Singularity Review

Cole Burton

July 26, 2010

T

here are many great first person shooter games to choose from in this vast gaming world. There are also many games with insane gimmicks. Singularity does a great job in combining both into a solid game. You all may remember the game Fracture. It had the boring gimmick of moving the ground. Well, time manipulation in Singularity is done much better than moving the ground in Fracture.

You are Captain Nathaniel Renko. You and your partner Devlin are sent on a mission to the mysterious island of Katorga-12. As you arrive on the scene via Special Forces helicopter, you enjoy the strange scenery and Devlin's chatter. Speaking of Devlin's chatter, you might quickly recognize this voice actor to be Noland North from many great games; including the Uncharted series and the Assassin's Creed series.

This helicopter ride is short lived, as you soon get blasted out of the sky by an EMP. Devlin is thrown out of the chopper and you survive the crash. You're pilot wasn't so lucky.

It is soon revealed that Devlin survived his fall and gives you a location to meet him via radio. . . if you're alive and reading his message. Who knows why Renko can't respond, but who cares? Why start making FPS characters talk on their own?

After a small amount of exploration, you discover that the island of Katorga-12 was used by the Russians to extract E99 Technology, a rare element only available on the island. While working your way through the first level, you jump back in time from 2010 to 1955 because of an EMP blast combined with all of the unstable E99 Technology on the island. While there, you make a huge mistake. You save a man who was supposed to die in the fire on the island. His name is Demichev. While carrying Demichev through the flames, a man appears at the end of a narrow hallways and yells out your name, and tells you not to let Demichev live. As it is revealed at the end of the game, it was you who went back in time to stop yourself from saving that madman. However, you don't listen. . .

When you return to the island you discover that some things have changed, including a statue of a Russian changing to a statue of Demichev. Oh yeah, and also there are monsters roaming the island now. No big deal, right? You are forced to fight through a school to regroup with Devlin, who is later killed by the man you went back in time and saved. Afterwards, you meet a new friend named Kathryn who rescues you from the Russians.

I could go on talking about the plot all day, but there is no point. The story is interesting and pretty easy to follow if you invest enough time. Besides, why should I spoil any more of this great campaign for you guys?

Moving on from the plot, you get a Time Manipulation Device, or TMD for short. This fits on your wrist and you can use it as a tool or weapon. You can repair broken bridges to access areas otherwise unreachable, age enemies to dust, and much, much more. Throughout the game, you get blueprints for new TMD upgrades, weapon upgrades, and even new powers for your already great TMD.

Singularity does have three different endings, however, they can all be viewed by loading your last checkpoint after you have beaten it. I highly recommend this as there is little replay value for the campaign. . . and because there is no chapter select. However, even if there was, there are only six or so chapters, all of which are very long. I would have loved a chapter select feature and to have had the chapters broken up better.

Last, but not least, is Singularity's multiplayer. Every time I tried to find a match--I waited 20 minutes--staring at a searching screen. Multiplayer is dead to me.

I give Singularity 3 out of 5. While it was a great game, I can easily see it dropping in price soon and recommend you guys first rent the game or just wait out a Goozex match.

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