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Early reviews of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, released October 8, 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, are sharply split. Critics praise its atmosphere, visual and sound design, and fidelity to the Hellraiser franchise. They fault uneven gameplay, combat that often lacks impact, some repetitive Labyrinth sections, and technical shortcomings. Whether it’s worth buying depends mostly on which of those matters more to you.

What the game is

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is a first-person action-horror survival game. Its Steam listing describes a story in which Aidan uses the Genesis Configuration puzzle box while trying to help Sunny escape the Labyrinth and confronts a cult devoted to the Cenobites. Steam identifies Saber Interactive as both developer and publisher. In a PlayStation.Blog developer post published July 16, 2026, Saber Interactive representative Emil Esov said the team had worked on the game for “4+ years.”

What critics praised and criticized

The reviews agree on more than the scores suggest. Most of the disagreement is about execution rather than the premise.

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Praise: atmosphere, presentation, and franchise fidelity

  • Atmosphere and sound. Reviewers repeatedly single out the mood and audio design as the game’s strongest elements.
  • Visual design. The Hellraiser look and the Labyrinth’s setting are described as a major draw.
  • Respect for the source. MeriStation praises the story’s fidelity to the franchise and says it feels like entering a new film in the saga. Its reviewer, Roberto Barragán, wrote: “El juego es una continua celebración de la violencia y el brutalismo. Parece una nueva película de la saga.” Translation: “The game is a continuous celebration of violence and brutalism. It feels like a new film in the saga.” (MeriStation review)

Criticism: gameplay, repetition, and technical problems

  • Inconsistent execution. Critics describe uneven gameplay across the game’s parts.
  • Combat. MeriStation calls combat functional but lacking impact.
  • Repetition. The same review says some Labyrinth sections become repetitive, and other critics describe some sections as overlong.
  • Technical shortcomings. Several reviews report technical problems, though the coverage reviewed here does not catalogue specific bugs or performance figures.

MeriStation’s reviewer found the adaptation and story effective while calling the gameplay competent but unexceptional. Its playthrough took 14–15 hours on the highest difficulty; that is one reviewer’s run, not a guaranteed completion time.

#1 Best Overall
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival - PlayStation 5
  • A New Story in Hellraiser's Canon – Unwittingly kickstart Pinhead’s ritual to unleash greater pain and pleasure than ever before.
  • Harness the Power of the Box – Combine the unique, hellish abilities of the Configuration with an arsenal of earthly weapons to inflict bone-breaking, flesh-searing pain - or is it pleasure? - upon masochistic enemies.
  • Fight Against Unholy Enemies – Take on hell's wretches, deviants, cultists, and even its most infernal priests in a story-driven horror survival game.

Pure Xbox’s news editor, Fraser Gilbert, summed up the mood of launch day: “One of the games we mentioned in today’s ‘out now’ article is Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, and looking at the initial reviews that have been published over the past few hours, it’s hard to know what to make of this one.” (Pure Xbox launch roundup)

The numbers, and why they should not be combined

The figures below come from different sources and measure different things. They are launch-day snapshots and will change as more reviews arrive. Do not average them into a single score.

Rank #2
Evil West (PS5)
  • This physical version of the Evil West includes a Wild Wild Easter pack! Tear off undead new while looking fancy like a devil with a new outfit and five weapon skins.
  • Fight alone or with a friend in a stylish, bloody action battle
  • Myths i legendy opowiadane w stylizowanym, dziwnym wszechświecie dzikiego zachodu
  • Grow with extras, weapons and upgrade tools
  • Explore and fight in a story-based campaign to save America
Figure Source and measure Scope and date
9/10 to 4.5/10 Early review score range reported by Digital Citizen Its October 8, 2026 launch article; a reported range, not a census of all reviews
69 Metacritic score on PS5, as reported by Pure Xbox October 8, 2026; PS5 had the most reviews at that point
74 Metacritic score on PC and Xbox, as reported by Pure Xbox October 8, 2026; reported together for the two platforms
96% positive from 476 reviews Steam user reviews, a player signal rather than critic consensus Steam page accessed October 8, 2026

Read the Metacritic numbers as platform-specific critic snapshots. The Steam percentage reflects player sentiment on one storefront and says nothing about how critics scored the game. The Digital Citizen launch roundup is the source for the 9/10 to 4.5/10 range.

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Who the game is likely to suit

The split maps onto a few questions you can ask yourself before buying:

Rank #3
Sale
Perp The Persistence Enhanced Amélioré(e) Anglais PlayStation 5
  • PS5 Features include raytracing modes and immersive haptic feedback for DualSense
  • Use darkness and cover to avoid being overwhelmed by the ship's deadly new inhabitants
  • Seek out the weapon fabricators to increase your firepower as you journey deeper, into the dark and terrifying depths, but beware ammo is limited
  • Gather materials & schematics for weapon upgrades and suit customizations with buffs
  • Harvest DNA material to improve health, toughness and defensive capabilities.Survive an ever changing labyrinth. Each and every expedition into The Persistence will be disorienting and different.Death is just the beginning. Fatal encounters will result in Zimri's consciousness being uploaded into a new cloned body, ready to try again, with any upgraded stats, suits & weapon schematics kept to aid the next attempt to save the ship
  • Do you value a faithful Hellraiser experience above all? Reviewers who loved the atmosphere and story were most willing to forgive the rough edges.
  • Do you need tight, impactful combat? If so, the criticism of combat and repetitive sections is the part most likely to frustrate you.
  • Are you sensitive to technical issues at launch? Consider waiting for patches and a fuller spread of reviews if performance matters to you.
  • Can you handle graphic and sexual content? See the content section below before buying.

This article draws on the published reviews and store listings, not on hands-on testing.

Age rating and content

The ESRB rates the game Mature 17+ for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs. Its summary describes a man trying to rescue his girlfriend from supernatural forces. The ESRB rating page is the official US rating.

Rank #4
Broken Pieces PS5
  • DEEP THRILLING ATMOSPHERE - Explore the sleepy Saint-Exil region through a deep environmental narrative and discover a cult obsessed with sending sinners out to sea and why the military so obsessed with small, sleepy French coastal town?

The developer-provided content description on the Steam game page adds more detail:

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  • Torture and consensual mutilation
  • Drug, alcohol, and tobacco use
  • Non-explicit consensual sex
  • Narrative themes including suicide, domestic abuse, BDSM practices, and addiction
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Price and editions

Prices change, and the figures below reflect the store pages as accessed on October 8, 2026.

Storefront Edition Listed price
PlayStation Store (US), PS5 Standard $39.99
PlayStation Store (US), PS5 Deluxe $49.99
Xbox Store (US), Xbox Series X|S Listed edition $39.99
Steam, PC Listed edition Not comparable: the page displayed the price in yen when accessed

Check the store page for the Deluxe edition’s contents before choosing between editions, and confirm the price at checkout.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 2
Evil West (PS5)
Evil West (PS5)
Fight alone or with a friend in a stylish, bloody action battle; Myths i legendy opowiadane w stylizowanym, dziwnym wszechświecie dzikiego zachodu
$44.99
SaleBestseller No. 3
Perp The Persistence Enhanced Amélioré(e) Anglais PlayStation 5
Perp The Persistence Enhanced Amélioré(e) Anglais PlayStation 5
PS5 Features include raytracing modes and immersive haptic feedback for DualSense; Use darkness and cover to avoid being overwhelmed by the ship's deadly new inhabitants
$18.18
Bestseller No. 4
Bestseller No. 5

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.