Silver Pines Review: A Survival Horror Throwback With a Metroidvania Twist That Makes Me Glad the Genre Moved On

Wych Elm Games' Silver Pines blends taut survival horror with exploratory Metroidvania design, following private investigator Red Walker through a 1950s small town steeped in David Lynch and Twin Peaks homage. Its painterly 2D art builds a drab, melancholy mood, but phone-box saves cost coins that are also the currency for ammo and supplies. Five hours in, the reviewer finds the deliberately old-school scarcity design a struggle, and is glad the survival horror genre has moved on.