Games
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser “Revived” as Video Game
Sex, bloody torture, gore, cosmic terror, and whole lot of BDSM demons. The iconic Hellraiser franchise, known for its queer subtext and dark fantasy-terror, is fucking back…but maybe not the way you might expect. Saber Interactive, the company behind Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has unleashed the iconic franchise into the video game world with one terrifying trailer. This is Hellraiser: Revival.
The official blurb of the game introduces the story. Protagonist Aidan, who’s Girlfriend is taken into Hell after the Genesis Configuration (a puzzle box seemingly quite similar to the iconic Lament Configuration). He must use and unlock the secrets of the configuration to battle countless demons, Pinhead worshippers, and the Cenobites themselves to save her.
That’s not all for the story, though. Living legend Clive Barker, creator of The Hellbound Heart, and Director of the original film, reportedly helped on the story of the game, returning to the iconic franchise he created decades ago. He is quoted as saying, “Working on the first true Hellraiser game has been a venture deep into the recesses of my darkest imaginings.” With this in mind, one can it expect it to stay true to the roots of the series.
Graphic both in sex and violence, the trailer promises the look and feel of the classic film. It filled to the brim with cenobites, horrendous torture methods, and some deviously designed demons. The color palette is drenched in dark shadows and a menacing Hellscape.
Just a few days ago, the highly anticipated Saw: Genesis made a reveal that I don’t think anyone was prepared for: it will be a post-WW1 asymm. Much of that is confounding and beyond frustrating. While that news fell flat for many fans who have been waiting for a single-player Saw game in the style of its aught predecessors, we do have a light at the end of the tunnel. Though that light exists in a different tunnel. Following in the footsteps of games like Evil Dead: The Game, Halloween: The Game will contain more than its asymmetrical multiplayer.
The upcoming Halloween: The Game, developed and published by IllFonic and co-published by Gun Interactive, will drop players into Haddonfield for a six-chapter single-player story mode. Full of cinematic cut scenes with a [hopefully] fully realized story, the single player mode will offer players more than just an exciting story that builds on the Haddonfield we came to know and love from the original film. Players will fully inhabit The Shape as you slash and crash your way through Haddonfield, with story beats narrated by Dr. Loomis.
Play as Michael Myers in a Sandbox Horror Experience
Halloween: The Game‘s story mode takes a sandbox approach to its gameplay. Players can tinker with multiple ways to find, stalk, and kill victims. Whether you decide to silently stalk your victims to dispatch them one by one, or toying with them until you take them out with raw disregard…the choice is yours! Terrorizing the denizens of Haddonfield isn’t the only thing Story Mode will have to offer.
Each chapter will contain secondary challenges and collectibles (and hopefully a few trophies for those plat hunters like myself). Collectibles and successful challenge completions will result in new executions, scenarios, and lore, as well as unlocking exclusive story mode collectibles for multiplayer.
Halloween: The Game Release Date, Editions, and Platforms
Halloween: The Game is available now for digital pre-order. Set at $39.99 for the Standard Edition and $59.99 for the Deluxe Edition (which includes an exclusive Michael Myers skin, 2 exclusive civilians, and more), this game is set to slash its way onto PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on September 8, 2026.
Do you plan on taking a trip to Haddonfield, or does a six-chapter story mode not make up for the game’s asymm focus? If you’re on the fence, would a declaration that servers would be online for at least a year or two push you one way or another? I know it would for me.
Games
‘Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2’ Review: A Heart-Wrenching ‘90s Adventure with Unforgettable Choices
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a perfect jumping-off point if you’ve never played a Don’t Nod game. It shows you just how creative, original, and passionate the entire team is. Even the minor graphical glitches weren’t enough to take me out of the game one bit. That being said, I think Bloom & Rage is a game that will emotionally destroy many. Those of you who are in an emotionally vulnerable state, be warned because Tape 2 gets incredibly heavy, and if you’re not ready, you’ll be caught off guard. I said it best in my coverage of Tape 1 and want to end this review by reiterating that this game made me nostalgic for my childhood while also yearning for the one I never had.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 was a homerun for Don’t Nod Montréal. In the most recent episode of the Horror Press Podcast, I ranted about Y2K and my discontent with ‘90s nostalgia bait and that I almost dislike it more than ‘80s nostalgia bait. What I appreciated about Tape 1 is how it creates its own version of the ‘90s while remaining a referential timepiece. The ending of Tape 1 left me wanting more, and now that I’ve played through Tape 2 twice, and somehow got the same ending both times, I’m ready to talk about it.
Picking Up the Pieces: Tape 2’s Story Continues
Tape 2 picks up where Tape 1 left off. Present-day Swann Holloway (Olivia Lepore), Autumn Lockheart (Andrea Carter), and Nora Malakian (Amelia Sargisson) are at the Blue Spruce Bar in Velvet Cove. They’re reeling in their shared revelation of the night of the concert they put on 27 years ago in this very parking lot. The mystery box still sits in the center of the table as a beacon of what once was and what will be. We jump back and forth between the present and a post-concert 1995 and the fallout on the revelation of Kat Mikaelsen’s (Natalie Liconti) leukemia. But how the game ends, my dear players, is in your hands.
Before we get into it, I want to make sure I discuss two things I didn’t talk about in my coverage of Tape 1. First, we have an incredibly direct reference to a film that fits perfectly and has been confirmed as an easter egg. Swann’s license plate reads, “STV GLW”. This has been confirmed as a direct reference to Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow, which I thought was an incredibly sweet reference. We also get another great reference in a form that pays homage to another film that inspired this game (it seems), and that is Nora’s lighter, which is white and says, “Fire Walk With Me” on it—loved seeing that!
A Soundtrack That Haunts and Hypnotizes
I’m not sure why I didn’t cover it previously, but the other aspect of both tapes that makes the experience ethereal is the soundtrack. Much of the composed music for the game creates a hallucinogenic, dream-like atmosphere that sets the soundtrack miles apart from others. But the songs that resonate the hardest are those from duo Milk & Bone (Laurence Lafond-Beaulne and Camille Poliquin) and Ruth Radelet. Without the whimsical ambiance they created, this game would not be what it is. And then we have See You In Hell by Nora Kelly, which I’ve been humming to myself over and over since I finished the game.
Tape 2 ups the ante from Tape 1 in a way I wasn’t sure they could pull off. Even though the game is rated M, Tape 1 felt a little safe. Tape 2 takes the training wheels off and lets you know fairly early that we’re not here to mess around. Each second feels like an eternity; each decision is heavier than before. The writers (Desiree Cifre, Nina Freeman, and Jean-Luc Cano) crafted four wonderfully complex teenage characters, and seeing how what happened (in your playthrough) forms the clay of their present-day selves is a feat that many choose your own adventure games fail to pull off. I have never felt so deeply about a set of characters in a video game until now. (Even though my playthrough made me dislike Autumn quite a bit.)
Final Thoughts: Nostalgia Meets Yearning
