14 DAY TRIAL // 
How old school can you still be when it comes to first person shooters in 2010 while still making a video game, which is appealing to modern players and can compete with the likes of Modern Warfare 2?
This is the question that the people at Raven Software set out to answer while creating their latest original intellectual property, Singularity.
The result is a weird experience, where the player relies on health packs to get through fights and upgrade weapons using element E99 while also experiencing a narrative dealing with the effects of time travel and how power can shape the destiny of man in ways we wouldn't have thought possible.
But the shooting is good, the Time Manipulation Device opens up some interesting possibilities and the story picks up a few hours in. It's a bit antiquated, a bit modern and well worth a play through.
Story The plot of Singularity is built around an element called E99, discovered by the Soviet Union and used for a variety of experiments on a remote island, which does not seem to exist on any map, called Katorga-12. The Communists are interested in creating a device, a weapon that could help them regain the advantage in the Cold War, eliminating the superiority that United States have because of their bigger arsenal of nuclear weapons. Everything seems to be going well on Katorga until 1955, when a huge explosion wiped everything out on the island. The Soviet leadership decides to discontinue all research using E99, hiding all the material they still had in their possession, while basically erasing the real life island from history and limiting access.
In modern day, an electromagnetic discharge from the island attracts the attention of the United States Government and in true first person shooter manner, a team of Special Forces soldiers is sent in to see what happened on the island and report back. Another flash brings down the helicopters of the team and, initially, it seems a host of creatures of unknown origins need to be kept at bay while two brave soldiers manage to explore the area, find some answers and get an evacuation force ready so that they can get off Katorga.
The game has a false start, with the first one hour or two creating the impression of a pretty run of the mill military shooter with some supernatural elements. Once the Special Forces soldier accompanying the player is shot, it all takes a very different turn, with the Time Manipulation Device being introduced and the action shifting liberally between the '50's and current day. A nefarious Russian scientist plans to use E99 and manipulate time and space in order to dominate the world. The player character is linked to the events and needs to step in so that they can change history and make sure E99 is not used to dominate other people.
The plot is pretty convoluted and there are some moments, especially when listening to the audio diaries that are sprinkled through the levels, when it appears to have cracks big enough to drive a Russian tractor through but the end game is very well done, with the consequences of player’s actions making quite a bit of difference to the fate of the world. It's worth spending a few days to get to see the three possible end sequences, especially because there's actually none that can be described as a true happy ending.
Gameplay
There are two things a player needs to do in order to succeed in Singularity: shoot people and move stuff through time. The player character, called Nate Renko (the name is a clue, with its vaguely Slavic sound), can carry two weapons at the same time, my preference settling on the assault weapon and the sniper rifle, and a Time Manipulation Device, a gadget built around a small reactor powered by E99. The weird element can be used to upgrade weapons and the TMD, and the device itself will only actually have any effect on those things that have come into contact with the element. This is the justification for the fact that just a portion of the world can be affected. One of the nastiest elements of the game are the soldiers that wear special anti-E99 amour, who pop up for the first time exactly when players get accustomed to the time powers and remain a nuisance for the rest of the single player component.
The weapons are well built and there's a nice sense of progression to them as the story goes on and Raven manages to build quite a few good combat area and scenarios. Time manipulation is also well integrated in the world of Singularity, even if there are times when its use feels a bit forced. The big drawback to the gameplay is the way ammo, health packs and E99 bits are spread across the levels, breaking the immersion that the game can create and forcing players to be more interested in scavenging for all the upgrades they can and every last health pack than in pushing the story forward.
Graphics and audio
Singularity can be a beautiful game at times. The same game can be equally ugly, often in the space of a few meters or minutes. It all depends on the whims of the Unreal Engine 3, which at times chooses not to appropriately bring in some of the textures needed. Big chunks of gameplay can fly by the player with some surfaces looking as if they were coming from the era of Hexen or Heretic. There are also sections, especially those that involve a time frame other than the present, when the game can actually look good, with impressive effects and nice artistic touches. It would have been great if the developers had tried to go for a more unique look rather than taking inspiration from other titles like Fallout 3 and BioShock but no one who gets caught in the story of Singularity will abandon it because of the way it looks.
The audio is adequate and nothing more. There are some issues with the tape recordings, meaning the player actually needs to stay close to them to get the backstory of the events on Katorga-12. At times, the characters seem wooden, with the main villain rarely inspiring any sort of dread. And the ubiquitous Nolan North is in it.
Multiplayer
The entire multiplayer component of Singularity is built around the idea of human soldiers, specially equipped and using Time Manipulation Devices, going up against the creatures, mutated and agile, that have made the island of Katorga-12 their new home. There are two main modes and both of them are competitive against the two factions: Extermination will see the players land on the island and fight in order to activate signal beacons that take out the creatures in the immediate area and open up a new space where to fight while Creatures versus Soldiers is pretty much a straight up team deathmatch concept adapted to the unique aspects of Singularity.
The fact that there are two teams very different in both character makeup and style of play means there's a learning curve linked to the multiplayer of Singularity but it also ensures a diversity, which other first person shooters, based entirely around humans, might lack. The creatures have unique abilities and there are a variety of roles that a good gamer can fill in their ranks. The only problem: there is a limited number of gamers currently taking part in the multiplayer game and as time goes by, those numbers will likely decline pretty fast.
The shooting is also solid, with weapons that feel powerful and enemies that can always offer a challenge, especially when they show up in great numbers. The Time Manipulation Device might not be the complete game changer some might expect but its effects are cool and make a difference in the game world. It would have been great to see it used in a world where every brick and particle can be affected but it's a nice tool to play around with in its current state. Singularity is not the greatest shooter of the year but it's well built and has quite a few nice surprises for the player who is growing bored of only getting shot on modern battlefields. There's life, yet in first person shooters where the supernatural meets cool weapons but, unfortunately, not enough to go up against the Modern Warfare titles and the Medal of Honor games of the world. One thing is clear: Raven managed to create a more engaging game than Wolfenstein, which is a step ahead for them. Let's hope they’ll go to something like Hexen or Heretic next.
The Good
The Bad
Conclusion
