The Evil Within or Alien: Isolation?

I'm going to get both, but I love Alien, so I'm going to have to say that one as for what I'm more excited about. Alien Isolation also looks like it has less of a chance to fail, the only thing being if it becomes tiresome to get chased. Still, I'm hoping both are good. That being said, I'm going into Evil Within with the interest that it has a variety of different kinds of horrors, while I'm not really playing Alien because I want to be scared.

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/which-upcoming-horror-game-do-you-plan-on-playing--1494745/

You should read before you post. "If you had to predict which game will be better than the other what would it be?" it's a completely different question then that forum post :)

Suppose that's true, though I'd imagine that can be (and has been) brought into the discussion in that thread as well. But that's just me and my opinion, naturally!

I've heard nothing but great things about Alien Isolation. Evil Within, on the other hand, is kinda all over the place. I remember early impressions weren't too favorable, but apparently the game has been shaping up a lot more nicely since then.

I'm voting Alien.

I feel that the main hook of Evil Within, being your RE4 style Mikami game, is much more likely to be what it is being sold as than Alien. Isolation is promising a lot with how they are talking about the AI and while it could totally be awesome I just feel there is a huge chance it could not live up to the hype.

Evil Within seems to have fairly tepid expectations at this point so I think it is more likely to impress people then Alien which I have mainly only seen positive talk of.

I feel like no one who has actually played The Evil Within has much of anything good to say about it.

@milkman said:

During around E3 you would have been right, but has time has progressed there's been a lot more positive buzz.

The reception I've heard about both of them has been a complete mixed bag. I got Alien pre-ordered so I can play the Nostromo DLC, and of course I'll be happy to get Evil Within if it gets good reviews

Alien ... mostly because I am really curious what that game actually is and how it keeps players engaged over a longer period of time. I didn't exactly follow the game but I feel like I have no clue how this actually plays besides "there is an alien".

Alien, definitely. TEW seems really goofy and over the top =/

The Evil Within without even a single doubt. Alien seems like a very basic game, and while the constant thought of something chasing after and killing you may be scary, I've never found the alien franchise interesting and/or scary at all. None of isolations shown qualities and mechanics seem all that alluring either, if anything It looks to be very short and repetitive(not saying that it will be.) Plus, above everything else, fighting against only two types of enemies(One of which is completely invincible) is really really boring.

TEW on the other hand, seems much more artistically rich, considering it has various kinds of boogiemen hunting you. Hell, I don't even think the trailers fully show what may lay ahead. Plus the story's premise itself, and the fact that it won't be in chronologically ordered seems much more interesting to me than you typical "stuck with a monster" concept. I'm not saying Isolation will be shit or anything, but it just doesn't appeal to me.

this right here.

@theacidskull said:

This pretty much sums it up for me except I do find the Alien franchise interesting and the first two movies scary. In fact, the second film was one of two films to ever give me nightmares in my lifetime (and I watch a lot of horror movies).

I do like the concept of Isolation, but not sure how it can stay fresh throughout the game. Though The Evil Within gets my vote and money in a week and half, I hope both games turn out to be very immersive and a lot of fun with great scares.

I'm betting on Isolation. I just have a bad feeling about Evil Within, and even if it's fantastic, it seems about equally as scary as its spiritual predecessor (i.e., not at all) from everything I've seen. Isolation, on the other hand, looks like it could pull off scares and gameplay both.

Of course, both games look great, and I am really excited for them.

I was going to hold off on both, Alien because I've been burned before and Evil Within because it seemed like a lot of the early press for it was "meh". However after seeing the Euro Gamer developer video for Alien Isolation and hearing the guys working on it sound so passionate really convinced me to give it a try.

Alien has me interested because I want to know how you can flesh that out into a full game. The only thing that bugs me about it is I pre-ordered the standard edition, because it was £20 cheaper than the Nostromo one so I'll miss out on the dlc.

Wait for reviews.

While I'll be getting both, I'm more interested in The Evil Within. It seems like it has more going for it. Alien seems promising, but at least on the surface, appears to be a mechanically shallow experience.

I played both recently at EGX and I don't think that either demoed especially well. The hide and run away thing thing that Alien has going for it made for a fun 15 mins of play at a games show but I feel as if there's an awful lot of game that they haven't shown anything about (context, story, objectives, progression options etc.) which might turn out great but also might not. The Evil Within did not seem anything other than generic third person resident evil-esque stuff...they could *both* end up being 2 or 3 star games but Alien has the most potential to be interesting I think... ( even if this is for no other reason than it hasn't shown much of its hand yet) We'll have to wait and see.

Yeah, exactly. It's not that Isolation will be bad or anything, but in terms of content, The Evil Within will probably be more engaging and way longer as well. Alien Isolation has not given me a reason to think that it'll either have a good story, context, characterization, etc. The only thing I've gotten out of the gameplay segments is that the AI is really sand hard to outsmart , and that's about it.

PewDiePie got his hands on Alien early, and the facial animation looks absolutely horrendous.

Saw bothand afterplaying alien it just has more of what I need from a horror game the evil within. But I will prob play both

@xpolymorphic said:

PewDiePie's or the alien's?

Both I suppose

Yeah I'm kinda interested why there's so much buzz around Aliens Isolation. I think if we learned anything from a Sega published Aliens game we should probably wait and see till reviews are out. I'll stick with Evils Within cause we kinda have a good sense what that game is going to be.

Oh, and to answer as well, since this thread is able co-exist, I'm vouching for The Evil Within. Mainly because like others have suspected, Alien Isolation might be a one trick pony and that trick really has to work for the game to be effective...and even then, there's the chance of it becoming repetitive really fast. The Evil Within doesn't try to be anything groundbreaking, but just a really creepy and spooky third 3rd person shooter, in the vein of less action-oriented survival horror games. Personally, I'd be extremely satisfied with TEW even if it would be just a reskinned Dead Space, as long as it it'll control well and all the technical bits are working a-okay.

I'll be getting The Evil Within, really looking forward to it.

Yeah, I definitely think that there is the distinction. The Evil Within is undoubtedly a much safer game and I feel has less chance to utterly fail in spectacular fashion like Alien: Isolation may very well. Though I hope they're both great! I want this to be the beginning of the bigger budget horror game renaissance that I've been waiting for all this time.

I think that The Evil Within is the way to go, why?

Because it's our last big shot of a true survival horror game, one where you can choose whether to take out enemies with limited resources (where every bullet counts). Not only will you encounter different enemy types, but depending if your character even stands a chance against the thing, you can choose to just run for your life. This game gives you options. The choice to set up traps is available, to slow enemies down etc. The game also features random enemy placements, so whenever you die or replay a level, enemies could be anywhere in the area, there could be many of them, a few of them or not at all. This increases the tension and replay value.

Sure, Alien Isolation looks great and all, but how many horror games in the last few years are just run and hide? Amnesia, Outlast, Slenderman, Daylight etc.

Another reason why I choose The Evil Within over Alien Isolation is because it's a new franchise with a fresh concept this time around, which is what the genre desperately needs. After many decades of Alien games as well as other franchises that have become stale due to deteriorating ideas and losing their ways, I believe the genre needs a game to remind players what they've been missing in the survival horror genre since it had quieted down, hence The Evil Within.

If you have been interested in survival horror games such as the first 3 Resident Evil games, (and the Remake) Silent Hill 1, 2, 3, 4 as well as the Fatal Frame games when the genre was in it's prime, The Evil Within is definitely the game you should pick up.

Both! I have to blaze through Alien to get my hands free for The Evil Within the week after.

I'm saying alien, mostly because have you seen those system requirements for the evil within? They're crazy.

if evil within is anything like RE4, then my vote goes to alien. RE4 had very little to do with horror. I have purposely avoided anything regarding evil within, I want to dive into it without knowing much of anything.

The Evil Within is much more ambitious and a new IP.

I'm going with that. Isolation looks bland as fuuuuuck. Interesting idea for there to just be one alien but, I dunno man. It doesn't look like they're doing it the way I was hoping. It looks too similar to Amnesia.

Isolation looks really boring. I suspect all the people getting hyped for it are gonna be really disappointed.

The Evil Within won't blow anyone's mind away, I don't think it will be near the list of top game of the year contenders. But I imagine it will be a pleasant surprise.

Gonna wait on the reviews for both of them. But all things considered Alien seems to be tracking well while Evil Within is getting mixed impressions.

I've been watching more recent gameplay videos of The Evil Within and it doesn't look nearly as janky as it did a year ago. It still isn't the best looking game, but it seems like they've got the gameplay down. I also think there's a lot of info being withheld about that game, where with Alien Isolation I'm pretty confident I know what it is (kinda like amnesia/outlast with some sections where you fight/avoid human enemies.

So my prediction is Alien Isolation will be pretty good, but wont really offer anything new or surprising and it won't be scary to a lot of people because many are desensitized to the xenomorph design. The Evil Within I think will be the scarier/creepier of the 2 and I think it will have some technical flaws which will ruffle a few feathers, but it will have some surprises in store that elevate it to a higher level. I admit some of this is coming from the gut, but I'm usually pretty good about feeling out a game without ever playing it (which probably sounds ludicrous to all of you; it is what it is).

I'm opting out of both and picking up Civ Beyond Earth at the end of the month. If I had to choose, I would pre-order both physical copies at GameStop and wait for the reviews. That way you're guaranteed the pre-order bonuses and you can see what critics/YouTuber recommend.

Personally I think the Evil Within will bring a lot more variety but Alien might be a more immersive experience.

I bit the bullet and watched the video, and you're definitely right. I didn't expect the models to look so... old I guess? I dunno how else to explain it.

Other than that though, the game looks like it's really good, and it actually made me want to buy it. Makes me really, really wish for a game like AvP2 though.

I watched some UK guys stream alien last night on ps4, but couldn't really come to a conclusion on it. Looking forward to seeing the reviews in a couple hours.

I haven't had much interest in the evil within, but the last trailer and some of the sessler interviews make it look better. I kinda getting a Wolfienstein type vibe from it. Maybe, it will surprise and be good like Wolfienstein. Bethesda might just be especially terrible at showcasing their games, before release.

I plan of getting alien as long as it doesn't bomb the reviews, and maybe evil within depending on how does, that ps+ discount makes it look more attractive; might be a black Friday pick up.

Why is there no option for both?

I think the Evil Within will be much more engaging, considering that Sebastian will probably be a much more dynamic and interesting character as opposed to Ripely, who will simply has to defend herself from the Xenomorph. What I'm trying to say is that, in terms of story, Isolation doesn't seem that versatile, so for me, it's a bit hard to get immersed in a game like that. I could be wrong, but none of the promos and previews have suggested anything crucial about the story, at least not anything other than the general premise itself.

The Evil Within. Alien looks similar to Outlast in terms of gameplay, which could get boring after a while. TEW on the other hand looks more varied.

@theacidskull: I agree for the most part except with the caveat that first person experiences are generally a lot more unnerving than third person ones. Both can be really scary in their own ways of course. I just don't recall ever being as scared in a third person game as in first person where the jump scares seem a lot more in your face.

I think I'll probably end up getting both. I need some horror games to play for October. I have some others I still need to play but I'm waiting for my oculus to show up before I play those.

I understand completely, though personally it's much more unnerving under the third person controls. From my experience most first person horror games allow you more mobility, which is less scary.

Edit #2: I'm sorry, ignore this post. I didn't realize this was already covered on the site!

Well, it looks like I've made the right decision, but time will tell. (IGN gave Alien: Isolation a 5.9)

Edit: Though someone there posted these other scores in the comments:

EuroGamer: 8

Kotaku - Should you play this game - Yes

Metacritic: 80

GamesRadar: 4 out of 5 - Structural Perfection

Trustedreviews; 9 out of 10

Escape Magazine: 4 out of 5

Joystick: 4 out of 5

Destructoid: 8.5

PC Gamer: 93

Official Xbox Mag: 9/10

I'm too much of an Alien fan not to give it a shot.