Singularity Review

You are Nate Renko, an unfortunate soldier who is blown out of the air by an EMP blast. It so happens that he is on a mission to reset history after Russia had discovered Element-99 that could warp time and create monsters out of people. Seems like a generic story line does it not? It is but that is not the core of this games enjoyment. Yes the story seems derived out of alternate history sci-fi fiction novels, but the core game mechanics seem to work in this generic setting. Watching the opening cut scene of the game will give you a good understanding of how the game story sets up the opening game play and what is going on in the story. This is an FPS at it’s heart and seems to have a lot of Call of Duty type controls. Weapon switching is done using your “Y” Button, and the sprint is pressing down on your left thumbstick, and to aim is “LT” and Fire is “RT”. The enemies seem to have a little resemblance to Bioshock with time warping effects that Timeshift seemed to use. This is probably what “Timeshift” should have been a few years ago.

Renko quickly gets a hold of a “TMD’, or “Time Manipulation Device” which can alter the effects of things over time. For instance, if there is a broken stairway that looks old and beat up, you can use the “TMD” to restore it to as if it was new, to help you get to another area of the game. Raven tried to make some solid puzzles out of this new device but this is a shooter and throwing mindless puzzles in a game like this seemed un-neccessary. The only downfall with this device is it is extremely limited. There are only a certain set of set pieces that can be manipulated. In some levels of the game you can’t even use the device when the device itself dictates that you can. For instance there is a boat level that when playing, the boat is decaying and holes are being poked into the sides to sink it as you are in fire fights. You should be able to use the “TMD” to get through this part easily to bring the boat to full capacity, but for some unknown reason you can not.

The weapon upgrades and choices are pretty solid. In certain areas of the game, you will come to a weapon locker, for every weapon you pick up in the game, your locker will update to include that weapon. You can only carry two weapons at one time, and each item can be upgraded to increase the damage, reload time, and accuracy. You upgrade by finding these weapon upgrade machines that can then be used to purchase upgrades. Ammo for the weapons has a good abundance of and no time throughout the game did I feel short on ammo or had to revert to my melee attacks. I seemed to always maintain a constant supply of health packs as well, except in boss fights, when I would use 3 – 4 of them, but shortly after you’ll get 2 – 3 back in one room, so finding health is not the big of a concern either.

Singularity does feature some pretty environments and set pieces. Very close to what Bioshock or even Metro 2033 did. The environment does feel very post apocalyptic, and there is a constant feel eerie feeling through some of the games set pieces. The school, that you go through early on in the game does bring a sense of Condemned 2 or even a F.E.A.R to it. Turning corners, things fly out of no where, or an enemy goes running past an object, and all you see is a faint black image. The game does step on the eerie side a little but then brings you back out of the creepy feeling and into the FPS side, shooting at Russian soldiers. Some of the games levels leave you wanting more, but when you look back at the 8 – 12 hour story mode you begin to question why? You can see any of the game’s three endings by playing through the final segment any time you want. Just quite, and reload your last save file and it will take you through the sequence again, much like the Splinter Cell: Conviction endings.

Multiplayer is not much of a discussion. It felt very tact on and only features 2 modes. They have a standard Team deathmatch mode or they have a “Gears Style” location control mode, where two teams fight over certain areas of the map to see who can control it the longest. You can pick a class of character you want, your start weapon and perk and can jump right into the action. Each class has their own unique powers to even each other out, and the ability to heal each other is interesting, but not quite enough to keep me wanting to play for a few hours before closing the lid on the games multiplayer. Singularity is a good game for the core mechanics it delivers, and environments, but the overall story feels generic. I’ve seen it a hundred times before and I know I’ll see it a hundred more times before the next gen starts up. If your looking for a game to keep you busy until the fall unloades it’s hot titles, Singularity is a decent enough choice. Would I pay $60 for the game, probably not, but $40, maybe we can talk.

Rating: 7/10  

+ Lush Environments

+ Good Shooting mechanics

+ Solid FPS Experience

- Lackluster Story

- Horrible Multiplayer

- “TMD” could have been used better

- Not much re-playability

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