Singularity
Back to the Future Again and Again and Again
Posted August 6, 2010
Shown in private demo at last year's E3, Singularity looked to be a promising time travel themed title, even in the overcrowded first person shooter market. The game pits an American soldier by the name of Nate Renko in the middle of time bending tale against an enemy revived from the Cold War, the Russians. The quest for power in this timeline revolves around a source of unlimited power called Element-99 and how it shaped the course of history. When investigating a source of the powerful element on a island called Katorga-12, Nate Renko is tossed into the past and forced to deal with consequences made by his meddling with previous events in history. It's a fairly original tale that's told in great detail, occasionally veering into the ridiculous side of narration. Similar to Bioshock, the game is heavy on the atmosphere.
Just like any other first person shooter, you will find the standard set of weapons and upgrades to offer more power and options to the player. But the real draw is a device called the Time Manipulation Device, or TMD for short. This machine wraps around Nate's left hand and has the ability to modify the age of objects; making them decay quickly or revert to brand new. Unfortunately, using the device is limited to objects / humans that have been exposed to tons of Element-99. This encompass much of the Singularity universe, but you won't be able to tear apart entire buildings or landscapes.
For the most part, the time device is used to traverse areas that are demolished in the current timeline. It's also used to repair boxes to open up metal door and destroy locks / barriers that need to be destroyed to unlock secrets. As you progress through the story, you have the ability to upgrade time powers at upgrade stations throughout the maps. You have to spend your stockpile of Element-99 to upgrade powers for greater punch, longer availability, stronger reach, etc... There are also specific points in the story where the time device is automatically upgraded to pull off more impressive feats like grasping large objects or warping the minds of the wandering grotesque creatures to fight on your side.
There are also points in the story where you are thrown back into the past to retrieve objects or attempt to kill someone that's hurting the future. These events are typically marked with boss battles or timed escapes. It's a fun way to give the player a bit of the break in the story before reverting back to the linear play. Similar to other first person shooters, you also have the ability to upgrade weapons along the levels with weapon upgrade packs. These upgrades come in handy towards the middle of the game until the time device becomes too powerful for it's own good. The difficulty is actually ramped down after certain time powers are unlocked.
Regarding the Xbox Live mulitplayer, I was throughly unimpressed. The main draw of the mutliplayer is a capture / hold method of gameplay that gets old pretty quickly due to the limited maps and unappealing character classes. There's also a team deathmatch mode, but it doesn't bring anything unique to the table. In relation to performance, I had a few laggy sessions. But the majority of the time, it handled pretty admirably. Unfortunately, there's little to keep you coming back. The achievement set is fairly simple to complete on the single player side. The multiplayer achievements require a larger chunk of time to work though.
Overall, Singularity has an entertaining story that's somewhat hampered by simplistic puzzles and a general lack of difficulty. Players that are really into the narrative will be happy to find out that there are 3 different endings to the single player story, but a full playthough is not required to experience all of them. Singularity strikes me as the perfect rental for a rainy day, but I would recommend against purchasing it until trying out the multiplayer.
Just like any other first person shooter, you will find the standard set of weapons and upgrades to offer more power and options to the player. But the real draw is a device called the Time Manipulation Device, or TMD for short. This machine wraps around Nate's left hand and has the ability to modify the age of objects; making them decay quickly or revert to brand new. Unfortunately, using the device is limited to objects / humans that have been exposed to tons of Element-99. This encompass much of the Singularity universe, but you won't be able to tear apart entire buildings or landscapes.
For the most part, the time device is used to traverse areas that are demolished in the current timeline. It's also used to repair boxes to open up metal door and destroy locks / barriers that need to be destroyed to unlock secrets. As you progress through the story, you have the ability to upgrade time powers at upgrade stations throughout the maps. You have to spend your stockpile of Element-99 to upgrade powers for greater punch, longer availability, stronger reach, etc... There are also specific points in the story where the time device is automatically upgraded to pull off more impressive feats like grasping large objects or warping the minds of the wandering grotesque creatures to fight on your side.
There are also points in the story where you are thrown back into the past to retrieve objects or attempt to kill someone that's hurting the future. These events are typically marked with boss battles or timed escapes. It's a fun way to give the player a bit of the break in the story before reverting back to the linear play. Similar to other first person shooters, you also have the ability to upgrade weapons along the levels with weapon upgrade packs. These upgrades come in handy towards the middle of the game until the time device becomes too powerful for it's own good. The difficulty is actually ramped down after certain time powers are unlocked.
Regarding the Xbox Live mulitplayer, I was throughly unimpressed. The main draw of the mutliplayer is a capture / hold method of gameplay that gets old pretty quickly due to the limited maps and unappealing character classes. There's also a team deathmatch mode, but it doesn't bring anything unique to the table. In relation to performance, I had a few laggy sessions. But the majority of the time, it handled pretty admirably. Unfortunately, there's little to keep you coming back. The achievement set is fairly simple to complete on the single player side. The multiplayer achievements require a larger chunk of time to work though.
Graphics
- The visuals in Singularity are fairly dated to say the least. I've seen much better looking games released on the 360 in the past 9 months. Textures are fairly bland, but are likely design to look as such considering the destroyed landscape for the majority of the game.
- The lighting affects are well done, probably the best aspect of the visuals when is comes to manipulating Element-99. The framerate is fairly solid as well. I only saw slight framerate issues on my older 360 when in the sewers.
Audio
- The music gives the game an epic feel, but the voiceovers are pretty horrid; specifically the Russian accents. The sound effects are passable, nothing particularly exciting.
Conclusion
Overall, Singularity has an entertaining story that's somewhat hampered by simplistic puzzles and a general lack of difficulty. Players that are really into the narrative will be happy to find out that there are 3 different endings to the single player story, but a full playthough is not required to experience all of them. Singularity strikes me as the perfect rental for a rainy day, but I would recommend against purchasing it until trying out the multiplayer.