Suffering from amnesia in the PNW, at least there’s coffee…
I watch a lot of showcases every year. I’ve seen thousands of trailers this year alone. The things that look even the tiniest bit cool get added to my wishlist. Once the game comes, I either get a chance to review it, or I check what fellow reviewers have to say and make the decision on whether to purchase or not. I know none of these is special or out of the ordinary. I bring it up simply to quantify the following; it’s not often that a game comes out that is tailor made for me that I had no prior knowledge of. Somehow a game mixing elements of David Lynch films and the X-Files TV show, survival horror tropes from the Silent Hill and Resident Evil franchises, rotoscoped animations that hearken back to games I loved like Flashback and Another World, and gameplay that borrows heavily from the Metroidvania genre completely passed my by. It would be harder to develop a game more for more in a lab with the people who know me best. And yet, I did miss Silver Pines. This, admittedly, late to the party review is because a lot of us missed Silver Pines. Thankfully, the internet spaces I’m a part of just would not shut up about Silver Pines.
Silver Pines is the debut game from developer Wych Elm Games, a small indie studio based in Norway and Sweden. The game, which was published by team 17, sees players take control of Private Investigator Red Walker as he tracks down the whereabouts of musician Eddie Velvet. Walker wakes up in the pacific northwest town of Silver Pines with a slight bit of amnesia. After leaving the diner we start in, Walker is contacted via payphone by Mr. Jackman, the man responsible for sending Walker to find Velvet. He tells us to head to the local motel, the Crimson Bear, where Eddie had checked in. From there a deep, unsettling mystery unfolds as Walker puts together the clues about Eddie, the town, and all of the strange goings on. One of the coolest touches in Silver Pines is how the story is delivered.
MSRP: $24.99
Platforms: PlayStation (reviewed), XBOX, Switch,PC
Price I’d Pay: $24.99
The voice acting is very well done with some excellent performances that would feel right at home in a Lynch Movie. These dialogue sections never linger too long making the interactions with other characters something to look forward to rather than dread. Even cooler though are the little snippets of story we get through television programs that just so happen to air when we get near a TV set. The game takes place in 1993 so the shows we see, namely The Omega Report and Terminal Drive, mirror the tone and style of shows from that era. As someone who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s I can say they absolutely nailed the look and feel of the sensationalized broadcasts of the time. The information we do get from the TVs scattered about the town does not paint a particularly rosy picture of Silver Pines or the people who lived there. Those uneasy feelings are justified as we make our way through town and unravel more of the mystery.
Being a Metroidvania type game, the map becomes an interesting focal point early on. Wych Elm does a great job of highlighting areas that will be important eventually, neon glowing signs, padlocked doors, pitch black rooms, that players can take pictures of with a polaroid camera found right at the beginning of the game. Walker is a private investigator after all and as such, players are encouraged to take photos of interesting things. Those photos are then pinned to your map giving you the ability to reference them quickly when you find a new tool but cannot remember the exact spot where it would help. It’s a great system and works much better in my opinion than simply placing markers on the massive, interconnected maps found in most Metroidvania titles. The map itself is well done. It’s easy to read and understand and a useful part of the experience. Don’t expect any sort of traversal upgrades though. Walker is a regular guy who can walk, run a little bit, and jump. You expand the map through puzzles and tools, not double jumps and grav boots.
As you wander the map looking for information on Eddie Velvet you find that it’s pretty empty, early on anyway. You’ll meet a few people here and there but most everyone has left town because of the incoming storm. What you will also run into, and this where one of the game’s lesser aspects shows up, are monsters. The most common enemy type is a featureless humanlike creature. They attack Walker in slow, predictable movements. It is up to the player whether to engage or avoid. Dodging is relatively easy coming down to getting the timing right. Combat is a different story. Walker has melee and ranged weapons at his disposal. Melee weapons, like a box cutter, break down over time and need to be repaired using kits found in various areas on the map.
Ranged weapons, like shotguns and nail guns, pack much more oomph but take obviously, (survival horror remember) limited ammo. Combat is slow and deliberate. Walker is not a run and gun kind of guy, more of a ball up your fist, reach way back, and assert yourself man. It works but can be very frustrating, especially during the bigger boss fights. You are going to take damage and have to learn how to space, dodge, and attack effectively. There are charms scattered throughout the game that provide buffs to customize your play a bit but nothing too substantial. You do get buffs from drinking coffee though so make sure to brew a cup every chance you get. It’s fine but feels like it could be a touch better.
Where Silver Pines really stands out though is its presentation. This is one good looking game with beautiful, human-like animations. Rotoscoping is a time-consuming technique, where artists trace over footage one frame at a time. The resulting animation is incredibly accurate to human movement and really works in a game like this. Walker jumps realistically and hangs from ledges by the tips of his fingers. Running into a wall elicits an audible oof from Walker, accompanied by the awkwardness of a human actually running into a solid wall. It adds to the overall atmosphere of the game and was an excellent choice. The backgrounds are beautifully rendered. The interiors feel lived in and grimey. The lighting effects really add to the overall creepy vibe and the tone shift to saturated red during certain moments perfectly captures the tension of what is just around the corner. It’s a stunning game and one that I often just stopped to look at and appreciate.
It’s a testament to the magic of video games that something can pop up out of nowhere and just take hold of my focus. I’m a busy guy, work, kids, life, and yet Silver Pines broke through the noise. It takes elements and inspiration from some of the coolest properties/people and mashes them together into something new and beautiful. In a truly stacked year, it manages to stand out, no small feat for a new team. I cannot wait to see what they do next.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.