Ever wonder what happens when Clive Barker's Hellraiser collides with the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40K? Saber Interactive's new horror game, Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, might just answer that question. And if you're a fan of Slaanesh or the Emperor's Children, you're in for a twisted treat.
The game kicks off with a BDSM-tinged sex scene before introducing the iconic Hell Priest Pinhead and his Cenobite cohort, who proceed to tear the protagonist's partner Sunny to shreds. It's gruesome, but the victim doesn't seem to object—even if our hero Aidan does. He soon escapes a torture den and lands in a sex club, both run by a Cenobite-worshipping cult called the Scarlet Church. Just as Aidan tries to leave this nightmare behind, Sunny's disembodied voice lures him back, pleading for liberation.
That's when the Warhammer 40K connections start screaming. The Emperor's Children legion are Space Marines turned full-time thrill seekers for the Chaos god Slaanesh, chasing pleasure and sensation above all else. Their origin story? They found themselves in a temple of hedonism surrounded by creatures called the Laer in the throes of ecstasy, when a siren song called to their hearts. Much like Aidan, they responded with violence as a natural instinct, while the whisperer in their ears pulled them further along the pathway to something beyond their comprehension.
Stepping into Hellraiser: Revival's Labyrinth, Aidan could just as easily be one of the Emperor's Children. The otherworldly sights are fear-inducing but also alluring. Leather-wrapped enemies lash out when you interrupt their enjoyment, using violence as both a defense mechanism and a conduit to sensation—just as the Laer might. Even back in the human realm, the Scarlet Church's home feels ripped from the pages of Warhammer 40,000's grimdark universe. Mutilated corpses hang from ceilings while painted canvases stand proudly on easels, echoing imagery from the Horus Heresy novel Fulgrim and its Emperor's Children spaceship. We even see a high-ranking cult member performing surgery on a living person, much like the infamous Fabius Bile.
It's impossible to delve into Hellraiser without thinking of Warhammer. Both the Cenobites and worshippers of Slaanesh represent an obsession that has seen them go beyond the accepted limits of society, and the result is as harrowing as it is intoxicating. I turn the corners of Revival's in-game world with the same cautious curiosity as I do the pages of Fulgrim, enraptured by the sights both stories have to show me.
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival launches as a true love letter to the original movies, with Pinhead's return being glorious. If you're a Warhammer 40K sicko—especially a Slaanesh fan—this one's calling your name. Will you be picking it up?
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