Solid FPS from Raven
My first impression of this game, when it was unveiled, was it looked to be just another Quake 4 or Wolfenstein–but after playing for a few hours I was pleased to realize that it was a bit more. The game itself plays a lot like traditional shooters, but utilizes some pretty interesting mechanics that make the game play stand out a lot more. Think Bioshock meets Doom and FEAR, well sort of...
The game uses the Unreal Engine so it looks a tad dated, but personally I like graphics because everything looks nice enough and the frames roll along at a steady pace. The worlds are highly detailed and the character and weapon models are excellent. There's not too much to be said about the actual shooting elements other than the weapons are fun to fire and there's an upgrade and perks system to go along with them, which makes me happy. It's also nice to feel confident enough in your arsenal when the time comes to use your selection. In other words, the guns don't feel like worthless pieces of trash and do plenty of damage; you get some perks that help you out in certain areas as well.
Your enemies in Singularity are what you'd expect... the infamous zombie mutant or two-headed freak and the occasional Russian super soldier. The AI is basic but gets the job done. It's a bit tough to describe the setting without spoiling any of the plot so I'm gonna leave most of that stuff out. Let's just say there's some time manipulation involved and like usual the USSR is behind everything. The TMD (Time Manipulation Device) is a really cool hand-held gadget which provides you with some really unique powers. Again, I don't want to spoil the fun so I'm leaving out the details. It's basically powered by E-99 (an element in which the game plot is worked around) and allows you to do all sorts of neat things to your surroundings and enemies.
Overall, Singularity is very entertaining and easy to recommend for most FPS players. It may not be a revolutionary step as far as shooters go but it's plenty of fun and introduces some really neat mechanics to the genre. Another solid title by Raven Software.
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