Silver Pines review praises ambience, faults coin-operated phone-box saves

Eurogamer put out its Silver Pines review on Oct. 31, 2026, calling the game a debut survival horror Metroidvania from Wych Elm Games.

Eurogamer praised the ambience and painterly 2D artwork, calling the town’s mood dishevelled melancholy and describing the world as layers of striking 2D art lost in controlled shadow. Eurogamer says the game begins in a darkened 1950s diner with boarded windows as the town waits for an approaching storm, and an ambient synthline under wind, rain and wailing lost souls keeps the soundscape near ASMR. A ringing phone box in the parking lot offers cryptic talk about a missing musician and a motel room.

Eurogamer also praised how the town connects and how the Metroidvania map lays out the town. Progress depends on tools such as a box cutter for cutting through sealed plastic and a pistol for breaking rusty padlocks. Red says the way forward opens from the opposite side when he comes across previously blocked routes.

Eurogamer criticized the coin-operated phone-box save system, saying the save demands left the reviewer with a rocky relationship to the game from the start. The review explains that the player uses coins both to save at phone boxes and to buy supplies from vending machines, making every choice feel more perilous.

DualShockers links the phone booth saves to Resident Evil typewriters and ink ribbons. The same outlet notes safe rooms and herb-based healing items that fit seamlessly into the environment.

Wych Elm Games made Silver Pines as its first title, and Team17 serves as publisher. PlayStation Universe calls Wych Elm a fresh studio staffed by developers from Helldivers 2 and The Darkness.

The story centers on missing musician Eddie Velvet, and the player takes the role of Red Walker, a private investigator whose jittery demeanour and Valium drawl the reviewer notes. Silver Pines sits in a remote Oregon town, and Red Walker searches there for Eddie Velvet. The opening takes place in a dark, empty diner that feels like a dream, and a severe storm warning has cleared out most of the community by the time Red arrives.

Noisy Pixel says Eddie Velvet was last spotted on the town’s cable car alongside a missing local woman. Ammo, breakable melee weapons and scarce healing items mean survival resources are limited, and Noisy Pixel reports that almost every resource is finite, saves are scarce, and death can force a replay of five to ten minutes of play.

Eurogamer says the tight survival systems push players toward planning routes, watching enemies, counting bullets and rationing box cutter use. The reviewer states that once playtime passes five hours, the intentional throwback design becomes a struggle.

The pace moves languidly with pockets of staccato violence, and Eurogamer faults the deliberately stilted gunplay along with awkwardly stumbling melee combat. Noisy Pixel calls the default difficulty combat punishing, and PlayStation Universe describes the enemy AI as uncomplicated and the boss mechanics as straightforward.

The game owes a clear debt to David Lynch and Twin Peaks. DualShockers describes it as a love letter to David Lynch running from Twin Peaks through Blue Velvet and Lost Highway. ComicBook.com says the town, story and cast bring Twin Peaks and The X-Files to mind, while DualShockers places the action in a fog-filled town beside a lake and populates it with humanoid creatures that resemble the Lying Figures from Silent Hill 2.

The game features rotoscoped characters and a nightclub bar called The Rabbit Hole. Walker can snap photos of locations and attach them to the map so he remembers to come back later. The camera rests in the lower corner of the screen, and using it is optional. Noisy Pixel says the puzzles ask the player to remember details or combine objects instead of solving standalone brainteasers.

Noisy Pixel observes that Walker talks through his actions like Alan Wake, which makes the storytelling feel derivative. Movement lets Walker climb tall walls, hop across small gaps and descend to lower floors. The reviewer adds that some structures and walls can be climbed even when the game offers no climb prompt.

Using items triggers short mini-game-like sequences, and the inventory screen does not pause during encounters. Boss fights lock the player in the arena until the enemy is beaten. PlayStation Universe says the story moves Red Walker through increasing decay toward a flood that could swallow the town.

The local sheriff makes it clear he does not want Red Walker around. Players also pick up keepsakes called Mementos that alter how the game plays. Melee tools degrade with use, yet players can sidestep ordinary foes as easily as gathering parts for repair kits. Raising the difficulty adds more enemies and makes melee weapons wear out faster.

Some fights pit the player against bosses that fill the screen. At one point the player must track down five particular items before reaching the final part of the game. After that, progress leans on phone calls from a mystery man and sit-downs with the sheriff instead of steady story beats.

ComicBook.com puts the Metacritic average at 85 percent, higher than Silent Hill: Townfall at 80 percent and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival at 69 percent. It carries Steam Deck Verification, lists the standard edition at $22.49 on Steam with a 10 percent discount, and prices the same at $22.49 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Switch 2. The deluxe edition costs $28.79 and adds a soundtrack and art book. User feedback on Steam consists of a few reviews, and every one recommends the game.

Noisy Pixel calls the look 2D figures set against richly detailed atmospheric 3D backgrounds. PlayStation Universe describes a noir look built from solid colors and defined black shading that shifts as the light moves. DualShockers describes an early fight armed only with a box cutter from a gruesome scene, then shows the arsenal growing past a snub nose revolver to add rifles and shotguns.