Steam free taster is Silent Hill meets Twin Peaks and the best metroidvania we've played all year

Steam is packed-full of awesome demos at the moment, and we’ll always cherish them. In today’s climate, every video game purchase feels like a commitment so it’s always good to try before you buy.

Some of these demos have quickly gone viral, like BOMBANANA! which has you and two friends disarm an explosive with one of your senses missing.

One we’re yet to see get the attention it deserves though is Silver Pines, a survival horror metroidvania that’ll appeal to Resident Evil and Silent Hill fans alike.

Developed by Wych Elm and published by Team17, Silver Pines feels like a darker take on Twin Peaks, where private investigator Red Walker is on the hunt for a missing musician called Eddie Velvet.

His investigation takes him to an island town where things just aren’t quite right, and it’s up to the player to explore the island, mingle with the locals and see if you can find out what happened to Eddie.

Its description reads: “Fight nightmarish terrors and solve puzzles, while carefully managing your scarce resources as you uncover the mysteries that could hold the key to redemption.”

The demo takes you through the opening portion of the game, and while it’s quite linear the full game won’t be.

The island looks vast and given how it’s a metroidvania there’s going to be a lot of back-tracking. For instance some paths will likely be blocked until passing a trigger in the main, or you might need a special tool or key to unlock the path ahead.

Team17

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What we’re really excited for however is an honest-to-God detective game. From what we’ve seen and played in the game Silver Pines isn’t going to be holding your hand. It’ll be entirely up to you to solve its puzzles, interview its characters and put the pieces together so you know where to go next.

Then you’ll have to face off against the deadly creatures spotted in the trailer, and since it’s a survival horror we can’t imagine these will be easy to overcome.

Everything about Silver Pines screams quality so far, which is why we’d love to put it on more people’s radars.

If you like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Twin Peaks or all three, Silver Pines looks like a game for you. Don’t believe us? Give the demo a go on Steam and see for yourself.

When is Silver Pines launching and which platforms will it be available on?

While the demo is available now the full game won’t be out until October 8, just in time for the spooky season.

Silver Pines will obviously launch on PC, but horror fans should be excited to hear that it'll be out on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 as well.

It’d probably feel right at home on Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus, but no news has been shared on that front yet.

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