Silver Pines, the new release from developer Wych Elm Games, is earning praise as a survival horror throwback — with caveats. In a new write-up, Eurogamer calls the game "fantastic in a whole bunch of ways," citing its woozy small-town ambience and a blend of taut survival horror with an unexpected Metroidvania structure.

The Metroidvania twist is the surprise here: rather than the linear, resource-starved corridors typical of the genre's classic era, Silver Pines layers in interconnected exploration and ability-gated progression, giving its haunted small town more structural ambition than its retro presentation suggests.

But the homage cuts both ways. Eurogamer's critic flags the return of "those bloody typewriters" — the save-point friction of old-school survival horror — and concludes that playing Silver Pines makes them glad the genre has moved on from some of its vintage conventions.

The timing is apt: a new survival horror release landing on Halloween weekend gives genre fans an obvious seasonal pick, warts, typewriters and all.