Singularity: The One With The Time Manipulation Device

One of my favorite games on the list, Raven Software’s 2010 Singularity is a tasty bite of Cold War-era espionage with a time-travel twist. A helicopter carrying a group of U.S. Marines is hit by a mysterious energy wave, causing it to crash land on an island once held by the former Soviet Union. Surviving the crash, Captain Nathaniel Renko begins to phase between modern day and 1955. During one of these trips he saves a Soviet scientist, only to return to the present to find that scientist has taken over the world. Using a special TMD (Time Manipulation Device), Renko must jump back and forth between timelines to set things straight.

The TMD lets Renko manipulate the temporal state of living creatures (unless they’re wearing armor) or physical objects that have come into contact with an element called E-99. During his adventure Renko discovers power stations that boost the TMD, allowing him to affect larger objects, making the game sort of a Metroidvania where paths are blocked until you reach certain power levels.

Singularity’s a great game with a neat gimmick that was released with hardly any marketing and has since been pretty much forgotten. I recall it fondly when I recall it at all.