Alan Wake vs The Evil Within
Alan Wake is a horror survival game from Remedy Entertainment (2012) while The Evil Within is an FPS horror game from Tango Gameworks (2014).
What each one is
Steam files Alan Wake under Horror and Survival. In contrast, it files The Evil Within under FPS and Horror.
A Dark Presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, pushing Alan Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save his love.
Developed by Shinji Mikami -- creator of the seminal Resident Evil series -- and the talented team at Tango Gameworks, The Evil Within embodies the meaning of pure survival horror. Highly-crafted environments, horrifying anxiety, and an intricate story are combined to create an immersive world that will bring you to the height of tension.
At a glance
| Alan Wake | The Evil Within | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.0/10 | 7.2/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (90%, 59,228) | Very Positive (85%, 33,579) |
| Critic aggregate | 83/100 | 68/100 |
| Price | $1.49 | $19.99 |
| Install size | — | 50 GB |
| Steam Deck | verified | verified |
| Released | 2012 | 2014 |
| Developer | Remedy Entertainment | Tango Gameworks |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Alan Wake vs The Evil Within, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Alan WakeHorror survival gameThe Evil WithinFPS horror gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Alan WakeAction, Horror, Third PersonThe Evil WithinHorror, Survival Horror, Psychological HorrorThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Alan Wake ✓Score 8.0 · 90% on Steam · 83 criticThe Evil WithinScore 7.2 · 85% on Steam · 68 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Alan Wake59,228 reviews · 2 add-onsThe Evil Within33,579 reviews · 4 add-ons · 50 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Alan Wake ✓$1.49The Evil Within$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Alan WakeVerifiedThe Evil WithinVerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Alan Wake takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueAlan Wake and The Evil Within on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
- Xbox
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Alan Wake (GamingPickz Score 8.0)
- The cheaper right now: Alan Wake ($1.49)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionHorrorThird PersonAdventureStory RichAtmosphericSingleplayerPsychological Horror
Where they differ
ThrillerGreat SoundtrackMysteryEpisodicSupernaturalNarration
GoreZombiesStealthDifficultMultiplayerOpen World
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Alan Wake is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Evil Within is demanding, for players who want a challenge.
System requirements, side by side
| Alan Wake | The Evil Within | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | GTX 460 |
| Minimum CPU | — | — |
| Minimum RAM | — | 4 GB |
| Install size | — | 50 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Alan Wake · The Evil Within.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Alan Wake and 4 for The Evil Within. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Alan Wake and The Evil Within in scope?
Alan Wake has drawn 59,228 Steam reviews and ships 2 add-ons. The Evil Within has drawn 33,579 Steam reviews, ships 4 add-ons and installs in 50 GB.
Is Alan Wake or The Evil Within better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Alan Wake rates higher (8.0 to 7.2). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Alan Wake or The Evil Within?
Alan Wake is cheaper right now at $1.49, against $19.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.