Silver Pines reviews are in ahead of tomorrow’s launch

Silver Pines launches tomorrow, Thursday 8 October, and it arrives with the sort of reception few independent games ever get. The debut from Wych Elm Games, published by Team17, mixes old-school survival horror with metroidvania exploration in a half-abandoned small town in America. Reviews went live on 6 October, and its OpenCritic average sits at 87. Critics broadly agree on the atmosphere and the exploration, far less on the combat, and that’s the thing to bear in mind before you dive in.

At a glance

Silver Pines, a horror metroidvania set in a forgotten town

You play Red Walker, a private investigator who turns up in Silver Pines, a town half-abandoned and half-forgotten, on the trail of a missing musician called Eddie Velvet. That’s how Team17 introduced the game in its Steam pre-order announcement. The store page describes it as a survival horror metroidvania, built around puzzles and scarce resources you have to manage.

As you play, the map opens up as you find new items, metroidvania-style, while the cramped inventory harks back to early Resident Evil. Max Williams, who reviewed the game for GamesRadar, gives a neat example: the crowbar pulls down wooden boards and doubles as a melee weapon, but it takes up more room than the box cutter. You’ll be moving, combining and stashing items in storage boxes all the time.

Visually, the game leans on hand-painted, rotoscoped animation and a grey, neo-noir mood that DualShockers and Gamer Social Club both compare to Twin Peaks. If exploration-first indie metroidvanias are your thing, our Well Dweller review and its take on exploration makes a useful point of comparison.

Early Silver Pines reviews praise the atmosphere

On the OpenCritic page collecting Silver Pines reviews, the game holds an 87 top critic average, with 95% of critics recommending it across 20 reviews published on 6 October. OpenCritic places Silver Pines in the 98th percentile of games scored on the site.

The highest marks come from CGMagazine, where Marcus Kenneth awards it 10 out of 10 and calls it a masterpiece blending gorgeous animation, a compelling mystery and rewarding exploration. Stephanie Watel gives it 9.5 for DualShockers, and Duuro Magazine also hands out a perfect 10. At GamesRadar, Max Williams singles out the pacing, both in the story and in how you progress, plus a camera system that helps you keep track of mysteries and locations.

He also calls it “powerfully gripping from start to finish”, carried by an investigation where reality itself comes into question. Comparisons with Silent Hill and Resident Evil crop up in several reviews, from Pure Dead Gaming to SECTOR.sk, which scores it 8 out of 10. Pure Dead Gaming goes as far as calling it a must-play for fans of both series.

Combat is the weak spot critics keep raising

Not every review is quite so glowing. Gamer Guides gives it 73 out of 100, the lowest score so far: Jarrod Garripoli sees a decent metroidvania with solid survival horror, let down by poor combat. Clunky combat comes up as the main criticism from several critics, including some who score the game very highly.

Richard Seagrave gives it 9 out of 10 at GameSpew, describing a stunning debut held back by clumsy fights. Spanish site PCMGAMES recommends it while flagging the same stiffness. That’s not necessarily a deal-breaker in survival horror, a genre where avoiding a fight is often the smart move, but it’s worth knowing before you buy.

Silver Pines price, platforms and demo

Silver Pines costs £21.99 on Steam, and the pre-order currently shows a 10% discount, bringing it to £19.79. It’s also coming to the Epic Games Store, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2 and Switch. A demo has been available on Steam since 1 June if you want to try before you buy.

If you’re after more indie horror this autumn, End of Abyss and its sci-fi horror came out on 1 October. Silver Pines arrives tomorrow, and Hitbox Magazine will publish its own review.