Spec Ops: The Line vs The Evil Within 2
Spec Ops: The Line is a horror game from YAGER (2012) while The Evil Within 2 is a horror open-world game from Tango Gameworks (2017).
What each one is
Steam files Spec Ops: The Line under Horror. In contrast, it files The Evil Within 2 under Horror and Open-World.
A Third-Person modern military Shooter designed to challenge players' morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations.
Detective Sebastian Castellanos has lost everything, including his daughter, Lily. To save her, he must descend into the nightmarish world of STEM. Horrifying threats emerge from every corner, and he must rely on his wits to survive. For his one chance at redemption, the only way out is in.
At a glance
| Spec Ops: The Line | The Evil Within 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.0/10 | 7.9/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (93%, 56,315) | Very Positive (92%, 30,959) |
| Critic aggregate | 76/100 | 80/100 |
| Price | Not listed | $39.99 |
| Install size | — | 40 GB |
| Steam Deck | unsupported | verified |
| Released | 2012 | 2017 |
| Developer | YAGER | Tango Gameworks |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Spec Ops: The Line vs The Evil Within 2, 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
Spec Ops: The LineHorror gameThe Evil Within 2Horror open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Spec Ops: The LineStory Rich, Third-Person Shooter, ActionThe Evil Within 2Horror, Survival Horror, Psychological HorrorThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Spec Ops: The Line ✓Score 8.0 · 93% on Steam · 76 criticThe Evil Within 2Score 7.9 · 92% on Steam · 80 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Spec Ops: The Line56,315 reviewsThe Evil Within 230,959 reviews · 40 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Spec Ops: The LineNot listedThe Evil Within 2$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Spec Ops: The LineUnsupportedThe Evil Within 2 ✓VerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueSpec Ops: The Line and The Evil Within 2 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
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
- Better on a Steam Deck: The Evil Within 2 (verified)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
Story RichThird-Person ShooterActionAtmosphericSingleplayerThird PersonShooterDark
Where they differ
PsychologicalWarEmotionalMilitaryMultiplayerMature
HorrorSurvival HorrorOpen WorldGoreViolentZombies
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Spec Ops: The Line is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Evil Within 2 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Spec Ops: The Line and 4 for The Evil Within 2. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Spec Ops: The Line and The Evil Within 2 in scope?
Spec Ops: The Line has drawn 56,315 Steam reviews. The Evil Within 2 has drawn 30,959 Steam reviews and installs in 40 GB.
Is Spec Ops: The Line or The Evil Within 2 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Spec Ops: The Line rates higher (8.0 to 7.9). 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, Spec Ops: The Line or The Evil Within 2?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
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.