all games are not created equal

Both games tended to slowly feed you pieces of the plot as you went along.  Overall, the plot of Dead Space was much more interesting than that of Prototype.  Both have a twist in the end of course, but Dead Space wins on that one too.

The slow spoon-feeding of the plot in Prototype really broke up the story way too much because of the way it was delivered.  They chose to use flashbacks to give you plot points, which take you out of the game entirely.  Dead Space gave you story through audio and text logs throughout the ship, as well as conversations with other characters, which helped blend the game and the story together better.

If I had to compare the stories of these games to movies, I would say Dead Space is like Event Horizon + Alien maybe?  Prototype is something along the lines of Outbreak + Bourne Identity.

In both games, you arrive at a location that has been transformed because of previous events and you'll find out over the course of the game what happened. They tell the story through logs that you find throughout the game. It's nice because it keeps things pretty mysterious and doesn't get too much in the way of gameplay. Both games do pretty well with this, so no complaints there.

One place where Bioshock clearly outshines Dead Space is in the upgrade system. You can upgrade your weapons, rig and accessories in Dead Space, but I had a problem noticing that my upgrades really did anything at all. The obvious ones like increased ammo are clear to see, but stuff like .1 seconds off your reload time or an extra point of damage per shot are really hard to notice. The upgrade system also didn't motivate me to level up my stuff just because I didn't feel like it was doing anything. In Bioshock, when you upgraded something, you knew it. Added abilities were the clearest, but weapon and ability upgrades were pretty clear too.

One thing that was pretty bothersome in Dead Space was the lack of a good melee weapon. Bioshock had a wrench that you could pound on people with if you ever ran out of ammo. Dead Space gives you hands and feet. Out of ammo? Then swing awat with your fists at the wave of monsters and watch as they don't die. You really really really need ammo in Dead Space because once your out, you're really screwed.

Both games do have a pretty convincing atmosphere, but Bioshock wins for lasting impression. Dead Space achieved this through some cheap scares at times, which I always frown upon. In Bioshock, I was always waiting for that scare to help relieve the tension that the environment created, but it never came.

None of this is saying that Dead Space is a bad game. Not at all. It's actually a pretty good game. It just isn't as good as the total package that is Bioshock.

Survival horror as a genre is difficult to get right, but both of these games manage to nail it. In the end, though, System Shock 2 really keeps up a more tense and frightening atmosphere that keeps getting more twisted as the truth of the story begins to unfold in front of you. Dead Space's dismemberment feature is interesting and gives standard shooters some strategy, but after a while it starts to feel a little routine. RPG elements are better defined, there are a greater variety of enemies, and of course co-op is always a plus.