Pinhead is back, and this time players are the ones opening the bloody puzzle box.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival has officially launched on PC and consoles, bringing the long-running horror franchise into the world of first-person survival horror. Saber Interactive has released a new launch trailer showing off the game’s nightmarish environments, combat and the return of Doug Bradley as the voice of Pinhead.
Developed by Saber Interactive, Hellraiser: Revival is an original story set within the universe created by Clive Barker. Players take on the role of Aidan, a man searching for his girlfriend Sunny after she becomes trapped in a supernatural realm connected to the Cenobites. His search leads him into the Labyrinth, where the boundaries between pleasure and suffering have very different meanings.
The game puts the mysterious Genesis Configuration at the center of the experience. Like the familiar Lament Configuration from the films, the puzzle box opens the door to another world, but it also grants Aidan supernatural abilities that can be used against the creatures pursuing him.
Those powers are combined with conventional weapons as players fight their way through the Labyrinth and other environments inspired by Barker’s mythology. The new trailer offers a closer look at the game’s combat, which mixes firearms and melee weapons with the abilities granted by the Genesis Configuration.
For longtime Hellraiser fans, the return of Doug Bradley is one of the game’s biggest attractions. Bradley portrayed Pinhead in the first eight Hellraiser movies, beginning with Barker’s original 1987 film. His performance helped establish the character as one of horror’s most recognizable figures, and Revival marks another opportunity to hear him deliver Pinhead’s familiar threats and promises.
Barker himself has also been involved in the project, working with Saber Interactive to develop a story that expands the mythology of Hellraiser rather than simply retelling one of the movies. The game draws heavily from the franchise’s themes of forbidden desires, temptation and the consequences of opening doors that should probably remain closed.
The launch trailer shows plenty of the Cenobites and their domain, including elaborate environments, grotesque creatures and the kind of unsettling imagery associated with the films. There’s also a stronger emphasis on action than some fans might expect from a traditional survival horror game, with Aidan using his weapons and supernatural powers to survive encounters with enemies throughout the story.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
