Singularity
Old and New Playing with time
by Walt Pretorius
D
uring the height of the cold war, Russian scientists discover a new, previously unknown element on a small island. Called E99, the new element has astounding properties that will allow the USSR to steam well ahead of its global competitors, and soon the small island of Katorga 12 becomes a hive of activity, as scientists and other workers begin investigating the properties of E99. But something goes wrong (doesn’t it always?) and a cataclysmic event puts an end to all work. Naturally, the West knew nothing about the Soviet research… in fact, they only became aware of the island after some strange events showed up on satellite images. And so they send in a team to investigate. That’s the story behind Singularity, a new first person shooter from legendary developer Raven. The game puts the player in the role of a member of a special military team sent to Katorga 12 by the US Government. Naturally, things go wrong right from the start.
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But we’re going to avoid spoilers as much as we can. Let’s just say that the player finds themselves in a blasted, ruined environment populated by strange, mutated creatures. In fact, from the word go, Singularity reminds one very much of Bioshock, particularly the first instalment of that franchise. The environment is beautiful in its ruin, with details put into the graphics and sound that aren’t often found in games. It beats Bioshock hands down in the visual department, but the similarities between the two titles are undeniable, and even a little disconcerting. Singularity starts out well, but soon devolves to become a fairly by the numbers shooter. At least, the shooting parts do. It’s a pretty stock standard game in terms of the first person shooting elements; the player can carry two weapons at a time, which can be modified at special stations scattered around the game world. Ammo can be found here and there, of course, and the game throws tons
gamecca review • issue 14 • August 2010