Review: Singularity

The Time Manipulation Device!!!! The Triple-threat Monstrosity Destructomachine!!! Or the TMD for short, is a device that will make a game more super duper than it is!!!!

That's what Raven Software thought when they were done making Wolfenstein and wondering what they should do next. Singularity is that outcome. It's kinda' alright, it's nothing spectacular but its got a nifty glove device that I would totally not use to rule the world.

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It took my friend one quick look over my shoulder as I played Singularity, to make a genius statement about the game. In that one look, he managed to deduce that the game took all the best shit of other video games and then made you enjoy it all over again, except not nearly as exciting as when you played them the first time round. Here's a list of games that I figured Singularity stole from (and also one TV show):

1. Half-Life 1, 2 + episodes
There's a chick in Singularity that's like a British version of Alyx. There's a massive vortex beaming down some crazy light-show from the sky. And scientists doing something bad to let out some tentacular plant monstrosities from some other dimension. There's also a gravity tool in there that lets you lift barrels and stuff. Your character only ever speaks once. Most of the time, it's like people are talking to a wall. 'Cept, no one does the wall-thing better than Gordon Freeman.

2. Bioshock/Aliens versus Predators/Dead Space
Secretive location where some special experiment stuff is going down? Check. An almost other-world hiding from the rest of humanity? Check. Audio tapes that explains everything to players, thinking that we are seriously giving a shit about what happened to some random people before they got eaten by monsters? Check. Oh yeah, nearly forgot, MONSTERS. Check. Hubs to upgrade weapons and abilities? Check. Weapons and abilities on-the-fly switcheroo? Super duper check.

3. Fear/Killzone
Foot soldier enemies wearing masks and are maybe bio-engineered or not, but definitely soulless, who also get eaten by monsters. Random ally early on that dies immediately unsympathetically.


4. C&C: Red Alert
Dude, the Russians are at it again. Why is it always the Russians messing around where they aren't supposed to? Especially with time. They just have to play around with going back and forth in time don't they? Like they are just so bored with the present. Also, why can't it be like the Africans? Or the Singaporeans? Why do we always have to shoot them Russians? Or Germans? Or North Koreans? Give them a break already.

5. Twin Sector
This is an indie release, so not many may have heard of it, but it's like you use a glove that can manipulate objects through space (AND MAYBE TIME?!? I don't know, never played Twin Sector). Sounds familiar? Oh, I wonder where I put the TMD? Certainly not on my nether regions.

6. Lost
What the f-!!? you exclaim. A TV show is in this!?? Yeah (if you're still watching this kickass series, you may not want to read this next part. Super duper spoiler). There's a seriously mega Lost steal/reference in there to the magic wheel that Linus turns before being puked back into the real world. In Singularity, you can't interact with it, it just sits there at the bottom of some cavern, the wheel half-sticking out glowing. And the whole time travel thing. Although that's not specifically just a Lost steal.

Okay, so Singularity. The premise is simple. Russians have found a fictitious new element called e99 (yeah, I forgot to say: turn off your disbelief) that when harnessed, can control time. But those power-hungry mofos screw things up and rip a rift in time and space itself. So after the bad shit's gone down on a mysterious island that you've stumbled/crash on (Bioshock again), it's your job (it always is) to rectify the problem. And you do so with a device that can occasionally time travel, reverse or increase the age of an object, turn monsters to goo, pick up objects and best of all, make bubbles that near-freeze enemies to a slow-crawl.


The first person shooting works decently. There is some interesting variety of weapons but you'll soon find yourself sticking to one favorite and maxing the shit out of it. For me, that's the chain gun and it sure as hell rips the limbs off humans and monsters alike. There's a lot of combat, and some of the monsters require just a little more thinking and juggling of weaponry and abilities to tackle. But nothing gets pass the time bubble. Let me explain.

The TMD has an assortment of abilities that you can utilize in combat and puzzling. Like aging enemies into dust, a force push thing, and the time bubble. Unfortunately not all abilities are explored to their full potential. I found myself sticking to the time bubble in every combat situation. Basically, you throw one at the ground and enemies caught within its radius move much slower. Like seriously not moving at all. Then all you have to do is walk up to them, shoot some lead into their stationary heads, and walk out. Then when the bubble closes, watch as the enemies flop dead instantly. TOO EASY. I'm just surprised they didn't throw in Prince of Persia's rewind mechanic just to be safe. Imagine: enemies running backwards, bullets going back into guns, except for mine which will still pew pew the enemy dead. It'll look helluva funny.

The devs could have figured out a way to make the other abilities just as fun or encourage their uses more. Aging locks and safes to dust so I can get at the contents, or reverse-aging power outlets so they work again is fine but nothing spectacular after doing it for the hundredth time. Also, make combat more challenging. Sure, enemies take cover and are good shots, but when you give me super powers or a sniper rifle that can actually slow time whilst I'm scoping, or a gun that lets me control a single bullet in flight to hit my targets every time, well then I'm superman.


I do like that they kept with the concept of time throughout the game quite well. You'll be sent into the past without warning, and it's interesting to watch levels that were decrepit in the present return to their former glory. Ghosts become tangible. But most importantly, the story plays with the idea of fate and paradoxes. I don't want to spoil it too much because if I do, then there isn't anything left interesting to compel you to play this game.

There's a twist at the end and MULTIPLE ENDINGS *gasp*. Oh yeah, I forgot, that's another Bioshock thing. However, whereas in Bioshock 2, all the actions you take throughout the game led to one of many possible endings, the ending you get in Singularity is dependent upon just one decision-making sequence. I feel it's a little contrite to have multiple endings if the entire game you've just played up till then has no impact on the ending you get. Just leaving it till the end for you to make your choice is too simplistic, and shows under-appreciation for multiple endings as a concept in video games.

Up to now, I've mentioned how the game's concepts are heavily influenced by Bioshock. If Raven Software really were going to do a Bioshockian adventure though, one thing that they could have developed further, was the intrigue on the island. I was genuinely interested, after I crash landed, to find out more about what the hell was going on. Little bits and pieces are fed to you aurally and visually, but instead of maintaining that sense of intrigue, everything about the island was explained and shown to you soon after. This is so that you can concentrate on shooting things to death and subsequently, the game lost that spark.

One thing I didn't like was how a lot of things felt pointless or left unexplained. Like, I understood that humans mutated because of the time rift, but why were there even more massive alien things? Did they come through a portal? And why were there these glowing tentacles that took over the labs? Or really stupid little critters that ran up to you and exploded. I hated those the most. They were annoyingly hard to kill, I died more against those then an army of super soldiers. I wondered why it was included. It had no link whatsoever to the story or the concept.


The graphics is a plus point. Positively crisp and shiny. You can always count on the Unreal Engine to work wonders in making a game more enjoyable. A B-rate title that was worth a look, because, literally, it looked good. Water is wet, walls are shiny, wood is weathered, and people look great. Kudos to Raven Software for making it work in their favor. It's a shame though that the game doesn't have advanced options to increase the resolution beyond 1280x... or fiddle with some detail sliders. That really sucks.

Voice and sound? Nothing out of the ordinary and too many faux Russian accents spoil the broth. The monsters don't even make any noises, and I'm tired of listening to random audio logs that don't actually teach me anything or really have any purpose in the game world other than "fleshing it out". I heard that Dead Space 2 is shaking up the audio log nonsense, by making VIDEO logs. Also, I would actually LOVE a game where you could uncover more mysteries or truths about a world through active engagement to snoop about. As of now, game devs don't want to take the risk of investing too much time in the side dish if players are going to just pass them by completely. Assassin's Creed 2 have to be commended for making it interesting enough to seek out those hidden glyph things.

My final point is this. The game rips all the best ideas of games before it, but that doesn't make the game any less fun. Granted it's a little brainless, but the shooting is decent enough to pass the time with. And the ending is not too retarded. It made me even go "O-M-G" at one point. But if it weren't for the titular TMD, this game would not be worth anybody's time. As of now, I can only recommend it, if it's lying in a bargain bin somewhere and you're waiting, as I am for something epic on the horizon. But to Raven Software: after Wolfenstein and this, I am confident you are one step closer to making something mind-blowing.