Singularity

Singularity contains the sort of smart, fun gameplay ideas we assumed first-person shooters had given up on. [Issue#99, p.120]

Dumb, derivative and gleefully enjoyable. [Sept 2010, p.87]

Despite the glaring flaws, there's a huge amount of enjoyment to be had with Singularity. It's not an essential title, but it certainly brightens up this dull time of year.

The gunplay is solid and there are a few memorable set pieces. It is a game ultimately limited by a lack of imagination where a neat time-manipulation idea is handcuffed to a by-the-numbers first-person shooter.

A little undercooked, but this is still an enjoyable attempt to create a more cerebral shooter.

Although its core shooter gameplay is enjoyable, Singularity suffers from being far more derivative than original, with elements appropriated from at least a dozen other, better games.

Singularity has great promise yet Raven has not managed to fully harness the premise. What remains is an enjoyable first person romp set against a unique backdrop.

More development time ultimately might have done wonderful things for this game, but Singularity is nonetheless fascinating if you actually take advantage of your full arsenal.

With a bit more ingenuity in the puzzles, more made of the time travel and a little more graphical "oomph", Raven and Activision could have had a real gem on their hands. It's still well worth a look though.

Singularity is a highly competent shooter crafted by the veterans at Raven Studios. The time manipulating mechanic is a cool addition to the first person shooter formula, but unfortunately it's not realised fully. Impressive presentation, great controls, an interesting storyline and epic bosses are enough to warrant a purchase though.

With its varied combat, ridiculous story and outlandish weapons it's a fun and engaging title and it's a real pity that that Activision haven't given it the attention it deserves. If you're willing to overlook its shortcomings and enjoy old school running-and-gunning, Singularity is an immensely satisfying romp.

Singularity is the kind of shooter we haven't seen in a while, one who doesn't take itself too seriously. The realism of games like Call of Duty or Battlefield: Bad Company is traded in for weird weapons and awesome powers. The TMD makes for some interesting moments, but should have been more elaborate. It's also a shame the game gets far too easy half way through. Still Singularity is a great pastime in these quiet periods.

Singularity might not grab the collective gamer consciousness but it's a game worth playing, not just for the shooting and adventure of it, but to play the meta game of trying to identify the references and homage, intentional or not, from Half-Life 2 to Chronomaster to LOST to System Shock and many more.

You'll get the average eight to twelve hours of single player depending on the difficulty, but it does drag on as the pacing just seems very off.

There was a lot of meat here, and most of it never played out as it should've.

In the end Singularity is a decidedly average shooter with a pretty novel storyline.

Can feel a little by the numbers. [Issue#62,p.86]

There's a fun shooter, exciting powers and some neat weapons in there, but it never quite comes together thanks to dull levels and half-baked puzzles.

For all Raven's efforts with temporal gimmicks, this is a game which is stuck in the FPS past – but, perversely, in its gun-metal and gore, in its most archaic respects, Raven proves it can just about stand the test of time.

Even if it won't go down in history, Singularity will delight horrific shooter fans, especially those who are now fed up with Rapture and Black Mesa.