First Impression
Take your favourite survival horror games of the past and mix them with a dose of psychological thriller with a graphic novel art style and you have Silver Pines. As the protagonist, you play the role of a detective tracking down a suspect in a mostly abandoned town. All the makings of a great survival horror are here: an eerie town to explore, an unsettling atmosphere, unexplained phenomena, lack of resources, a narrative full of mystery, puzzles, and challenging encounters all await you in the small American town of Silver Pines.
Target Audience
Fans of the genre or even those new to it that enjoy survival action wrapped up into a horror/psychological thriller setting should check this out. It’s well executed mixing exploration, survival horror and narrative into its own unique world. It feels both nostalgic, but also fresh at the same time.
Gameplay
The core gameplay is intriguing as it leans heavily into atmosphere, mystery and survival. As the developers have said this is a love letter to survival horror games of the past. The inspiration is obvious, from games like Resident Evil; however, Silver Pines also carves its own legacy by adding its own unique touches to the experience.
The game does a great job of setting the atmosphere and tone. This is accomplished through deliberate sound design allowing the use of silence to create suspense and unexpected sounds to develop tension. Most of the experience you are exploring the town of Silver Pines looking for clues of the whereabouts of the suspect you are searching for and working through various puzzles. Exploration and puzzles are genuinely fun because the atmosphere and tone immerse you into this world. There’s also an air of mystery as most things aren’t explained upfront adding to the overall intrigue and tension. This also makes its satisfying when you do solve a puzzle or figure out what to do. The game doesn’t hold your hand and this allows the player freedom to experiment and problem solve.
This experience is all about the details. For example, to save your progress you’ll need a coin and you’ll actually need to dial a number to give a progress report to your supervisor. It’s a small feature but one that makes you feel part of this world. Another small detail that really fits the setting is the ability to take photos and use them as a map marker reminding you of something you may want to revisit. This matches the whole detective vibe and also makes sense as a helpful feature for the player.
Combat is tense. You battle unexplained otherworldly phenomenon. As you would expect in a survival horror game, you are low on resources and must carefully choose when to engage, what weapon to use and if it’s even worth it in the first place. The itemization system is similar to what other games have done in the genre with the ability to combine items. A unique feature to the game is the real time reload that creates a mini game where you need to click the button at the right time to reload efficiently. This added feature makes encounters even more tense as you are trying to time your reloads appropriately while under pressure.
Narrative
The overall story has a noir and graphic novel style vibe to it. It’s mysterious but also poetic and a total psychological mind game. There’s not a lot of setup as you are thrown into the mix and for the most part are following clues to track down a suspect. This works incredibly well in this setup as the mystery adds to the intrigue of the game. Most of the narrative is told through dialogue and conversation. The voice acting is excellent. There are also plenty of questions as the narrative unfolds and the psychological thriller aspects are captivating and thought provoking leaving a lasting impression and making you want to uncover more of the secrets within this world.
Art & Design
The 2D stylized graphic novel aesthetic is perfect in the survival horror setting. The world is rendered in gritty tones and lit with spotlights leading that grab your attention and deep shadows that add to the eerie atmosphere. The graphic novel style with dark outlines creates contrast leaving a lasting impression of the world while the absence of fine details covers it in mystery. The minimalist design in the UI further adds to the immersion allowing you to focus on the objective and explore the setting. Overall, the art design is well executed and adds to the survival horror experience immensely.
Challenges
There are some challenges that aren’t necessarily flaws in the design but choices that match the genre and challenge the player. Like a lot of survival horrors games the combat can feel a bit clunky. I believe this is by design, which adds to the tension during encounters making even common enemies a potentially lethal threat.
The game also doesn’t necessarily hold your hand. This is exactly what we need more. You’re introduced to some mechanics but you are also left to discover others on your own. This allows the player to be creative and problem solve. It can be frustrating if you get stuck, but it can also feel incredibly rewarding to work your way through a puzzle or try something that you did not think of doing prior.
Closing Thoughts
Silver Pines has all the makings of a cult classic in the survival horror genre. It pays homage to the past while also moving forward and carving a legacy of its own. The combination of a well executed and eerie atmosphere, a narrative shrouded in mystery, tense combat encounters and excellent voice acting all add up to making this a special experience. It’s not too often that we come across something like this with such promise. If you’re at all interested in this genre or premise, check out Silver Pines.
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GAME DETAILS
PLATFORMS: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PS5
RELEASE: Oct 8th, 2026
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: Wych Elm / Team 17
GENRE/TAGS: Survival Horror, Psychological Thriller, Mystery, PVE, Narrative
TARGET AUDIENCE: Fans of the survival horror genre that enjoy the classic games but who are also looking for something new.
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