Singularity Review

You can manipulate time, you can slow down time, you can freeze enemies, you can restore decaying objects and, of course, perform a variety of moves with or without ordinary weapons. What really pleased us in this game is that everything ran smoothly, without any noticeable hindrances along way. In addition, enemies will put up a decent fight, albeit they often act like cannon fodder rather than attempting to outsmart the player. Still, it's not all bad, because a few times I was actually surprised with some of the stuff the AI pulled on me. In one situation, 5 monsters entered a room that had an elevated platform, which is where I climbed hoping it would give me some advantage over the enemy. Now, I assumed the monsters would take the staircase, which I had a clear shot at, but instead they jumped right onto the platform, took me by surprise and surrounded me within seconds. This is not remarkable AI behavior, but it was a rather unexpected move I must admit.

Thought I didn't see you there, eh?

The old neighborhood hasn't changed much. I like it.

Most of the good stuff we've experienced in single-player, we're equally entertaining in multiplayer. You'll find two mods where players get to fight along side the Soldiers or the Creatures. The classes and skills differ according to the side you've chosen, of course. Because of all the different weapons and skills that are on offer, the multiplayer remains exciting during each match, regardless of the side you're playing on. Essentially, this segment of the game provides what most FPS multiplayer fans are after - hours of pure slaughter and fun (shut up, they are all after that).

The sound and graphics in Singularity are average and do not boast any noteworthy qualities. What's good about this game is that it's well-polished, apart from the texture-loading bug, which was recently fixed by Raven Software with a modestly sized patch. The fact that the game looks outdated and even ugly in some parts didn't bother us much. Despite that, it makes a nice change to experience a polished game with modest visuals, as opposed to a graphically sophisticated title running in a poorly optimized engine.

Again, the greatest advantage of Singularity is that it takes a lot of different elements and molds them into one constantly dynamic gaming experience. Raven Software proficiently used the best ingredients from a variety of familiar shooters, merging them into one well-polished action game that plays well in both multiplayer and the story mode. Ironically, the game's biggest strength is its one major weakness. It's just feels too recognizable at times. Singularity lacks any features that would take us beyond the confines and traditions of the all-too-familiar genre of scripted first-person shooters.