Singularity is a first-person shooter developed by Raven Software and released in 2010 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PS3 and various other things that go 'bzzz', the game follows Captain Nathaniel Raincoat as he is dropped onto the mysterious island Katorga-12 to investigate after an electromagnetic surge emenating from the island blows the s**t out of an American satellite. Yawn-fest right?..... But wait, did I mention that the island is overrun with MONSTERS? AWWWW YEAH.
You see, Katorga-12 was once under the influence of the Soviet Union who stumbled upon an unknown element hiding behind a bush which they named E-99. This new element as it turns out, is one powerful son of a b**ch, not only is it a fantastic source of energy but it can also be used to control the very fabric of time! However, shortly after the discovery, a catastrophic explosion known as the 'Singularity' occurs in one of Katorga-12's labs turning the island's inhabitants into flesh eating mutants. That's where Raincoat comes in, it's up to him to discover the island's secrets and make sure the 'Singularity' never happens again.
The game itself is not too dissimilar to Bioshock; there are audio messages scattered throughout the levels, E-99 is just Adam but slightly less useful, and the game even has it's own 'Would You Kindly' moment, but that's not to say that Singularity doesn't bring one or two new ideas to the well-worn table.
For one the game allows you to manipulate the enviroment with the help of the Time Manipulation Device or TMD for short, which is aquired early on in the game. This can be as simple as reverting an old, collapsed staircase back to it's former ascending glory or breathing new life into an empty ammunition crate. However the TMD is quite limited as it only works on a few choice objects in the game world so don't expect to feel like Chronos himself, you're really just a very talented repairman. If I had a TMD I'd use it on Mickey Rourke's head, it's a shame that such a talented actor should only recieve roles in which his character has had a history of punches to the face.
One area in which Singularity definitely trumps Bioshock, is the combat. Singularity takes a very old school approach to it's shooting but it's all the more enjoyable because of it, I had forgotten the simple joy of shooting a mutant at point blank range with a shotgun. Later on in the game you will unlock extra powers for the TMD to aid you in combat like the awesome stasis bubble which will slow the movement of all objects and enemies within the bubble, there's nothing cooler than stopping an enemy in his tracks tossing an explosive barrel his way and watching the resulting carnage all in super sexy slo-mo.
Visually, Singularity is akin to the face of beloved actor Mickey Rourke, it looks fine from a distance but move a little closer and you begin to see the lumps and bumps. The game is full of muddy textures and thats only when they remember to load, the rest of the time it's like playing on a PC with the lowest settings and the monitor is made of bananas.
I was quite impressed with the sound design in the game, the enviromental sounds have a very realistic quality to them and some of the voice acting is quite enjoyable too, even old favourite Nolan North makes a welcome appearance. Unfortunately though, the game is seriously lacking in any memorable music, as I sit here typing I find myself struggling to remember even a single note from my eight hour playthrough, I can't even remember what instruments feature, but as it's quite a generic shooter, I'm going to guess strings, lots and lots of strings.
The game also has a multiplayer mode but I could only find one dude from Sweden playing and the lobby has to have a certain amount of players before a match begins, I waited like twenty five minutes but no one else joined,...so that was my experience with the Singularity multiplayer, not great for gaming but that Swedish guy is probably still on there waiting for a game if you feel like some company.
Singularity is certainly worth your time, it may lack originality but what it 'borrows' from others it puts to good use. If you liked Bioshock then you will probably like this too, I sure did.
Popularized by Doom in 1993 and still making video game haters gnash their teeth today, first-person shooter games are the best thing to happen to gamers since pizza rolls. So here are 15 underrated first-person shooter games you may have missed.
Although the late 2000s Turok wasn't my favorite, I would love a new entry. Open world survival with shotguns and dinosaurs. Not sure how we'd get the fusion cannon, but that would be pretty sweet too.
Lol
All of these games are pretty much universally praised. Outside of Timeshift I literally own all of these.
XIII, The Darkness 2, Far Cry: Blood Dragon, Timesplitters: future perfect, Bulletstorm are awesome games
As the world reels from the shockwaves of the seismic news that Microsoft is acquiring the proverbial swamp of the video-game landscape, Activision Blizzard King, it only seems natural that our minds should now shift towards what the fallout will be for presumably years if not decades to come.
Another Prototype would be awesome.
As for Singularity, I don't necessarily need a sequel, I just want to see Raven be able to flex their creative muscle again; not just be relegated to assisting with CoD. A lot of the old guard is still with the company.
That's part of what I'm hoping to see come from this acquisition. Revive teams like Vicarious Visions and Ravem to actually allow them to work on their own new projects again.
As great as that would be the deal wont finalize until end of fiscal year 2023. Until after that date MS wont really have a say as to where resources will be spent. So we wont realistically see anything until perhaps 2026 or later.
I think that’s a point that so many people are missing. Things will not change this year or next year at all. Maybe some changes might be apparent in 2024 but 2025/2026 is a good estimate of when things will really start happening. And I don’t think we will see as big a set of changes as some are suggesting.
Those teams having not worked on anything, the employees find jobs at other companies, they don't just remain unemployed till someone at the publisher decides to revive the team, they need to eat lol
That said, this list of games makes me unexcited for anything outside of CoD that Activision has to offer. All games are in stale genres, like Guitar Hero, Simpsons Hit and Run, these are long surpassed genres that are going to be difficult to revive.
@gamer75 if it is a combination it has to have my seal of approval. Such as a new Warcraft game or a new Warcraft mmo, or an action game based off the night elves orcs and humans if it’s a new IP. I’ll let you know after I talk with Microsoft
Man I’ve been waiting for Protoype since the last one. Protoype could seriously be MS’ answer to Infamous (freaking loved that game as well, hope Sony make a new one soon).
That's one I see being tossed around a lot to bring back, even if not from Raven themselves.
Put so many hours into those games over the years.
I'd like to see Activision get the Transformers license again and continue the War and Fall of Cybertron games. the movie games were crap and the game that combined both movie and Fall and War of Cybertron sucked a new Prototype would also be good as well.
You deserve a 1000 likes haha 😂. It’s a shame High Moon didn’t get to continue making Transformers. If they got a decent budget i think most of us TF fans would be excited.
Ms bought Activision and everybody dancing for what? For cod? Ms want to atleast earn some money Back from those 70 billion dollars.... The only thing they count on is more gamepass subscribers via Activision cod, diablo and over watch 2 1st Day free at gamepass. If they decide to make them exclusive to xbox they Will lose profit from ps4 and 5 sales. As For a New ip or an existing ip like over watch 3,diablo 5 or anything else like a New transformers Dont you think that developers need at least 3 years to Do something decent?
Anyway my opinion is that ms want to make videogaming Just a subscription a la netflix and that ps5 will beat xboxsx in sales like ps4 beat xbox and xbox one x..... All the money ms spending It Will defentily make more gamepass subscribers as for games we all must wait at least 3 more years... And thats why ps5 will get ahead in sales they have more AAA in the pipeline already plus lets see their answer for gamepass... P. S i Dont support subscriptions from neither company and i didnt buy switch plus for n64. If they give me the option to buy n64 games then yes i Will buy them but i am not paying for a rental.
Re-imagining of River Raid and the original adventurer Pitfall. Oh Zork is also a great game.
You may remember Singularity as the game Activision wanted to forget. Developed by Raven Software - formerly the creators of Heretic and Soldier of Fortune.
It was a truly bizarre sequences of events, almost as if Activision wanted the game to do badly. The tragic irony is that Singularity is a more interesting singleplayer FPS than every Call of Duty Activision has released since Modern Warfare, combining a high-concept, time-hopping story with oodles of clever mechanics, and a weapon-roster to rival Bulletstorm and Titanfall 2. | Rick Lane
This game was fantastic and it was the only Activision published game last gen I really enjoyed.
I loved the TMD gameplay as it reminded me of the Gravity Gun in Half Life, if they did a sequel they could have really added onto the game. I loved how despite being scripted the time era would change and you'd suddenly be in the past, if they did a sequel they could have tried to do these non scripted so they could happen at any time while you were walking around.
This game received little to no love. I enjoyed it and recommend if tour looking for a solid fps for probably dirt cheap that dared to be different by tying together a lot of ideas.
One of my favorite first person shooters. I wish Activision would finally allow them to make the sequel we've all been waiting for!
loved this game. rented it on a whim at blockbuster, and had way too much with it. A pleasant, self-contained title, no massive franchise, just a nice little story and interesting gameplay. Definitely a hidden gem from lest gen.
It was good of you to not mark the game down for a lack of an online community, however, I feel more developers need to invest time into publishing the online aspects of their games through release of multiplayer betas/demos, this also allows then to polish the title prior to launch, allowing for a more enjoyable experience off the bat.
Many developers with fresh, innovative ideas need to use that originality to their advantage, not tacking on multiplayer but instead finding a unique manner of incorporating the games unique mechanics into the multiplayer component, therefor they are catering for a different Market than the already heavily established multiplayer titles keeping hold of a community and increasing the longevity of the online community.
All in all this was a great, brilliantly typed, detailed review citing some key neccesitys that often find themselves neglected within User reviews, such as music, sound design and such. Well done.
PS. I loved the Mickey Rourke analogy, I couldn't stop laughing.
Thought this game was awesome. I'd love to see a sequel if the continuity can be picked up from either endings.
I liked it except for the whole collecting of E99, if I wanted a collect-a-thon I'd play Mario Galaxy.