Singularity: Who needs the Sands of Time when you have the Time Manipulation Device?

FULL REVIEW

Singularity isn’t the most original first person shooter out there. It pays homage to nearly all the big boys of days gone by like Half-Life 2, BioShock, Call of Duty and more. In doing so it does sacrifice originality in the process but that thankfully, doesn’t stop the game from being a boatload of fun.

The game takes place in an alternate reality where Russians are still the bad guys (these dudes just can’t catch a break can they?) performing all sorts of evil experiments to turn the tide of war in their favor. In doing so they discover a substance called Element 99 (E99) that’s as powerful as it is volatile. Sadly Uncle Ben wasn’t around to give them the “With great power comes great responsibility” life lesson and so their carelessness causes a catastrophic Singularity event that destroys the entire facility in the process.  Nearly 45 years later abnormal electromagnetic activity forces a team of highly trained Black Ops operatives to investigate the area and that’s where you, the silent protagonist come into the picture.

Singularity plays out like your run of the mill first person shooter, until you find the Time Manipulation Device (TMD). This device (that gets attached to your hand) allows you to mess around with the age of objects as well as living beings while shooting enemies in the face. What this means is that you can choose to rapidly age objects/enemies or revert their age to gain a tactical advantage on the battlefield. For example, zap a broken down ammo/health cache with your TMD to revert it to its pristine glory allowing you to dip into its contents. Similarly you can rapidly age an enemy reducing him to ashes in front of your very eyes.

Over a course of time the TMD will grant you access to better powers such as stasis (stopping time down to a crawl) and Telekinesis that allow you to lift objects and chuck them around with reckless abandon. The above mentioned powers tie into most of the game’s puzzles as well (don’t let the term “puzzles” freak you out as most of them are pretty basic in nature). The powers granted by your TMD along with your weapons can be upgraded at local upgrade stations strewn all over the island. On the weapons front you have your standard first person shooter arsenal, with the exception of a few innovative weapons like the Seeker that allows you to steer bullets into chunky enemy skulls.

Singularity isn’t the most gorgeous game on the planet nor is it the most original. It’s clichéd as hell and ends in around eight hours. It ships with a multiplayer mode that’s so generic and scarcely populated I’m not even going to acknowledge its existence. Even then I can still go ahead and recommend this game purely on the basis of its balls-to-the-wall fun factor. If you like bug guns, fast paced gameplay, diabolical enemies, end of the world scenarios and plenty of guts and gore, Singularity doesn’t disappoint.