I do not keep in mind a lot about Hellraiser. Even when Pinhead’s picture outweighed his affinity for the movie sequence, he was too younger to see the unique. Nevertheless, I used to be assigned to play the upcoming horror motion sport, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, and experiencing the sport in a singular method made me notice two normal ideas. One, holy hell was I studying about its model of physique horror, and two, it left an enormous impression on me from the 30-minute demo I performed. It borrows from a number of different video games, and consider it as fashionable Resident Evil with a little bit of PT. Mixing them collectively, it appears like a strong, constant survival horror motion sport that appears to be consistent with the Hellraiser sequence in elements.
I needed to shortly get to know the principle character, Aidan (voiced by well-known indie sport developer Zaravia Nelson Jr.). Aidan’s girlfriend Sunny had her soul taken by the Cenobites, and at instances he went by means of literal hell to seek out her. By it, we see flashes of a tumultuous relationship between two people who find themselves principally at odds. It is passionate, intense, and stuffed with BDSM with horrifying photographs of what the Cenobites did to her. I had no thought what to anticipate and thought, “Ah…I get it.” Being much less cautious, I stored discovering out that tales which might be violent and/or sexual in nature may seem in video games, if advised with objective quite than direct malice.
This demo is a part of Hellraiser: Revival’s roughly halfway level, with the primary part plunging me right into a Resident Evil-style part inside a theater venue (or museum?) outfitted because the headquarters of a violent intercourse cult. There are weapons, fight, and environmental puzzles, all accompanied by good old school stock administration. Even in my restricted understanding of Hellraiser, weapons and gunfights aren’t precisely a part of its identification, however hey, this can be a online game and it wants fight, I suppose. Whereas it is not fairly as polished or detailed as Resident Evil at this level, controlling Aiden from a first-person perspective and scavenging for all of the weapons and bullets felt acquainted and purposeful. These cultists appear to be chasing you and come out at stunning moments, a lot in order that through the demo I jumped and bought scared (I felt the eyes of everybody in that room).
I am unsure how this is applicable narratively, however after burning by means of all of the ammo I may discover (together with a submachine gun left behind the receiver, hmmm), I bought the sensation of a slow-paced gunfight. As if this encounter wasn’t sufficient, after a frantic run by means of the again rooms of this theater, I remembered one thing on the coronary heart of Hellraiser: Revival: the Genesis configuration. It is a magical puzzle field object that Aidan holds in a single hand, permitting him to successfully carry out BioShock-style telekinesis. That method, you may get a little bit extra artistic by pulling a fan from the ceiling, pulling a picket plank from a ledge, or brandishing a burning torch to explode enemies. Once more, these are components we have seen earlier than, however they’re fluid and, when executed nicely, complement the exploration and environmental inspection that comes with discovering the appropriate key to the appropriate door or cracking a code from a word left behind.
What’s much more fascinating is that after this part, Aidan slips right into a type of psychosis and is drawn again to the nightmarish state of affairs at dwelling. The affect of PT is clearly seen right here. You stroll down a darkish hallway, flip a nook, go upstairs and move by means of the door of his home at night time. Nevertheless, the cycle repeats repeatedly till you do sure issues in sequence, reminiscent of checking a textual content message on an outdated Nokia mobile phone left on the desk, hitting the printer to spit out a disturbing picture of Sunny, or opening a closet door that results in a room with chains hanging from the ceiling. It is very creepy and performs into the type of supernatural horror that matches the touchstone of Hellraiser.
If every thing is completed appropriately, the door on the finish of the hallway on the second ground will flip right into a gate to the Labyrinth. In Hellraiser, this extradimensional, labyrinthine hellscape, the place the Cenobites come from, turns into the doorway to the Labyrinth. That is the place I found one other downside with the gameplay. It’s the manipulation of the bodily area of the Labyrinth by means of the Genesis configuration. It performs like a steady path puzzle the place the partitions and floor transfer like cogs and you must lock them in place to create a path ahead. Like different gameplay facets, these sequences aren’t essentially groundbreaking, however they do break up the tempo and ask you to take part in its dirty, disturbing world in several methods.
Hellraiser’s model of horror is not often my cup of tea, however after taking part in round with the demo, it not less than reveals that the event staff has a superb understanding of what makes fashionable horror-action video games so interesting. Taking bits and items from different video games and fusing them collectively looks as if a clever selection judging from my quick expertise. And in case you Hellraiser fanatics did not know but, authentic actor Doug Bradley is the voice of Pinhead in Hellraiser: Revival, and Clive Barker is doing extra than simply selling his title. The staff confirmed that he was consulted on the undertaking.
You will see that each one of this matches properly right into a marketing campaign that is stated to be 8-10 hours lengthy. The marketing campaign might be obtainable to play on October eighth of this 12 months, when Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival launches for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
Michael Higham is an editor at videogameaddicted and repeatedly contributes opinions, previews, options, and information in written and video format. He is sometimes tasked with protecting long-form RPGs and tech merchandise, however he is branched out on the subject of video games. You can even discover him internet hosting occasions and video content material. videogameaddicted’s weekly podcast now unlocked.