October wouldn’t feel right without a spooky game or two, and Hellraiser: Revival is shaping up to be a terrifying–and horny–dive into the nightmarish fiction of author Clive Barker. So far, the game is looking like the kind of Hellraiser experience that defined the franchise throughout the ’80s and early ’90s, and at Gamescom, Saber Interactive sat down with GameSpot to talk about the game, how far they’re willing to go to nail the vibe of Hellraiser, and more.
Hellraiser: Revival launches for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 6.
Cliver Barker was a “permissive” partner
The legendary creator of Hellraiser needed some convincing before he started collaborating with Saber Interactive, but once he was assured that the developers had a grasp of the Hellraiser franchise, he gave the studio the freedom to tell their own tale within that dark universe. “Clive Barker was such a permissive partner to work with,” narrative director Anthony De Fault said. “He was really supportive of our ideas. He basically just wanted to make sure we understood Hellraiser as a franchise, and then, once he knew that we had the, we were channeling the same spirit that he was channeling back in the ’80s, he just let us go.”
Capturing the soul of Hellraiser’s greatest hits
For the game, Saber Interactive aimed to capture the “soul” of the franchise, drawing not only from the recognizable visual elements established in the Hellraiser movies, but also from Clive Barker’s original novella, The Hellbound Heart, which served as the source material for the franchise. “This game is a response, specifically to The Hellbound Heart, the first film, and Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, the second film,” de Fault said. “So it’s just the things that Clive was involved with that resonated really strongly with people back then. We wanted to make something that renewed that and had the same soul, but for a new medium and 40 years later.”
Barker was also credited as an executive producer on the third and fourth Hellraiser movies, but had no active production or creative involvement in the franchise until 2022’s Hellraiser reboot. That gap saw six Hellraiser movies released, although fans usually consider this period a low point for the franchise.
Saber Interactive isn’t afraid of pushing ratings boards to the limits
From what we’ve seen so far, Hellraiser: Revival looks like it’ll be going all in on the extreme subject matter of Barker’s work. Saber Interactive has confirmed that the game is going to be gory and sexy, as the studio didn’t want to compromise on their vision–even if that meant it faced the risk of being denied classification in several regions. Why go that far? Because doing anything less was seen as a disservice to Hellraiser fans.
“We knew what Hellraiser ought to be. We knew how disappointed Hellraiser fans would be if we did compromise, so it was just never really on the table,” de Fault explained. “We wanted to pitch it at a point where I don’t know if the executives would necessarily have agreed with this at the time, but we always felt like, if we get denied a rating in one or two places, we’ve probably done our job right. It was just important to us to do everything with purpose. All of the depraved stuff that you might encounter in the game, I think everything in there is defensible in terms of there’s a reason it’s there. It’s not just for shock value. “It’s like a good discomfort.”
“Comforting discomfort,” Esov added. So far, it looks like the game will be available in the US, at least, as it has received an ESRB rating.
It was all about execution
While all of that comforting discomfort is designed with a purpose in mind, don’t be too surprised if Hellraiser: Revival makes you reach for a bucket. One scene in particular might be hard to stomach, as de Fault described it as a moment of “consensual mutilation” in the game.
“There’s a consensual mutilation scene. In early versions of this, we failed to adequately convey to players that this was consensual. So, some people came away thinking it wasn’t and that it was pretty distressing, and so we had to course-correct that. I think our intent was fully realized in the game. There wasn’t really anything we wanted to do that we scaled back or anything like that. We just had to correct the execution in some places.”
Hellraiser: Revival takes place in the ancient year of 2006
Hellraiser: Revival is set in 2006, in the small town of Claireport. Saber Interactive chose this time period as a bridge between ’80s Hellraiser and the modern era, while also ensuring there wouldn’t be any “super high-techy stuff” to distract players. “We still wanted it to feel like an older franchise, but just without going all the way back to the ’80s,” de Fault added.
Pinhead has an agenda
Like most Hellraiser movies, Revival revolves around a pair of sex freaks who get more than they bargained for when they use one of the infamous puzzle boxes created by the Cenobites–the all-new Genesis Configuration in this instance. Playing as Aiden, it’ll be up to players to rescue his girlfriend Sunny from the Cenobites, and you can expect to run into Pinhead at several points in the story.
“He plays a really substantial role,” de Fault explained. He appears near the start of the game with all the other Cenobites, responding to the fact that Aiden and his girlfriend, Sunny, have used one of the configuration boxes from the game during their sexual play. In Hellraiser fashion, [the Cenobites] demand a soul, and they take somebody away who happens to be Sunny. “I probably shouldn’t go further than that, but Pinhead, you encounter him multiple times. The deal that you have with him has its twists and turns, and it evolves.”
Pinhead is also voiced by Doug Bradley, the actor who played him in several Hellraiser movies over the decades.
The “Genesis Configuration” box is fueled by suffering
While previous Hellraiser media revolved around the Lament Configuration puzzle box, the Genesis Configuration is a completely new creation for the game. It serves as both a plot device and a weapon, but to use it, you’ll need to fuel it with the suffering of enemies and Aiden’s own anguish. Saber Interactive isn’t spilling the beans on how it fits into the overall story of Hellraiser: Revival, but they did tease that it was made for a specific purpose that will be revealed eventually.
“It’s all in the name of this glorified violence, and basically, it gets powered by the suffering of yours and others,” game director Emil Esov explained. “When there is suffering in the vicinity, you get more energy into the box, and you can perform these abilities.”
Cenobites can’t be trusted
Don’t expect to be taking on iconic Cenobites in Hellraiser: Revival. They serve a variety of roles in the game, helping Aiden to unlock new powers for the Genesis Configuration or acting as unstoppable antagonists you’ll have to escape. The female Cenobite–sometimes referred to as the Fallen because she was a nun who was drawn to sin in her human life–will also serve as a devil on Aiden’s shoulder when she’s not unlocking new powers for the Genesis Configuration.
We’re not worthy, we’re not worthy!
There’s no shortage of enemies to deal with in Hellraiser: Revival, as Aiden will regularly come into conflict with the “Unworthy Ones” from the Cult of the Scarlet Church. Denied access to the Labyrinth, the worshippers of Leviathan are dangerous, but they’re still fragile mortals who can be shot, skewered, and burned to death.
Hellraiser: Revival’s puzzles serve as a nice change of pace between all of the horror
So what kind of game is Hellraiser: Revival? Esov and de Fault described as being a “puzzle-moderate” game, as when Aiden ventures into the depths of the Labyrinth, players will have solve the deadly challenges within that structure.. “There is like two to two-and-a-half hours of Labyrinth gameplay, and there is no combat in the Labyrinth,” Esov said. “We intentionally designed it so the Labyrinth itself is something that is menacing, that is scary. Sometimes it’s going to be, traps. Other times, it’s going to be you using the Genesis Configuration to actually manipulate the Labyrinth. And then, sometimes it’s the combination of the two. It’s puzzle-moderate, but it’s nothing like brain-crunching puzzles that require a lot of focus.
“I think most of the puzzles are kind of 10-second to two-minute breathers between action or exploration sequences, that just force you to tickle your brain a little bit,” De Fault added. “I’d say they occur fairly frequently, but they’re not head-scratchers.”
