The Evil Within isn't horror. It's Survival Action.
The moment you give yourself some form of significant defense in a survival horror title is the moment where your game takes the horror out. What's the point of being frightened when you have a gun.
In survival horror you're supposed to be defenseless. Anything and everything can kill you with ease. There is no /fighting back./
So, I'm buying Isolation. Because it's Survival Horror. And it's a /good/ Alien game. When was the last time we got one of those?
Silky, I see that we have a similar stance with games like these, but you shouldn't give Survival Horror YOUR definition. What you can do is say what kind of SH game fits your fancy.
By definition, Survival Horror is a subgenre of the Action genre with mystery/ puzzle solving influences with horror themes, therefore there will be similarities with each. The survival portion in particular is where the games are action focused, but to spin it away from games like RE4 (Action Horror), RE5 (Action Thriller) and RE6 (Dramatic Horror) the combat (action) is used only for as defensive purposes (therefore used to survive).
For clarity, Survival Horror games have combat, but the combat is based around defense instead of attack. That is why going in guns blazing, fighting off hordes doesn't fit the genre.
Games like Amnesia are Psychological Horror with flight focused gameplay (this is also the category for Outlast, Slenderman, etc). This type of gameplay is evolved from older survival horror games such as Clock Tower and Haunting Ground. However, Haunting Ground also has defensive mechanics to be used as a last resort. This survival horror game format has since been converted solely into psychological horror because people who used these games as inspiration have ultimately removed the defense mechanics and left us with only one option~ flee from danger.
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror because you are given options to fight back with the exception of the alien. Like older Survival Horror games, you're encouraged to avoid conflict, but you don't have to at your own risk. You are in control and can make decisions accordingly to survive and that's why it is Survival Horror.
TEW may be bland as hell to look at, but it does have qualities of a survival horror game. It focuses on limited resources and a need to survive the horrors with those limitations. Therefore it fits the status quo albeit not tastefully so and that's also what turns me off from it. I'll explain why below.
Personally, I don't see any game that has an enemy that can't be fought off or enemies that are nearly unbeatable as a Survival Horror game I can enjoy. It's a pet peeve of mine. Part of what I like about older RE games like RE2 and 3 and Silent Hill games is that you're given enough ammo to kill
everything you come in contact with, including the big bosses like Nemesis and Mr. X every time they show up. But what stops us from using so much resources is the
fear we will run out.
I feel like a survival horror game has succeeded if and ONLY IF they've gotten me so paranoid about my supplies that I don't realize I have nothing to worry about until my next play through. I make split decisions as I see fit and not because the game demands it of me. That's not survival imo. IRL, it's only natural I'm gonna find whatever I can to defend myself regarding weaponry. If I don't have any other options to protect myself except an empty gun and melee weapons that can only help me once, I get turned off immediately.
That isn't realistic at all. It's fucking inconvenient and dumb. If I'm running out of supplies when I am told I have to defend myself from a sea of monsters or when the hallway is so freaking narrow I have to get lucky trying to avoid monsters, that's poor design imo. Again, I should be given enough ammo to kill everything in the game, but FEEL like I need every bullet for the final boss or upcoming boss fights.
By my definition, Alien, TEW and many games released lately are not Survival Horror. But I don't care, I'm picky about that aspect. I have no qualms expressing my dislike for REmake and RE0 because of these factors. Scavenging for bullets doesn't make a game a challenge or make me feel like a survivor, nor is it enjoyable. Just tedious and a chore, and well, boring.
Unless I'm playing on the highest difficulty, I should have supplies. I should have a fighting chance but second guess myself because I want to, not because I'm forced to. Especially if I don't have any saving grace once I'm empty handed.
But that's my opinion, others seem to like the dragging and troublesome struggle. Eh, that's their ordeal, not mine. (Well until I get Alien: Isolation because I love the movies and need to scratch an itch LOL).
