The Evil Within 2 vs The Outlast Trials
The Evil Within 2 is a horror open-world game from Tango Gameworks (2017) while The Outlast Trials is an action-adventure horror game from Red Barrels (2024).
What each one is
Steam files The Evil Within 2 under Horror and Open-World. In contrast, it files The Outlast Trials under Action-Adventure and Horror.
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.
Red Barrels invites you to experience mind-numbing terror, this time with friends. Whether you go through the trials alone or in teams, if you survive long enough and complete the therapy, Murkoff will happily let you leave… but will you be the same?
At a glance
| The Evil Within 2 | The Outlast Trials | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.9/10 | 7.7/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (92%, 30,959) | Very Positive (92%, 111,229) |
| Critic aggregate | 80/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $39.99 | $39.99 |
| Install size | 40 GB | 40 GB |
| Steam Deck | verified | verified |
| Released | 2017 | 2024 |
| Developer | Tango Gameworks | Red Barrels |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
The Evil Within 2 vs The Outlast Trials, 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
The Evil Within 2Horror open-world gameThe Outlast TrialsAction-adventure horror gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
The Evil Within 2Horror, Survival Horror, Psychological HorrorThe Outlast TrialsHorror, Co-op, Survival HorrorThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
The Evil Within 2 ✓Score 7.9 · 92% on Steam · 80 criticThe Outlast TrialsScore 7.7 · 92% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
The Evil Within 230,959 reviews · 40 GBThe Outlast Trials111,229 reviews · 8 add-ons · 40 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
The Evil Within 2$39.99The Outlast Trials$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
The Evil Within 2VerifiedThe Outlast TrialsVerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
The Evil Within 2 takes 1 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 catalogueThe Evil Within 2 and The Outlast Trials 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.
- Multi-platform
- 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
- The higher-rated of the two: The Evil Within 2 (GamingPickz Score 7.9)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: The Outlast Trials (111,229 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
HorrorSurvival HorrorPsychological HorrorActionAdventureAtmosphericStealthSurvival
Where they differ
Story RichOpen WorldGoreSingleplayerThird-Person ShooterThird Person
MultiplayerCo-opPvECharacter CustomizationAction-AdventureDark Humor
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, The Evil Within 2 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Outlast Trials is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| The Evil Within 2 | The Outlast Trials | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel Core i7-3770 |
| Minimum RAM | — | 8 GB |
| Install size | 40 GB | 40 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: The Evil Within 2 · The Outlast Trials.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 4 accessibility features for The Evil Within 2 and 1 for The Outlast Trials. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are The Evil Within 2 and The Outlast Trials in scope?
The Evil Within 2 has drawn 30,959 Steam reviews and installs in 40 GB. The Outlast Trials has drawn 111,229 Steam reviews, ships 8 add-ons and installs in 40 GB.
Is The Evil Within 2 or The Outlast Trials better?
By the GamingPickz Score, The Evil Within 2 rates higher (7.9 to 7.7). 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, The Evil Within 2 or The Outlast Trials?
The Evil Within 2 is cheaper right now at $39.99, against $39.99. 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.