---
title: 'Hellraiser: Revival Is A Grotesque Survival Horror I Can''t Wait For'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Ad6CybXBC4'
video_id: '6Ad6CybXBC4'
date: 2026-06-16
duration_sec: 0
---

# Hellraiser: Revival Is A Grotesque Survival Horror I Can't Wait For

> Source: [Hellraiser: Revival Is A Grotesque Survival Horror I Can't Wait For](https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Ad6CybXBC4)

## Summary

The video is a hands-on preview of Clive Barker's Hellraiser Revival, a survival horror game. The reviewer discusses three major takeaways: the Lament Configuration cube, enemy AI, and player expression. They express excitement for the game's unique identity and mature content.

### Key Points

- **Lament Configuration Mechanics** [0:54] — The cube can absorb elements and manipulate objects like a gravity gun, adding strategic depth to combat.
- **Enemy AI and Dialogue** [1:14] — Enemies talk to each other and the player, creating organic and terrifying interactions that humanize them.
- **Player Expression in Combat** [3:27] — Players can choose stealth, use bear traps and bottles, or bypass combat entirely, offering significant player expression.
- **Mature Content and Rating** [6:17] — The game includes graphic sexual notes and gore, yet received an M rating without cuts, surprising the reviewer.

## Transcript

Let us begin.
>> I got to play Clive Barker's Hellraiser
Revival again because this guy played at
Gamescom last year and I still have
absolutely no idea how they're getting
away with an M rating because it's got a
lot.
>> You know nothing.
>> Brought to you by Xbox. So, thankfully
today I saw something completely
different from what I saw at Gamescom.
If you haven't seen that, I highly
recommend you go and check that video
out because I was very excited about it.
And after playing today's Little Chunk,
I am still very excited about it. Now,
what's different this time around is I
got to see the game play a little
further. Lower specifically introducing
stuff like genitalia and like guts, lots
of sex stuff. It's what everybody loves,
sex, blood, poop. So, here are the three
major takeaways from this hands-on. One
is the lament configuration, also known
as a cube. It's I actually got to use
it. I actually got to see how it works
in combat and it's pretty damn cool.
We'll get more into it. The second thing
I want to talk about are the enemies.
Now, I got to fight a few of them back
in the day, but this time I was put into
an arena. And the enemies are
fascinating because they talk to you,
they antagonize you, and they talk to
each other in a way in a way that feels
very organic and almost even more
terrifying. And the third thing I want
to talk about is player expression
because this game actually has a lot
more going for in terms of letting you
approach a situation exactly how you
want. Now to start at the top, this was
a little later in the game, so a lot of
things weren't really tutorialized for
me well. I was kind of thrown into the
deep end where the first hands-on I did
was a little bit more narrative driven
and kind of set up the scene of the main
characters and the conflict and the
situation. This was really just a chance
to show full force combat. In this
arena, I was pitted against human
player, like human enemies, because
there are going to be monsters and
zombie like things. And what's so
fascinating about the way the enemies
work is if you if you choose to sneak
around, you get to listen to their
conversations and they give you context
and they name drop other characters
names, other enemies names. And it feels
like for a game where the enemies are
these ruthless killers who get all their
pleasure and kink out of hurting each
other and hurting others. It humanize
these characters, these enemies in a way
that I'm just not quite used to in a
horror game like this, which is really
cool. It hits a little different when
you kill a bad guy in front of another
one and they say they express like I
that they're frustrated like I can't
believe you just did that. Or if you hit
somebody with a certain thing, they're
like, "Oh my god, I'm bleeding. I
couldn't quite tell if how the AI was
interacting with me, but it gives it a
sense of believability that made
tensions a little higher. So, when
fighting enemies, you're given several
tools. You have melee combat, which is
what I saw a lot of in my first demo
where I compared it a lot to Condemned,
but then you also have pistols, and then
you have the cube. And the cube is where
things really start to change stuff up.
The cube can absorb elements and even do
like a gravity gun like thing where you
can pole certain saws and things aim
from the ceiling. You can absorb fire
into the lament configuration and then
set other people on fire which is always
horrific and terrifying especially when
they start screaming and they squander
and they don't exactly die immediately.
But the other element they introduce and
this kind of leans into the player
expression I was talking about in this
arena. I could have approached it
totally by stealth. I was like facing
off against what felt like 10 dudes at
once. And I was given the chance to get
bear traps and kind of set them around.
I could lure people in or I could even
like bait them and use bottles to do
stuff. So, in a way, it's like almost
like I'm not going to say it's full ei,
but there is there felt like there was
some sort of eim sort of intent behind
the design of this section that I could
stealth my way through it. I could find
a way. In fact, the player next to me
bypassed the enemies entirely uh because
they got the key to be go to the next
room and they just went ahead and did
that without having to fight anyone. And
it's that sort of that depth of player
expression, the ability to let people
play exactly how they want isn't exactly
something I would have expected in a
Hellraiser game. But it feels like the
team is doing more than just to make a
really cool Hellraiser IP sort of game,
but also make a game that just feels
really good. like I compared it a lot to
both Contemp and Village, Resident Evil
Village when I played it uh at Summer
GameFest. But I think this time around
playing the game now being able to get a
little bit more of it and understand it
a little bit more. I actually kind of
think it's this if this game is proving
that it does have its own identity that
yes, does have elements of those games.
It does have elements that's taken from
survival horror and puzzle elements and
all that. But I was impressed to play
this game and not really feel the need
to have to compare it to anything. It
feels unique and really cool and
certainly refreshing to not just be
playing another asymmetrical multiplayer
horror game. I'm going to keep saying
that because I said that during I think
that's what people most people expect
from an IP like this. The other thing
that was different from this playthrough
versus my Gamescom coverage is that the
setups weren't really present. Although
like when I played at Gamescom, uh the
chatterer was kind of the big focal
point that I had faced running away from
through the labyrinth. This time around,
I did go to the labyrinth, but it was to
show how environmental puzzle elements.
So, in this section, I was able to use
the lament configuration to turn the
walls and create these platforms in
order to bypass uh booby traps and all
sorts of other things to then charge up
the cube and go into the next section,
which was a very PT inspired sort of
nightmare. Yes, we've seen a lot of PT
inspired stuff. Guess what? There's a
bit of that in this game, too. However,
they did it well. And they did it well
because it was very deliberately used to
progress the story. They had a looping
room where you're just going around in
an environment and you go through the
door into the next section. And it was a
small puzzle that you had to solve of
finding the right object to basically to
trigger the next sort of loop in this
thing. But with each loop, you got more
and more context to the relationship of
the main character and his girlfriend.
So, it was one of the better sort of use
cases of using something like PT on its
own in this game. That being said,
they're swinging high. They're trying a
lot of different things. They're not
afraid to hold back their punches. And
speaking of holding back punches,
they're not holding them back. I cannot
believe this game is not adult only.
Yes, as we all know, there's going to be
lots of genitalia. There's going to be
lots of gore. But the thing I was
probably most surprised of what they're
getting away with is how sexually
charged the notes are. the things you'll
be finding around the environment. They
are graphic. They are there a lot. And I
cannot believe it because the developers
told me that apparently they didn't have
to cut anything. How they got away with
it, I don't know, but I'm here for it.
And it's cool. Now, having had my second
hands-on with Clive Barker's Hellraiser
Revival, I am still very excited to play
it. It feels like there's still so much
more to see. There's lots of enemy types
I haven't seen. There's boss fights that
I haven't seen, and there's puzzles to
solve. There are lockers and other
elements I didn't get to unlock because
I have to find codes and all these other
things. So, there's all these small
little elements and all these small
little nuances and things that are
happening in this game that just I don't
know, it's shaping up to be something
I'm really damn excited to play. So,
when that time comes, we'll have to see
what it's like wandering through the
labyrinth of Hellraiser Revival. For all
that stuff, stay here at GameSpot and
listen to me talk about it. Thanks.