow
1% of reviews (46) ask for an FOV slider, native HDR or a head-bob toggle that works, and a few negative reviews are about nothing else: "can't change FOV. bdsm migraine simulator". Players point to community mods for FOV in the meantime.
Deluxe edition extrasLow
1% of reviews (33) mention the deluxe edition, mostly to say it is not worth the extra money. Buyers say the bonus weapon breaks like any other ("the deluxe edition is a rip off"), and that the art book and soundtrack can only be viewed inside the game.
3. The player conversation
Much of the conversation is a running joke. Short reviews quote the film ("The box. You opened it. We came."), call it a "family friendly" game, or warn people not to play it with family in the room. The longer reviews are more measured and tend to praise the world and the adaptation more than the gameplay. A small group pushes back against low critic scores. Some buyers say the free demo sold them, and several liked that demo progress carries into the full game.
What negative reviews complain about shifts with how far the player got. Those written in the first three hours mostly raise combat, bugs and the missing FOV slider, HDR or head-bob setting. Negative reviews from players eight or more hours in still bring up combat, but more of them turn to the late game: the story, characters and endings, the chase, stealth and Labyrinth sections, the bosses, and ammo and resources.
4. What the developers could do
- Rework melee and the dodge. Combat is the most common complaint, and players ask for weightier hits, reliable hit registration, sideways dodges and a block or parry.
- Fix the ladder fall-through and other progression bugs. Players stuck after the sewer ladder, with an invincible enemy or without the Hell Chains ability, could not go on, and some left negative reviews over it.
- Loosen the resource economy. Sturdier melee weapons, more ammo and crafting materials, and upgrades that don't take inventory space (or a roomier storage box) would answer the resource complaints above.
- Add checkpoints to chases and trim forced stealth. Instant-death chases with long replays, the Sister of Mercy section and the cabin defence come up often in negative reviews from players who got deep into the game.
- Add New Game Plus with carried-over gear. Players who want more replay value ask for it by name, and say it would answer the "too short for the price" complaint.
- Add an FOV slider, native HDR and a working head-bob toggle. Players in their first few hours and motion-sensitive players name these missing settings directly.
- Rethink save rules on the higher difficulties. Players who like the challenge still ask for a checkpoint before chases and boss fights instead of losing long stretches of progress.
- Give the deluxe edition weapons lasting value. Buyers complain that the bonus weapon breaks after a few hits and is gone for the rest of the game.
