Singularity
Russians? Check. Zombie things? Check. Awesomeness? Check.
Published: July 21, 2010
The TMD allowed the developers to experiment with some nifty puzzle elements. For example, if a slightly opened gate is stuck, players can use the TMD to age a nearby box into a crumpled pile, pick it up, place it beneath the door, then revert it to its youthful self thus pushing the door open. The same box trick can be used to create a pseudo-staircase. Unfortunately, this is the extent of the puzzle craziness found in Singularity. With such a unique and interesting tool, some truly mind-bending puzzles could've been incorporated. We're not asking Singularity to become Portal, but gamers can handle more than what is being thrown at them.
One pitfall I discovered while playing wasn't that the enemies were uninteresting; they were either just introduced at incorrect times or ridiculously unbalanced. Near the beginning of the game, when all I had equipped was a basic pistol, I was dropped into a room with four enemies who were bullet-sponges with teleporting capabilities. Needless to say, my slow, single-shot pistol wasn't effective at all. Also, I didn't have the TMD yet and the game had granted me very few medical kits at that point. The area was obscenely difficult, and I even had to resort to the highly uninteresting "melee, backpedal to avoid enemy melee, move in, melee, backpedal" method to dispatch them.
My last gripe about enemies won't affect players until they are roughly half way through the game. At this point, large swarms of tiny enemies will attack the player. Think of the infection forms of Halo's Flood species, or the crawlers from the Resistance franchise for comparison. The reason a game can throw a dozen small enemies at you is because they should be weak. Singularity didn't get that memo. The relentless creatures, which by the way have explosives strapped to them, will drain your health bar in an instant. Annoying, for sure. Run backwards and fire an automatic weapon if you want to have a chance at survival.
When the 8-10 hour campaign is finished, there is some multiplayer action left to experience. This portion of the game features two competitive modes that pit TMD users against enemy creatures from the single-player story. Combat is class based, and each faction has four loadouts to choose from. Unfortunately, Singularity falls into the trap that most other developers hit; the multiplayer modes aren't great. Sure, they're fun for an hour or two, but the scant online community will ensure that Singularity's legs will be quite short.
As I stated before, I'd love to see a sequel for Singularity. Some interesting mechanics and a decent story have gotten the ball rolling, and a well-designed follow-up could really knock the franchise out of the park. While it's by no means a perfect game, gamers looking for great shooter experience with an enjoyable story and enthralling world need not look further.
