Silver Pines is a survival horror game that feels like a lost relic from the 1990s, both in its approach to gameplay and its fascination with strange, unsettling stories. Developed by Wych Elm and published by Team17, it follows private investigator Red Walker as he searches for missing musician Eddie Velvet in a remote American town on the verge of a devastating storm. What initially seems like a straightforward missing-person investigation soon descends into something far more disturbing, with peculiar inhabitants, unexplained phenomena and monstrous creatures lurking around almost every corner. Its influences are hardly subtle, particularly when it comes to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, but the combination of psychological horror, resource management and interconnected exploration gives Silver Pines a compelling identity of its own.
The narrative is deliberately cryptic, with Walker receiving instructions through public telephones and encountering people whose conversations frequently raise more questions than they answer. The abandoned town gradually reveals its history through environmental details, documents and discoveries scattered throughout its locations, encouraging players to piece together what happened rather than simply follow a sequence of explicit explanations. This approach suits the unsettling atmosphere, and the mystery becomes increasingly engaging as the investigation develops. However, the deliberately obscure dialogue and slow early progression can make it difficult to understand what the game wants to communicate. Its debt to Twin Peaks is particularly apparent in its characters, locations and surreal encounters, sometimes to the point where inspiration threatens to overshadow originality. Nevertheless, players willing to embrace its peculiarities will find a story with enough secrets to reward thorough exploration, multiple endings to pursue and additional context to uncover by reaching its more conclusive outcomes.
Silver Pines combines survival horror with a side-scrolling structure that borrows heavily from the metroidvania genre. Its town is a surprisingly intricate place, filled with locked doors, concealed passages, shortcuts and obstacles that cannot be overcome until Walker finds the appropriate equipment. A new tool can transform a previously frustrating dead end into an invitation to revisit an earlier area, while weapons can also serve practical purposes beyond combat, such as breaking through barriers. The map is well designed, with locations connecting in ways that make the town feel like a coherent place rather than a collection of isolated levels. The ability to record useful visual details and place them on the map is another welcome feature, helping players remember suspicious objects and unresolved puzzles without constantly relying on external notes. The downside is that backtracking can become repetitive, particularly for those who prefer a more direct narrative adventure. Some puzzles also rely on finding oddly placed objects rather than making especially satisfying deductions, but the overall exploration loop remains one of the game’s strongest elements.
Combat is built around vulnerability rather than power. Walker is no action hero, and his limited stamina, sluggish movement and relatively cumbersome handling make even ordinary encounters potentially dangerous. Firearms provide a useful means of dealing with enemies, but ammunition is scarce enough that shooting everything in sight is rarely a sensible strategy. Melee weapons offer an alternative, although their durability gradually deteriorates and must be restored with the appropriate supplies. Players must therefore weigh the cost of fighting against the possibility of avoiding enemies altogether, especially when health items and replacement ammunition are in short supply. The limited inventory adds another layer of decision-making, forcing players to prioritise essential equipment and leave less immediately useful items in storage. This creates a convincing sense of survival, although the balance occasionally tips from tense to frustrating when enemies absorb considerable punishment or encounters demand more resources than expected.
There is a reasonable selection of weapons, while equippable Mementos introduce passive bonuses and abilities that can influence Walker’s capabilities. These provide some welcome customisation and can help players prepare for particular challenges, although their effects do not always feel substantial enough to produce dramatically different playstyles. Healing items and ammunition can also be purchased from vending machines using money found throughout the town, while public telephones serve as save points for a small fee. These systems reinforce the game’s old-school survival horror sensibilities, encouraging players to think about preparation as much as immediate survival. Boss encounters put that preparation to the test, with limited supplies making it important to conserve ammunition before reaching them. Unfortunately, combat is less convincing in execution than in concept. Aiming without a conventional on-screen reticle makes shooting feel deliberately uncertain, but reloading and evasive manoeuvres can also feel awkward, particularly when several enemies close in at once. The relatively small selection of enemy types and their predictable behavior further reduce the variety of encounters over time.
The visual presentation is arguably Silver Pines’ greatest achievement. Rather than adopting pixel art or pursuing conventional realism, Wych Elm combines painted environments with character animations created using rotoscoping techniques. The result is distinctive, with movements that possess a convincing physical weight while retaining an uncanny quality that fits the game’s nightmarish world. Deep shadows, gloomy skies, rain-soaked streets and isolated buildings turn familiar locations into places that feel subtly wrong. Diners, apartment blocks, cemeteries and abandoned businesses convey the impression of a community that has vanished without leaving the world entirely empty. Lighting and weather reinforce the atmosphere, while the contrast between the detailed surroundings and the disturbing creatures inhabiting them helps the horror stand out. Some monster designs are less memorable than the environments, and certain scripted encounters can feel artificial, particularly when previously cleared rooms suddenly produce fresh threats. Even so, the art direction gives Silver Pines a character that distinguishes it from more conventional independent horror releases.
The audio complements that visual identity effectively. Karl Flodin’s soundtrack draws on the dreamlike, melancholic mood associated with classic psychological thrillers, creating an uneasy balance between moments of relative calm and more ominous passages. The music helps establish a sense of impending danger without needing to make every encounter overtly frightening, and its quieter moments give the town room to breathe. Voice acting is another strength, lending personality to the eccentric characters and making their strange conversations more convincing. These performances help sustain interest when the narrative deliberately withholds information, although they cannot entirely compensate for dialogue that occasionally feels cryptic for its own sake. The game is more successful at creating persistent unease than delivering outright terror: its most effective moments often come from exploring an empty location or wondering what might be waiting beyond the next door, rather than from the monsters themselves.
On PlayStation 5, Silver Pines delivers a generally solid technical experience. The unusual animation style can make movement feel slightly cumbersome during frantic encounters, but that awkwardness also reinforces Walker’s vulnerability, even if it sometimes compromises responsiveness. The broader experience benefits from a manageable world size and a structure that encourages careful exploration rather than endless wandering. At roughly ten hours for a playthrough, the adventure has room to develop its mystery without overstaying its welcome, while four difficulty settings, three endings and New Game+ unlockables provide reasons to return. Players who enjoy completing challenges under specific restrictions may find additional incentive to experiment with different approaches on subsequent runs.
Silver Pines is an accomplished debut that understands why classic survival horror remains appealing. Its interconnected map, restrictive inventory, limited resources and atmospheric presentation work together to create an adventure in which exploration is as important as combat. The narrative is intriguing, even if its conspicuous influences and occasional lack of clarity prevent it from feeling entirely original, while the combat system could have benefited from more responsive controls and greater enemy variety. Those shortcomings are significant enough to keep the experience from reaching its full potential, but they rarely undermine the pleasure of discovering another secret or opening a previously inaccessible route. For fans of old-school survival horror, metroidvania exploration and surreal mysteries, Silver Pines is well worth investigating. It may borrow heavily from familiar works, but its distinctive visual style and carefully constructed atmosphere make this journey into the unknown a worthwhile one, and perhaps one of this season’s best.
Score: 8.8/10