Singularity Review

June 30th, 2010

 

The more I play games, the more I realize that the titles that are accompanied with an obscene amount of hype rarely live up to their unrealistic expectations.  Sometimes, it’s nice to put in a game that you have little knowledge of and just experience what it has to offer with no preconceived notions.   Such was the case with Raven Software’s sci-fi first person shooter, Singularity.

The folks at Raven have put together a pretty nice little resume with Star Wars: Jedi Knight Jedi Academy, Quake 4, X-men Origins: Wolverine, and the revamped Wolfenstein.  Not too shabby a list, wouldn’t you say?  

The truth is, I had hardly heard anything about this game.  All I knew was that Raven was making it, giving the game the ever-so essential, “benefit of the doubt”.  But I went in with no expectations. 

 

The game takes place on "Katorga-12" island.  You control Nate Renko, a soldier sent on a mission to check on the radioactive qualities of the island.  The mission turns sour when Renko’s plane crashes and he is left stranded, only to find that the island is somehow caught in a time warp that sees the timeframe constantly shift from 1950 to 2010.  This is where we learn of the TMD (Time manipulation device) and that experiments involving “E99” took place during the Cold War era, the same time the “Singularity” disaster took place.  

 



Singularity puts a very large emphasis on the concepts of time and space.  At first glance, the gameplay is reminiscent of the Bioshock series.  You will notice that the TMD works on the left hand and the weapon on the right.  The TMD has five main functions:

Age Revert – this feature basically allows you to send any object back in time or into the future before your eyes.  For example, if you use it on a person, it will either take them back into a primal state or they will appear as a pile of bones. 

Chronologht – a flashlight that will allow players to see how their surroundings were in the past or will be in the future, but in certain areas. 

Deadlock – Probably the most fun function of the TMD, Deadlock allows players to slow down time (even stop it at times) to give them the advantage of shooting frozen enemies.   Think of the V.A.T.S. system in Fallout 3 except time sensitive. 

Gravity – Much like in Bioshock, Gravity allows you to levitate objects and beings, with the option to toss them at a target. 

Impulse – Do you like dismemberment?  Me too.  Impulse sends out pulses of energy that cause massive damage to enemies. 

  

As far as weapons go, Singularity comes out guns blazing, to use a poorly crafted pun.   Let me make it perfectly clear that the TMD will be your main weapon throughout the game.  Hell, you can just use Impulse for the majority of the time and shred through the game (with the right upgrades).  However, Singularity still features a handful of nice guns, and for this, you have to give them credit.  They could’ve banked on the TMD and the TMD only, but they’ve crafted some nice weaponry in the Centurion pistol, AR9 Valkyrie assault rifle, Volk S4 shotgun, Kasimov SNV sniper rifle, Autocannon minigun, Spikeshot explosive railgun, Dethex Launcher grenade launcher, and the Seeker E99 bullet gun. There are some really fun weapons in here... a wide array of versatile damage.

 

The Upgrade system works through the Augmenter. All of your tools for destruction are fully upgradable with the E99 tanks are traded in. You can upgrade your TMD in both Perks and Equipment categories.  You can also upgrade your weapons, and your defense and armor. Little upgrades like gaining health with kills, gaining science points for kills, etc., make the depth of the upgrade system that much more relevant. 

The game plays very smoothly, particularly in the shooting mechanics and the great flow of the game.  There are very few cutscenes throughout the experience.  The game is backed by solid gameplay through and through.  This isn’t the most original game in the world, but it’s very fun.  All the elements in the game have probably been seen before, in some shape or form, but to Raven’s credit, everything has been pulled together quite nicely… A pleasant surprise to say the least. 

 

The sound design in Singularity is up to par with any solid game that is out on the market right now.  The eerie sound effects coupled with the music create a pretty solid atmosphere and ambiance when you are going through some of these well-crafted levels.  Visually speaking, the levels are solid for the most part, the enemies look creepy as all hell, and the damage you cause all around you is borderline breathtaking. 

Singularity is a title that probably won’t be talked about very much for the rest of the year, and even less for years to come.  But to say that this isn’t a fun game that’s worth an honest try would be a completely inaccurate statement.  If you enjoyed Fallout, Bioshock, or FEAR, there is simply no way you wont at the very least enjoy the campaign of this game and its three different endings. 

Singularity is Respectable - 4.  

 

Submitted by: theprofessor29