What a month it's been for gaming. Genuinely, it's only the first week of October and it's already been phenomenal, with the likes of Gears of War: E-Day, Ace Combat 8 and Star Wars: Galactic Racer all scoring very highly.

And now, Silver Pines appears to be chucking its hat into the ring. Forget Game of the Year, the real contest is Game of the Opening Week in October!

For those of you who haven't the foggiest about Silver Pines, let me get you up to speed. It's a survival horror metroidvania set within a small town in America. Think Twin Peaks meets Silent Hill but it's a side-scroller with a killer aesthetic.

As I mentioned, the game is scoring very well, so let's take a look at what the critics are saying about Silver Pines:

CGMagazine (10/10)

"Silver Pines is a masterpiece. From gorgeous animation, to a compelling mystery, to gameplay that had me excited to explore the map and spend as much time as I could in the town of Silver Pines."

Radio Times (10/10)

"Silver Pines takes a swing at melding a detective mystery with Metroid level design and survival horror elements...and, thankfully, the developers totally stick the landing."

DualShockers (9.5/10)

"Silver Pines is a cerebrally divine love letter to David Lynch and all the narrative trademarks he was known for, from the cult classic Twin Peaks to Blue Velvet and Lost Highway. It digs even deeper to its spiritual successor Silent Hill, from the fog-filled streets to the nightmares that lurk with bared teeth, and embraces all those inspirations with the utmost grace and respect while still very much telling its own story. Combat can take a bit to get used to, but feels satisfying after a while with plenty of options at Walker's disposal. Meanwhile, the core investigation aspect of the game is well-executed if a bit unforgiving to the distracted player."

GamesRadar+ (9/10)

"Compelling, atmospheric, and brilliant, Silver Pines is a dive into mystery that's hard to put down and even harder to let go. It makes you feel like a detective, an action hero, and a man on the brink of uncovering horrifying darkness all at once."

Gamer Social Club (9/10)

"The town of Silver Pines is a wonderfully sinister place to explore, its story deep and intriguing, and presentation a horrific delight. Silver Pines is the best horror game you can play for Halloween 2026."

PlayStation Universe (8.5/10)

"Silver Pines tries to mesh two very different genres, combining survival horror with 2D Metroidvania. This makes for a refreshingly paced approach to the formula, asking you to step into the shoes of a down-on-his-luck detective as he tries to figure out what happened in Silver Pines. The horror elements may not weigh very heavily on the experience, but it helps to build intrigue for the Metroidvania side of the game, making it very compelling to explore the map. Silver Pines makes a name for itself in spades."

The Guardian (8/10)

"Silver Pines is a game to sit back and wallow in, like a private eye, kicking off his wingtip shoes and pulling that bottle of bourbon from the bottom drawer as rain trickles down the window and sodium street lights paint the walls a sickly shade of yellow."

Checkpoint Gaming (7/10)

"Silver Pines draws plenty of inspiration from its contemporaries, but unlike other love letters to gaming and television classics, it finds the means to make things its own. While it fails to sell me on the combination of the horror and Metroidvania genres, Silver Pines’ fascinating premise, thought-provoking ending, and remarkable art direction kept me seated from beginning to end."

So, there you have it! Silver Pines seems to be making waves with critics, with the game currently holding an 87 (93% recommended) rating on Opencritic.

As it stands, the PS5 version is sitting at 91 on Metacritic, which is brilliant, however there only seems to be one Xbox review (Gamer Social Club). Overall though, things are looking very positive for Wych Elm's first game. We'll leave you with a quick description of Silver Pines below:

Private investigator Red Walker finds himself in Silver Pines, a place half-abandoned, half-forgotten, in the middle of nowhere on a job to track down Eddie Velvet. A musician who has vanished. As the case begins to reveal a dark past, Walker soon slips into a strange and nightmarish descent beyond his control.

What do you make of Silver Pines? Will you be picking it up? Let us know your plans in the comments below.