Hellraiser: Revival is gross, stressful and one of the best looking horror games CMoney has played. An hour in, he had to stop at 2 AM.
Saber Interactive provided hands-on access to the game at Summer Game Fest 2026.
Verdict Play It Now
I went into Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival already a believer. I got my hands on it at Summer Game Fest 2026 and it surprised me, in a good way. So when it was time to play it at home, I figured I knew what I was getting. I didn’t. What I played at the show was a much more normal experience: a gun, some puzzles, some shooting. What I played at home was the opening of the game, and about an hour in I had to put the controller down at 2 AM because I needed to decompress. That’s not a complaint. That’s the review of the vibe.
It's the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in a game, but somehow it's one of the best looking games.
CMoney, OnPoint 4 Gamers
What you're getting into
Hellraiser: Revival is a first-person action horror survival game from Saber Interactive and Boss Team Games. You play as Aidan. He and his girlfriend Sunny get their hands on a puzzle box called the Genesis Configuration, and things go about as well as you’d expect if you know anything about Hellraiser. The game is about using the power of that box to get Sunny out of the Labyrinth, surviving your bargain with Pinhead, and fighting a cult that worships the Cenobites.
Quick confession: I have not watched the Hellraiser movies. Not one. And it still grabbed me.
It launched October 8, 2026 on Xbox Series X|S and PC through Steam, with the Standard Edition at $39.99 and a Deluxe Edition at $49.99. It’s Xbox Play Anywhere and if you own it you can also play it through Xbox Cloud Gaming with a Game Pass Essential, Premium or Ultimate membership. I played a pre-release build back on September 25, before launch, so keep that in mind as you read.
The opening goes hard
The setup is just Aidan, Sunny and the box, and then it all goes wrong in the ugliest way possible. I said out loud that this one should probably be labeled rated R, and I meant it. The game is rated M, and it earns every letter of that rating in the first few minutes. Then I found myself in the Labyrinth, and the Cenobites asked me if I wanted to receive their “eternal pleasures.” Never say yes to this offer. I said yes.
Graphically, this is crazy
Here’s the thing I kept coming back to. This game looks amazing. The lighting is crazy. Even when it was intense, I was captivated, because it’s stunning to look at at the same time. The Labyrinth sections are dark and twisted, and the game is smart about it: go the wrong way and it quietly brings you back around. It also feels good to control, which matters a lot when a giant monster is standing in front of you and all you can say is “don’t be afraid of me, I’m afraid of you.”
Welcome to the Scarlet Church
After the Labyrinth, Aidan wakes up somewhere worse: the holy chambers of the Scarlet Church, a cult run by a guy named Marlo. They drugged him. They apologize for it, kind of. They want to know how he got the Genesis Configuration to glow, because it went missing from their possession and turned up with him. Marlo is a great villain. He’s polite in the creepiest way, and he has a “Picasso with a scalpel” named Bruno on staff, which tells you everything about what this cult does for fun.
From there you’re on your own inside the church, patching yourself up, scrounging materials, reading notes, and finding out the cult went after Sunny before any of this started.
The most disgusting thing I've seen in a game
I have to be honest with you. There is one display in this church that is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in a game in my life. It’s hard to watch. And somehow, at the exact same time, this is one of the best looking games I’ve played. That’s Hellraiser: Revival in one sentence. It makes you want to look away, and it looks too good to look away.
One lockpick, no pressure
The Cenobites offer you eternal pleasures. What do you do?
Vote and see what other Xbox fans think.
Like having a say? Get OnPoint Weekly or argue it out on Discord.
There’s some old-school stuff mixed in too. Lockpicking works like the oldest style of lockpicking in games: rotate the pin, then turn the lock, and don’t strain it too long. I had exactly one lockpick. I broke it. Then I found more, got through the next one, and redeemed myself.
Not this place again
Then the game sends you back to the other side, and that’s when it got me. I was being chased with no idea where to go, I could feel him right behind me, I hit a dead end, and I died. And there was no checkpoint right before it. I ran it again. I screamed a lot. At around 2 AM my time I saved, called it, and told everyone watching I had to stop, because I couldn’t play this that late at night. I wanted to keep going. My nerves didn’t.
Verdict: Play It Now
This is not what I played at Summer Game Fest, and I mean that as a compliment. Saber Interactive, you guys are on another level with this one. Hellraiser: Revival is intense, it’s stressful, it’s gross in a way that’s going to stick with me, and it’s also flat out one of the best looking horror games I’ve played. If you can handle the gore, this is a real Hellraiser game, and it’s out now on Xbox Series X|S and PC. Just maybe don’t start it at midnight.
This is not a review, so there’s no score here.
Screenshots captured by OnPoint 4 Gamers from gameplay of a pre-release build. Featured image: OnPoint 4 Gamers, built on an official Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival screenshot (Saber Interactive / Boss Team Games).
Sources
- Xbox Store listing (developer, publisher, Oct 8 2026 release, $39.99, Xbox Play Anywhere, cloud playable, M rating)
- Steam store page (release date, developer, publisher)
- Saber Interactive and Boss Team Games release date press release, Jun 16 2026 ($39.99 Standard, $49.99 Deluxe)
- Saber support FAQ (released Oct 8 2026, 8 to 12 hour playthrough)
- Frank's We Doin' It LIVE session, Sep 25 2026 (opinions, gameplay details, screenshots)
