Singularity takes place in an alternate history from our world and follows Nathaniel Renko, a Captain in United States' military. Renko is sent to investigate the Soviet island of Katorga-12 after strange electromagnetic surges knock out an American spy satellite orbiting above the island. Upon reaching the island, Renko's helicopter is disabled by an EMP pulse originating on the island. After narrowly surviving the crash, Renko sets off to reunite with his team and to figure out what exactly is happening on Katorga-12.
Eventually, Captain Renko stumbles upon Katorga-12's welcome center for Russian scientists and learns that the island was discovered to be rich in a resource known as E99. This rare ore was found by the Soviets to possess great power and an ability to influence time itself. Renko also learns that the scientists on the now abandoned island had attempted to create a singularity to serve as a source of endless energy to run the Russian war machine as it worked to crush the entirety of the world under its iron fist. Unfortunately for the Soviets, the singularity exploded killing thousands on the island and causing the entire Katorga-12 project to be scrapped.
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| Umm yeah, that totally looks like a safe source of electricity... |
As Renko is poking around the facility he begins to witness strange time fluctuations culminating in his being teleported back in time to 1955 where he saves a man as the facility burns. After saving the man, Renko appears back in his own time of 2010 only to discover that the man whom he saved has now taken over the world. Renko is soon contacted by a female member of a resistance group and instructed to locate a Time Manipulation Device (TMD) in order for the resistance to have a chance against the new dictator. The story that follows sees Captain Renko wield the TMD against hordes of mutated abominations as well as the armies of the new world ruler Nikolai Demichev.
Singularity's gameplay is very similar to other FPSs. The game keeps the genre fresh, however, by adding in Renko's new toy, the TMD. The Time Manipulation Device allows Renko to rapidly age or revert objects in the environment as well as humans and creatures. Aside from the obvious combat advantage this device gives to Renko, it's use is also necessary in solving many of the game's puzzles. I was very impressed with the puzzle design as I played through the game. The aging and reversion mechanic changes parts of the island to rust or restores them to a brand new state. Suddenly that rusty old box sitting in the corner can be used to pry open a garage door when you place it under the door and revert it to its original height, or that broken electric fence can be rejuvenated into giving your enemies a shocking surprise. The many different ways that objects can be used to progress in the game keeps things interesting.
When Renko does need a little help in battling the mutated denizens of Katorga-12, the TMD has a number of abilities which come in handy. Just as shiny new metal can be reduced to a pile a rust, Renko can use the TMD to rapidly age human enemies into dust. When used on the non-human creatures on the island, the TMD has various effects. Some creatures, which normally rely on phasing between dimensions to become invisible, become stuck in Renko's dimension, others violently explode, destroying anything near them with their suicide.
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| Looks like he chose.....poorly. |
The TMD gains power and new abilities throughout the game by finding upgrade machines. These machines are part of the story and what upgrades you receive are predefined, however players can access augmentation stations spread throughout the game's levels to spend E99 tech (pickups found throughout the game) to upgrade Captain Renko depending on their own desires. E99 tech can be used to upgrade Renko's physical abilities such as defense and health. The energy can also be spent on the TMD itself; improving the various abilities unlocked throughout the game as well as unlocking new "perks" which affect things such as ammo drops.
The game's weapons run the gamut from totally utilitarian to just plain fun. All weapons have been manufactured using E99 which has imbued some of the guns with interesting abilities. For instance, the game's sniper rifle has the ability to dilate time making tricky shots much easier to pull off.
Another weapon allows the player to fire a round bomb and remotely control its movement so that you can roll it around corners to give enemies a nasty surprise. All weapons can be upgraded at weapon lockers using weapon tech that is found throughout the game. One of the only problems I had with the game, however, was that switching between using the TMD and a gun could be somewhat awkward. Whenever you use a TMD power, the glove appears on the screen and your weapon disappears. If you press the fire button, your gun fires normally and appears suddenly on the screen. This can lead to confusion as to what you have equipped and, really, just feels weird to me.
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| Well that's one way to take care of a rat infestation.. |
Singularity features an amazing atmosphere which few games can match. Everything in the game's alternate history feels as though it is real. Environments in the game are extremely detailed and levels are very well designed. Even with the game being a couple years old at this review's time of writing, the graphics still look great. Some textures in the game are quite a bit lower resolution than they should be, however, giving some areas an unfinished, shabby look. Creature design is quite varied and interesting as well.
Katorga-12 has a rich back story which only augments the gameworld's realism. Personal memos and letters are found throughout the game, giving Renko an insight to what life must have been like on the island. Audio recordings which are littered about the offices and labs also work to flesh out the game's back story. Additionally, Renko often witnesses time phases in which "ghosts" of past events appear in front of his eyes. These flashes from the past make visual what scientists attempting to escape the 1955 disaster at the facility experienced.
The art style and direction of the game work amazingly well to making Singularity's atmosphere memorable. One of the more interesting levels sees Renko dashing through a ship as time fluctuations literally age the metal around him to rust. I cannot describe the feeling of dread that being stuck in the bowels of a quickly deteriorating sea vessel brings on. The fact that a game can confer this emotion proves that great atmosphere has been achieved.
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| Erm, this resort looks nothing like it did on the pamphlet... |
Nathaniel Renko's story will last most gamers around 10 hours depending on the difficultly level selected. I usually find that the story in many FPS games tends to end much too quickly. Singularity lasts long enough to tell its entire story, yet doesn't ramble on and become boring. With three different endings, the game gives players a chance to go back and enjoy the game again if they so choose, though the three endings can all be witnessed using strategic saves if players do not wish to fight their way through the entire game three times.
Singularity offers a number of multiplayer modes, however as the game is over 2 years old, and seems to be somewhat under the radar of most gamers, the online community is basically non-existent. I attempted to play a game or two online and there was literally only one other person in the world trying to do the same. For the sake of this review, the multiplayer aspects of the game will be excluded, which is a shame, because they sound fun.
Achievements in the game are pretty standard for FPS games. There are a number of collectables to find throughout the game. There are achievements for using each weapon and TMD power a certain number of times as well as completing the story mode. Around 40% of the game's achievements are multiplayer based, which without an online population, makes them impossible to unlock. I am not a fan of multiplayer achievements, and this is just one of the many reasons for my opinion of them.
Singularity's release went relatively unnoticed by many gamers. I really don't know why such a great game is still relatively unknown. The atmosphere is comparable to what is widely considered the game with the best atmosphere ever, Bioshock. With only a few very minor problems, Singularity has quickly become one of my favorite games in recent history.
Amulets and Ale Rating:
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