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Logo by Max Layne Photography
| Microsoft Xbox 360 |
Poor Russians! It seems as though they are doomed to be the villains in all American entertainment, movies and videogames.
Though the Soviet Union collapsed nearly twenty years ago and the Cold War is over, “Singularity” manages to continue to make the
Russians look like an evil bunch through the use of time travel.
“Singularity” raises the question of what would happen if the Soviet Union discovered a source of Element-99 and what if it had special
powers that could bend time and create monsters. Now players are able to see what would happen while exploring this new world in
the shoes of American soldier Nate Renko, who is given the task of correcting history. There is a five minute introduction explaining the
back-story to the game in detail and from that point on things continue to get more odd, right through to the end.
This first-person shooter takes a lot of inspiration from a variety of games, such as “BioShock.” The game is filled with monsters and
Russian soldiers to shoot, lots of weapons to shoot with, and along the way players will upgrade Renko’s abilities with new powers
and tools to make him more powerful. Through the shooting there are puzzles, lots of storytelling and many things that show that
nothing is as it seems. The production levels in the game are high for the most part, meaning most of the enemies and monsters
move fluidly and look great.
The main selling point of the game is a little gadget Renko uses called the TMD, or Time Manipulation Device. The gadget gives Renko
unlimited power, at least as much power as the developer allowed. The device can alter time with incredible precision, allowing the
user to age object, to the future or past. Decayed crates filled with ammo can be made new again. Boxes can be aged for east
transport. Even locks can be aged to dust in order to open safes and doors.
The idea of the TMD sounds great, but it isn’t doesn’t pan out to much more than a gimmick. There are a very limited number of objects
that can be manipulated, and even then the results aren’t anything too exciting. Throughout the game players will use the TMD to solve
age-old puzzles and, in a few instances, fix or break voice recordings and switches to progress through the game.
Luckily for the game combat is a much more interesting element of game play. The TMD during combat can be used to age soldiers to
dust, revert them to monsters, or create little bubbles that slow down time. At times it will remind some players of a less inspired
version of “TimeShift,” but with some better weapons, enemies and set pieces. With a combination of the time bubbles and a remote-
controlled E-99 Seeker gun, players will be able to freeze a nearby enemy in place and then steer a bullet corners into the next
oncoming crowd of Russian soldiers. No matter what players do, they can be sure that there will be a lot of over-the-top gore to be
seen. Arms and heads will fly off in fountains of blood and creatures will drag themselves towards players after their legs have been
shot away.
Some of the best parts of the game come when the developer ditches the corridor shooting that dominates a majority of the game in
order to give players some special levels. One of these levels puts players in a massive time-restored boat that is slowly reverting back
to its former, rusty self and starts to leak and sink. This of course gives players the task of keeping it afloat. Another pits players against
a giant monster created by E-99. Each of these levels are much more intense and exciting than the main game play, but they aren’t
quite enough to make players forget about the weak puzzles, bland story and straight-forward design.
For those that are looking at the replayability of the game, there is some good news and bad news. The good news is that “Singularity”
offers three different endings. The bad news comes in the fact that each of these endings can be seen simply by loading the last save
point before the end and playing through the final moments again with a different final decision. Once players have seen all three
endings, there is very little reason to go back and play through the 7-10 hour campaign again. There is an additional multiplayer game
that has a small crowd of players, but it is very limiting and seems like it will never really catch on.
For those that are interested in the multiplayer, there are two different modes of play, both putting human soldiers against creatures.
One is a simple Death Match, while the other is an objective-based game where teams fight over certain locations. The game play is
pretty much identical. Players pick a class or creature type, choose a weapon and perks, and then start fighting.
The creature team can deploy everything from massive spider-like monsters to little tickers that can possess humans. The soldiers
have powers that help to even things out. The different classes can do things such as heal each other, teleport forward through space a
few yards, or put up temporary shields. With so many competing powers on the field at once, everything feels very chaotic and
overwhelming.
For those players how have already worked through their library of amazing 2010 releases and are looking for something to hold them
over until the next big release, “Singularity” isn’t a bad game to check out. The overall game play is pretty solid, it is the limited
imagination used in a storyline that had a lot of potential that sets this one back.
Though the Soviet Union collapsed nearly twenty years ago and the Cold War is over, “Singularity” manages to continue to make the
Russians look like an evil bunch through the use of time travel.
“Singularity” raises the question of what would happen if the Soviet Union discovered a source of Element-99 and what if it had special
powers that could bend time and create monsters. Now players are able to see what would happen while exploring this new world in
the shoes of American soldier Nate Renko, who is given the task of correcting history. There is a five minute introduction explaining the
back-story to the game in detail and from that point on things continue to get more odd, right through to the end.
This first-person shooter takes a lot of inspiration from a variety of games, such as “BioShock.” The game is filled with monsters and
Russian soldiers to shoot, lots of weapons to shoot with, and along the way players will upgrade Renko’s abilities with new powers
and tools to make him more powerful. Through the shooting there are puzzles, lots of storytelling and many things that show that
nothing is as it seems. The production levels in the game are high for the most part, meaning most of the enemies and monsters
move fluidly and look great.
The main selling point of the game is a little gadget Renko uses called the TMD, or Time Manipulation Device. The gadget gives Renko
unlimited power, at least as much power as the developer allowed. The device can alter time with incredible precision, allowing the
user to age object, to the future or past. Decayed crates filled with ammo can be made new again. Boxes can be aged for east
transport. Even locks can be aged to dust in order to open safes and doors.
The idea of the TMD sounds great, but it isn’t doesn’t pan out to much more than a gimmick. There are a very limited number of objects
that can be manipulated, and even then the results aren’t anything too exciting. Throughout the game players will use the TMD to solve
age-old puzzles and, in a few instances, fix or break voice recordings and switches to progress through the game.
Luckily for the game combat is a much more interesting element of game play. The TMD during combat can be used to age soldiers to
dust, revert them to monsters, or create little bubbles that slow down time. At times it will remind some players of a less inspired
version of “TimeShift,” but with some better weapons, enemies and set pieces. With a combination of the time bubbles and a remote-
controlled E-99 Seeker gun, players will be able to freeze a nearby enemy in place and then steer a bullet corners into the next
oncoming crowd of Russian soldiers. No matter what players do, they can be sure that there will be a lot of over-the-top gore to be
seen. Arms and heads will fly off in fountains of blood and creatures will drag themselves towards players after their legs have been
shot away.
Some of the best parts of the game come when the developer ditches the corridor shooting that dominates a majority of the game in
order to give players some special levels. One of these levels puts players in a massive time-restored boat that is slowly reverting back
to its former, rusty self and starts to leak and sink. This of course gives players the task of keeping it afloat. Another pits players against
a giant monster created by E-99. Each of these levels are much more intense and exciting than the main game play, but they aren’t
quite enough to make players forget about the weak puzzles, bland story and straight-forward design.
For those that are looking at the replayability of the game, there is some good news and bad news. The good news is that “Singularity”
offers three different endings. The bad news comes in the fact that each of these endings can be seen simply by loading the last save
point before the end and playing through the final moments again with a different final decision. Once players have seen all three
endings, there is very little reason to go back and play through the 7-10 hour campaign again. There is an additional multiplayer game
that has a small crowd of players, but it is very limiting and seems like it will never really catch on.
For those that are interested in the multiplayer, there are two different modes of play, both putting human soldiers against creatures.
One is a simple Death Match, while the other is an objective-based game where teams fight over certain locations. The game play is
pretty much identical. Players pick a class or creature type, choose a weapon and perks, and then start fighting.
The creature team can deploy everything from massive spider-like monsters to little tickers that can possess humans. The soldiers
have powers that help to even things out. The different classes can do things such as heal each other, teleport forward through space a
few yards, or put up temporary shields. With so many competing powers on the field at once, everything feels very chaotic and
overwhelming.
For those players how have already worked through their library of amazing 2010 releases and are looking for something to hold them
over until the next big release, “Singularity” isn’t a bad game to check out. The overall game play is pretty solid, it is the limited
imagination used in a storyline that had a lot of potential that sets this one back.
| Genre: First Person Shooter Developer: Raven Software Publisher: Activision |
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