“On rare occasions, we had team members request to be switched to a different project because they found it unpleasant to work on something [this] explicit.” So confesses Emil Esov, Game Director for Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, in a recent Q&A with Bloody Disgusting.
The fact that these transfer requests were submitted presumably didn’t come as a huge shock to Esov and the rest of management over at Saber Interactive (the parent company for his working studio, Mad Head Games). After all, the studio’s hotly anticipated title is being touted as a 100% authentic adaptation of its disreputable source material. And that means there’s no room for skimping on all the lurid depravity, kinky sex, and graphic violence that audiences have come to expect from this world of flesh-ripping chains and pain-worshiping demons.
Indeed, Saber has been rather vocal about how they aren’t willing to budge an inch when it comes to the salacious content in their upcoming release and how they are determined to push the ESRB Mature rating as far as it will possibly go. To the point where they are wearing it as a kind of punk-rock badge of honor.
It’d be uncharitable, then, to call anyone a shrinking violet if they admit that they’re not super comfortable working on the game. Hellraiser: Revival is properly hardcore stuff that’s designed to test the mettle of even the most hardened gorehounds, never mind those of a more sensitive disposition. It’s totally fair if you think it’s going to be too much for you!
Plus, between John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando and Jurassic Park Survival, Saber has plenty of other irons in the fire right now. So, you can hardly blame a dev for wanting to decamp this project in favor of something a little less extreme. Perhaps a title where they’re not constantly modeling naked bodies, animating graphic BDSM orgies, or refining depictions of grotesque viscera. You know, something that they can happily discuss with friends and family at civilized get-togethers.
Of course, with our website being named Bloody Disgusting, there was no need to be quite so coy with us. On the contrary, we were eager to hear from Esov about what Hellraiser: Revival has in store for fans, and what it’s like to work on an IP that’s notorious for testing the limits of what censors and mainstream audiences alike will stomach.
Here’s what we managed to find out from our chat with the man behind this latest affront to good taste.
Not Safe for Work
To his credit, Esov completely empathizes with those employees who requested to work on something milder, acknowledging: “It’s not for everyone […] To be honest, it is not always easy. We are looking at our game day in and day out, often iterating on very disturbing content.”
Nevertheless, he maintains that the majority of people who stuck around did eventually get desensitized to all the titillation and terror: “I can’t speak for everyone on our team, but for the most part I think we were comfortable from the start. Our studio is located in Serbia, and for good or bad, our country did not always follow strict rules about exposing children and young adults to stuff like this […] For example, I saw the original [Hellraiser] movie when I was 13 or something.”
Unflappable as the team might be, we still can’t imagine it’s always easy to keep your composure when working on something as willfully provocative as Revival. You’ll necessarily have to collaborate with others on raunchy scenes; it’s gonna be some poor guy’s job to make sure that the human genitals look photoreal, and the staff meetings are bound to have a few unorthodox items on the agenda.
When asked if this has ever led to communal outbreaks of blushing in the office, Esov replied: “You are right, it can get awkward. For example, when you design a sequence of gameplay, a cutscene, or an important narrative beat that involves explicit content, you need to talk to people and explain your vision. Maybe even act it out with some of them in order to really align on the direction of that particular scene. [However] most of us have worked together for a long time, and we have a relationship that goes beyond professional. So, it makes these things easier.”
He continued: “We are all adults, but still, it can be surreal talking about some of the things that we put in our game. It’s not even the explicit or sexual stuff that makes it surreal. It’s more the weirdness and the context of it. There is simply no way to give an example without spoiling some part of the game, but usually [those] conversations turn into inside jokes for our team.”
We Have Such Sights to Show You
Even without venturing into spoiler territory, we’re pretty confident that Hellraiser: Revival is going to stretch the boundaries of what a game can show without earning that prohibitive “Adults Only” certification from the ESRB (which is typically reserved for products that are outright pornographic).
We certainly got an eyeful of just about every taboo we can think of in the title’s multiple trailers, replete as they’ve been with full frontal nudity, bondage, and gruesome eviscerations. Some of the clips we’ve seen would be enough to redden the cheeks of Frank Cotton himself!
And that’s what audiences crave from this franchise! Not just the recognizable iconography of cenobites and infernal puzzle boxes; there’s got to be some sharp edges as well. After all, a tame Hellraiser isn’t really Hellraiser at all, and so it’s a relief that Saber appreciates this and won’t be pulling their punches when it comes to their take on the transgressive material.
About this, Esov affirmed: “We are fans ourselves. We studied a lot of what makes Hellraiser so unique and appealing, [and] believe that what we came up with captures that true essence both in theme and in audio-visual delivery.
“Unlike traditional horror titles, we do not want to simply scare the player. We want to make them feel discomfort.”
“To really be captivated and disgusted at the same time when […] We tried to weave this feeling into interactions, mechanics, story, and cutscenes. For example, there is this discomforting aspect of body horror in Hellraiser. We really made an effort to incorporate a lot of up-close situations where the player is looking at a body being violated in some way. Sometimes the body is that of the player, even!”
The thing is, over-the-top violence is fairly commonplace in video games nowadays. What’s more attention-grabbing — and arguably even more controversial for the censors—is that Revival is going to be equally committed to the sadomasochistic eroticism that defines Clive Barker’s original movie. Again, we refer you to those BDSM orgies from the trailers!
Reflecting on how that sexual angle has been received by the industry so far, Esov added: “The reaction [to sex and violence] is definitely different. And I do not think it’s just in video games, it is in all forms of entertainment, in my opinion. But it also often depends on the context. Violence for [violence’s sake] and sex [for the sake of sex] is not something that Hellraiser does. There is a reason for it. It is an integral part of Clive Barker’s work. Without it, it’s not Hellraiser. That said, I do think that this is the right moment for this type of game that pushes the envelope just a little bit.”
Intrigued by that last part, we asked Esov how conscious he is of the ratings boards’ various hangups and turn-offs, as well as what different companies will allow on their respective storefronts. Is it something that is always in the back of his mind when making the game, or does he not let it influence his decision-making one iota?
He answered: “To be honest, when we were starting, we just decided to not think too much about it, especially when we were in the most creative phase of the development. We [agreed] we needed to be 100% committed to delivering a true Hellraiser experience, and that meant that we needed to push the ratings as far as they can go. We engaged in preliminary discussions with some platforms, as we still need to be officially rated.”
When probed on if there are any particular parts of the game that he’s worried censors might balk at, Esov chuckled: “Hah! There are many parts that really approach the edge. Sometimes these are details, other times there are whole sequences. Unfortunately, I cannot describe anything without downright spoiling the story and the content of the game […] I am eager to hear what ESRB thinks of it!”
Explorers in the Further Regions of Experience
This being an interactive medium, the ESRB isn’t only going to be scrutinizing what you see in Hellraiser: Revival but also what you do.
For a bit of context, the game’s story is essentially a rescue mission in which you must free a paramour from eternal damnation, after a night of adventurous bedroom fun goes horribly awry. You see, when your girlfriend Sunny is lacerated by the “Genesis Configuration” mid-coitus, you inadvertently summon the extradimensional cenobites, and she gets dragged off to hell as recompense. Talk about killing the mood!
You’ll then embark on a quest to save her from unimaginable suffering by infiltrating a deranged cult, doing battle with all manner of gnarly beasties, and even facing off against the terrifying Pinhead. In terms of mechanics, there will, of course, be a lot of panicked running away and stealthy evasion on the cards. You know, the kind of disempowering, helpless horror that we’re all well acquainted with after racking up countless hours on Outlast and Amnesia.
However, Revival will also be blending these familiar antics with more action-oriented gameplay. Indeed, you’ll be able to give just as good as you get and inflict brutal punishment on certain foes, courtesy of the title’s bone-crunching melee and sticky gunfights. Not to mention, there’s a bit teased in one of the trailers wherein the game seems to transition from being a first-person shooter to a first-person spanker. Which is very on brand for Hellraiser, come to think of it.
Anyway, the point is you will inevitably need to get your hands dirty at some point. Teasing what this means for the player, Esov explained: “Sometimes they will be an active participant [in the adult content], sometimes they will be passive [observers], and occasionally there will be agency, so they’re not forced into looking at it.
“We did encounter some technical challenges [related to this], but nothing really major. If I had to pick one, it would probably be our dismemberment system for combat. We wanted the player to be able to cut off limbs from enemies and do gruesome stuff to them during combat, so we had to build this whole system and production pipeline in order to make it work. It required a lot of effort to be able to pull it off.”
If the promise of severed limbs, interactive body horror, and a Mature rating that actually lives up to the label doesn’t sell you on Hellraiser: Revival, then maybe this one is just not for you. And that’s fine because, by its director’s own admission, it’s not gonna be everyone. Company employees included.
Us sickos will probably love it, though.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S.
The post ‘Hellraiser: Revival’ Developers Aim to Deliver Authentic Clive Barker Experience Beyond Limits [Exclusive Interview] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.