I don’t think they’re comparable styles of horror. Alien is about being powerless while you’re constantly being hunted. You can’t relax because you don’t know when the Alien is going to round the corner or when you can leave your safe space. Dead Space is about defending against a constant onslaught of gruesome enemies, in a gruesome setting, and with jump scares to render all locations unsafe. You can’t relax because you’re either in a firefight with too little ammo or probably about to be.

Atmospheric horror will always trump over straight scares. That and Alien: Isolation leans a little too heavy on the “hide & seek” schtick with a stalker enemy. Don’t get me wrong, Isolation is amazing but I find games that restricts your ability to defend yourself to be more frustrating and stressful than terrifying.

Games that give me a hand gun but only half a magazine are FAR more scary because it gives a false sense of hope and security. There’s a reason why resource management is a fundamental trait in Survival-Horror

To me Alien Isolation is like 6-8 hours longer than it needs to be and it really wears out its welcome.

Dead Space remains tense throughout without becoming annoying.

Lol wut?

Are you asking us why you think a game is scarier over the other? Cant you deduce that on your own?

Its like me, if I asked reddit why I think strawberry is better than chocolate

I love both Alien Isolation and Dead Space Remake, I find both really scary

There's something about unkillable Xenomorphs hunting down the player which is terrifying. The Working Joes are also very unnerving

I think Alien Isolation is scarier, an enemy you can't kill chasing you throughout the entire game.

The monsters are horrifying but the true terror is in the"what-ifs" that this game design encourages your brain to create.

In my opinion it isn’t. Fear like many other things in life is dependent on each individual. So whilst you’ve used lots of flashy descriptions to talk about dead space you’re just hand waving away anything about Alien Isolation because from your view dead space is better.

I think you're conflating the thematic elements and game play elements. Dead Space, at its core, is a shooter. The survival horror aspects are simply tied to setting, ambiance, scavenging for resources, and style of enemies. Contextual things.

Alien: Isolation, at its core, is a survival game. Your goal is never to kill anything unless absolutely necessary, and even then, you can only kill other and androids. The xenomorph isn't really a threat as much as they are an obstacle. Not something to be overtaken, but circumvented. And that knowledge sortve lends the player some relief, because they do t have to fight the alien. Just keep it at bay. Where as in dead space you get no choices about who to kill and when. Those choices are made for you, and you just have to brace for them.

From a player perspective, those differences completely change the way the game feels. And just like any game, it's only really scary the first time around. You may still get stressed, or feel on edge. Maybe a jumpsacre you forgot about will get you once or twice. But both games have recognizable patterns that the player can exploit and use to progress. And that's intentional.

What I'm getting at is just that Alien wasn't the game for you, and that's fine. There just isn't a need to compare one as scarier than the other, as that's completely subjective, and changes person to person.

This is like trying to compare Alien to Aliens. Two entirely different film styles, but both enjoyable for their own reasons.

I haven’t played alien isolation in years so I might misremember parts of that game, but I do recall that the alien could not be killed. As a player, that tells me every situation is winnable no matter what equipment I have. Compare that to dead space where inventory management comes into play. While playing dead space, I become concerned about my remaining health boosters or ammo, I begin to wonder if I have enough resources to make it to the next save point. Or what happens if I save now but don’t have enough resources to beat the next upcoming encounter? To me the risk of failure adds to the horror, as well as the immersion.

You tell me. I mean, why are you asking other people why a certain game is scarier for YOU over the other? Art is subjective and horror is not an exception. Some things and how they are executed very well may scare you more than others, while it can be the opposite for someone else.

I, for one, or course didn't play DSR yet (can't, lol), but did play both Isolation and the original Dead Space. Both scared me, both delivered a tense, stressful experience, but Isolation for me personally was and still is more terrifying.

The question you're asking is completely subjective.

Hmmm, If i may take a guess, execution.

There is a really old game called "Clock tower" which basically uses the same hideandseek mechanics as Alien Isolation. But Clock tower executes it so well that a hunchback with a pair of giant scissors terrifies you. He is slow, you can evade him a lot of times, but everytime he appears it is hard not to panic. While after the 5th death in Alien Isolation you just go meh and load the save file.

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And Dead Space mix them both along with scarcity of resources, you have several on-the-run decisions while the dread and jump scares happens, along with the Necromorphs. Also the bizarre deaths.

I mean. You’re comparing Dead Space to a near 10 years old game. I think Alien Isolation holds up really well and is terrifying. Haven’t played the new dead space but it looks pretty damn good.

Because you can actually defend yourself. And you're expected to.