Before diving into specific elements, Project Silverfish opens with a promise: a huge, ruined world full of raw beauty and lurking danger. In this Early Access version, you choose your way—sneak through dark ruins or gear up and face twisted monsters. In the sections below, I’ll look at how its gameplay, story, visuals, and sound come together in one of the most daring solo-developer games in recent years.
Overall Impressions
I always start a new game feeling curious, and Silverfish threw me into a living world that amazed and at times confused me. The mix of wild nature and haunting dread hits you right away. From the first moments, the game pushed me to find threats both human-made and otherworldly. Compared to open-world shooters like STALKER, Silverfish feels larger, though early tasks can drag until more dangerous foes appear.
Gameplay Mechanics
Silverfish gives you freedom: pick quiet stealth or all-out combat. Weapons range from crude crossbows to high-tech energy rifles, each feeling solid when fired. I agree with testers who praise “lots of control over how you play.” Customizing gear is simple, and exploring pays off. Special zones called anomalies can bend time or trigger enemy spawns, keeping you on your toes. One highlight: aiming a headshot in an old tower, an anomaly warped gravity and plunged me into a stash of top-tier guns—pure thrill.
Story and Characters
You play as a lone explorer on a quest to unearth relics left by a vanished civilization. Along the way you meet ex-military scavengers, secretive cultists, and forsaken scientists—each with their own agendas. A former researcher named Odessa shares tragic data logs, revealing the human cost of forbidden experiments. Her fragile hope mirrored my own cautious optimism. However, the overarching plot sometimes stumbles when it tries to juggle too many threads. The supernatural skinwalker chapters felt more inspired than the political intrigue in the capital, which played out like tired bureaucracy. Still, the mix of personal stakes and global mystery ensured I stayed invested.
Visuals and Graphics
Silverfish’s art style marries grim realism with bursts of surreal horror. Dense swamps drip with mossy vines, while the sky above the Forbidden Zone simmers in unnatural hues. Character models and creature designs are detailed—when a skinwalker lunged at me from the shadows, its sinewy limbs and glowing eyes were both beautiful and terrifying. On higher settings my rig pushed impressive draw distances, letting me spot distant anomalies flickering like broken stars. On mid-range hardware I did notice occasional pop-in of rocks and vegetation, snapping me out of the immersion.
Sound and Music
Audio in Project Silverfish elevates every moment. The soundtrack blends mournful strings with distant industrial clanks, setting a tone of tragic beauty. I’ll never forget walking through an abandoned mill as rain drummed on rusted beams, and a low, rumbling drone made my fingertips tingle. Voice acting is solid but not perfect—a few lines stutter slightly, especially during intense firefights. Yet the environmental sound effects—creaking doors, whispering winds, distant monster roars—make the world feel alive. When a skinwalker skittered across my barricade, the sharp click of its claws sent a shiver through my headphones.
Difficulty and Replayability
Silverfish strikes a careful balance. Early Access lets you tweak difficulty from relaxed artifact hunts to full-scale survival, where hunger and radiation become threats. One reviewer noted “lots of control over how difficult your experience is,” and I found that to be spot on. Procedural events—random ambushes, anomaly flares—turn each session into a fresh challenge. Multiple endings and hidden side quests encourage revisits to hostile zones for missed secrets. Still, some repetition creeps in as you retread the same maps hunting different relics. A more varied mission structure could boost long-term engagement.
Trivia and Developer Insights
Siris Pendrake, a one-person studio led by the eponymous developer, built this world over four years on a proprietary engine. Early alpha tests were shaped heavily by community feedback, which explains the game’s robust crafting and anomaly mechanics. Fans of the STALKER series will spot affectionate nods—Geiger counters, makeshift shelters, and protective suits. Originally pitched as a pure horror game, community surveys steered development toward an open-world RPG approach. Looking ahead, mod support and a New Game+ mode are planned, promising even more ways to explore the living horrors beneath the surface.
Final Thoughts
Project Silverfish delivers a living, hostile world that will captivate explorers and survival fans alike. Deep mechanics and a haunting atmosphere outshine a few rough edges—occasional bugs and repetitive missions. For a passionate one-person studio’s first major release, it stands as a remarkable achievement with plenty of room to grow through Early Access updates.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Pros
Experience a rich, living world where emergent moments breathe life into every encounter, making exploration endlessly rewarding. Moreover, flexible gameplay and deep crafting systems let you customize your playstyle, from forging powerful weapons to tinkering with unique gear. Additionally, haunting sound design and a captivating soundtrack immerse you in the game’s atmosphere, intensifying every emotional beat and heightening the sense of discovery.
Cons
However, occasional AI quirks and pop-in can disrupt immersion, pulling you out of tense battles or scenic vistas. Some players may find that certain narrative threads feel weaker than others, leaving parts of the story less compelling. Finally, repetition in late-game tasks can grow tedious, as revisited objectives lose their initial excitement and slow the pacing toward the finale.
Whether you’re stalking anomalies or bargaining with cultists in a ruined cathedral, Project Silverfish offers an adventure worth embarking on. As NewGamer, I’m already planning my next trip into the zone—there’s too much left to uncover.
