I do not bear in mind a lot about Hellraiser, being a lot too younger to look at the unique even when the picture of Pinhead outdated any affinity for the film collection. However I had been assigned to get hands-on with the upcoming horror-action sport Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, and I got here away with two prevailing ideas experiencing it by itself phrases. One, holy hell I bought acquainted with its model of physique horror, and two, it makes a hell of an impression from the 30-minute demo I performed. It is borrowing from a number of different video games – suppose trendy Resident Evil with a little P.T. – and fusing them collectively into what seems like a strong, cohesive survival horror-action sport that appears, partially, to align with the Hellraiser collection.
I needed to rapidly stand up to hurry on the principle character Aidan (voiced by famend indie sport developer Xalavier Nelson Jr.) whose girlfriend Sunny had her soul snatched by the Cenobites, and at instances he is going by literal Hell to search out her. Via that, you see flashes of a tumultuous relationship between the 2 of them, who’re mainly crashouts; it is passionate and intense, laden in BDSM accompanied by the horrifying picture of what the Cenobites have achieved to her. As somebody who did not actually know what to anticipate, I used to be like, “Oh…okay.” I am not a prude, so I carried on understanding that tales which might be violent and/or sexual in nature can have a place in video games, too, when instructed with function and not with direct malice.
This demo was a slice of what is roughly in the midst of Hellraiser: Revival, and the primary part thrust me into a Resident Evil-style part in a theater venue (or museum?) that is been outfitted as an HQ for a violent intercourse cult. There are weapons, fight, and environmental puzzles to progress together with some good old school stock administration – even with my restricted understanding of Hellraiser, weapons and shootouts aren’t precisely a part of its id, however hey, it is a online game and I suppose it wants fight. Whereas it is not as polished or tight as a Resident Evil at this stage, controlling Aiden in first-person and scavenging for any weapon or variety of bullets felt acquainted and wise for what it is going for. These cultists appear to be chasing after you and they will come out at shocking moments that jump-scared me throughout my demo (I may really feel the gaze of everybody in that room).
I am unsure how this suits narratively, however I bought a really feel for the slower-paced gunplay after I burned by all of the ammo I may discover (together with a submachine gun that was left behind reception, hmm). It wasn’t sufficient for the encounter, so after frantically operating by the backrooms of this theater, I remembered to make use of the factor that Hellraiser: Revival revolves round: the Genesis Configuration. It is the magic puzzle field object that Aidan holds in his off-hand and it successfully helps you to do telekinesis, BioShock-style. I may then get a little extra inventive, pulling followers from the ceiling or picket planks from cabinets, or wielding fireplace from a burning torch, to then blast enemies with. Once more, these are parts we have seen earlier than, however they’re fluid, and when achieved nicely, it enhances the exploration and environmental inspection that comes together with discovering the precise key for the precise door or deciphering a code from a observe left behind.
What’s extra attention-grabbing is that previous this part, Aidan goes into a type of psychosis and is taken again to nightmare situations in his home. That is the place the P.T. affect is abundantly clear. You stroll down a darkish hallway, flip the nook, stroll upstairs and undergo a door in his home at evening. The cycle will frequently repeat till you do sure issues in sequence, nevertheless, akin to trying by textual content messages on an previous Nokia cellphone left on the desk, hitting your printer that spits out a disturbing picture of Sunny, or opening a closet door that results in a room with chains hung from the ceiling. It is creepy as hell, and performs into the type of supernatural horror that aligns with the touchstones of Hellraiser.
When all issues are achieved appropriately, the door on the finish of the upstairs hallway turns into a gate into the Labyrinth, which in Hellraiser is that this extradimensional maze-like hellscape the place the Cenobites come from. Right here, I noticed one other wrinkle in its gameplay – manipulating the bodily area of the Labyrinth with the Genesis Configuration. It performs out like a sequential pathing puzzle the place the partitions and floor transfer like gears and it is advisable to lock them into place to create a path ahead. Like its different gameplay elements, these sequences aren’t essentially groundbreaking, however they break up the tempo and ask you to have interaction with its grimey, disturbing world in numerous methods.
Hellraiser’s model of horror is not ordinarily my jam, however I can at the very least inform from getting hands-on with the demo that the event group have a robust grasp of what makes trendy horror-action video games click on. Drawing bits and items from different video games and melding them collectively appears to be a good transfer judging from my quick time with it. And if Hellraiser sickos do not know but, the unique actor Doug Bradley is voicing Pinhead right here in Hellraiser: Revival, and Clive Barker is not simply slapping his identify on the field – the group confirmed that he consulted on the mission.
I can see all of that becoming properly into what’s mentioned to be an 8- to 10-hour marketing campaign, which we’ll be capable of play on October 8 this yr when Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival launches for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
Michael Higham is an editor at IGN who recurrently contributes with evaluations, previews, options, and information in written and video kind. He is often entrusted with protecting lengthy RPGs and tech merchandise, however he is bought vary in terms of video games. You may additionally catch him at occasions and internet hosting video content material, together with IGN’s weekly podcast Unlocked.