The opening scene places you in the seat of Nate Renko, a member of a Black-Ops team sent to investigate some unusual radioactive activity on 'Katorga-12', an island off the coast of Russia. Before the mission meets an unexpected problem in the form of a massive EMP explosion, we're given a brief history on the importance of this location. During the 1950s, the Soviets discovered a new element called E-99 with capabilities that made time-travelling a reality. As is the case with all of these discoveries, the operation went sour and in typical Communist fashion, the records were destroyed. For the past sixty years, the remaining inhabitants have mutated and warped into enemies reminiscent of those found in Dead Space. It won't engage you in the same as BioShock, or amaze you with the twists of Modern Warfare 2, but at least the developers have tried something different. And that brings us onto the main hook of Singularity, time-travel. During the campaign, you'll be forced to change between 2010 and the 1950s. We all know that changing events in the past will affect the future, and while it mightn't be a new idea, at least it breaks the trend of mediocre scripts that are becoming a common occurrence. Despite the dull characters which include a female English commando and a barrage of Russian scientists and soldiers, the story is engaging enough to keep the player tagging along.
Don't stop reading, it gets better...
Singularity doesn't do itself any favours in the first hour or two; shooting mechanics are basic and the weapons are sub-standard, not to mention the frustration caused by some enemies (especially when playing on the hardest difficulty). The Call of Duty franchise is the most obvious influence as the game is controlled in exactly the same way. Pressing the left trigger will send your eye down along the sights, and the right trigger unleashes the lead. Even hovering the crosshair over your allies will see their name pop up in green. You'll wander around, occasionally find a weapon upgrade station that still fails to give this game the kick it needs. Frustration sets in quickly when you realise that healing is slow process, requiring you to move slowly and wrap bandages around your arm; in turn, leaving you completely open to attack. As mentioned earlier, the beginning is a rather disappointing and offputting experience that even the 'Time Manipulation Device' (TMD) can't save. While this element of gameplay does add an extra layer of depth, it never makes the same impact as BioShock's Plasmids. Players will need to reverse or rewind time in order to solve puzzles; this involves changing the state of certain objects or even using the shiny collectibles littered through this giant mess of an island. Shooting, puzzle-solving and collecting; this is the standard for most FPS games on the market. But then suddenly, everything changes.
As soon as you pick up the Seeker Gun, Singularity improves enormously and becomes a geuninely enjoyable experience. Up until this point (and this really applies to Hard mode), Renko is severely under-powered. You're forced to fight off the mutated creatures of Katorga-12 with nothing more than a shoddy pistol, a shotgun and a completely useless knife. But from the moment your strength increases, Singularity becomes a much more balanced shooter. Essentially, the Seeker Gun allows you to control the path of bullets (yet another mechanic stolen from previous titles like Dark Sector, albeit with a bullet instead of a blade). The sheer power of this weapon makes your ego sky rocket, and for the first time since the dramatic opening, Singularity feels like the perfect cure for a Winter drought. After this point, Renko will be making more effective use of the TMD for both puzzle-solving and combat. Enemies can be aged with a tap of the left bumper, decaying them into a bare skeleton. Also, enemies can be turned into 'Reverts', or mutants, forcing them to attack their comrades. New and improved powers, like an orb that stops time inside of it, can be used in a variety of ways. Naturally, the most practical use for it would be to navigate though the frequent environmental hazards; but if you're clever enough, it can also be used to confine an enemy inside leaving them incredibly vulnerable. Without giving away too many of the opportunities placed before you, you'll be finding many uses for the TMD. Considering the amount of enjoyment players will find at this stage in Singularity, it's a shame to see such a poorly paced introduction to the game.
Seriously, what's not to like about this ability?
There's no doubting the fact that gameplay improves as you progress, but Singularity's graphics don't follow the same pattern. The majority of Katorga-12 is a mixture of three different colours; light brown, medium brown and dark brown. While Dead Space created the Ishimura with a shiny brown, Singularity tends to rely on using poo brown in almost every location. Another frequent issue involves certain textures not rendering properly, leaving many environmental objects without any detail. On a more positive note, weapons look reasonably well and more importantly, the impact of each bullet can cause some gruesome effects. In particular, sniper rifles and shotguns will make limbs fly and heads explode in one of the most gratuitously violent games of this year. Melee attacks can cause the same level of damage and make the player feel more comfortable with these abilities, something which the introduction lacked so dearly. Visually speaking, Singularity isn't the worst looking game on the market, far from it. But graphics play a key role when removing players from reality, and Katorga-12 doesn't look anywhere near realistic enough. Over the top gore with a few impressive TMD effects (dealing with physics and decaying materials) go some way towards compensating for the palette of brown, but the Unreal engine can produce much greater levels of polish.
Singularity's audio is more or less the same as above. The orchestral score is largely forgettable and doesn't stand anywhere near the atmospheric brilliance of BioShock, but it's sufficient for a low-profile release. As for voice acting, again it won't draw you in; soldiers will try and kill you while shouting out repetitive jargon, and their intelligence matches their linguistic skills. More foolish AI exists in the genre, just don't expect to see these guys flanking you or taking cover properly. Mutated enemies will jump out unexpectedly with a traditional growl before their torsos are ripped to shreds. The developer has done the bare minimum here, but once more, that doesn't mean any of these elements are bad. They're just 'less good'. It all sounds very ordinary, and overall that seems to be the problem that's stopping Singularity from being a truly unforgettable experience. With a bit more effort in these departments, we could be looking at a higher score. Fortunately, these weaknesses never detract from the gameplay.
Guns and goo; Singularity is full of it.
Once the single player campaign has been completed, a journey that will last somewhere between ten to twelve hours (a lengthy FPS in 2010), you probably won't be rushing back to play it again. During this time you'll come across some, quite frankly, spectacular scenarios; none of which are re-playable unless you decide to restart from the beginning. Highlights include battling a giant creature that wouldn't look out of place in Lost Planet. What makes this so special? You'll need to pump it full of lead from your train, which is sitting on a bridge, which is collapsing. But without question, the stand-out moment in Singularity comes in the form of a mission requiring you to locate a bomb inside a tanker. Ring any bells? It should, because it's a clone of Call of Duty 4's opening. Thankfully, it's not a carbon copy. The TMD becomes unstable and the tanker will begin to age rapidly, meaning that the entire structure will rust and crumble as you try and sprint through. At this point, you should be fully engaged and sitting right at the edge of your seat. Poor graphics and audio aside, Singularity has a few genuinely gripping moments. That leaves us with the multiplayer; a deserted, lag infested hole. It's disappointing that developers feel as though multiplayer is an essential element in today's market, because it really isn't. It's even more disappointing to see a unique multiplayer experience fall victim to people's addiction to Halo and Modern Warfare 2. It seems pointless describing the basic principles, considering how most players are going to ignore it. Basically, it's a mixture of Battlefield's Rush mode and Left 4 Dead's Versus. Sounds OK, doesn't it? If you're fortunate enough to find a group of people willing to play, then there's some enjoyment to be had. However, you'll have to be quick; there's a good chance that Singularity's multiplayer will die off sooner rather than later.
This review contains references to ten different games available on the same console; what exactly does that mean? Singularity takes bits and pieces from nearly every other successful action game out there, and even though not a single element is groundbreaking, that doesn't stop Singularity from being a really enjoyable game. It's ugly, cliched and let's be fair, it's silly. The opening hour gives a misrepresentation of Singularity's real draw - the gameplay. In terms of no nonsense, unadulterated fun, this is definitely worth investing some time in. And in the end, that's what really matters. Fans of Wolfenstein, BioShock, Dead Space, Call of Duty, Dark Sector, Battlefield or Left 4 Dead would be well advised to give this a spin.
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