Activision had a playable version of Raven Softwareâs recently delayed first-person shooter Singularity at Comic-Con. It was our first chance to test out the gameâs Time Manipulation Device, plus put a few bullets in anyone who crossed our path.
The Comic-Con demo didnât spend too much time focusing on Singularityâs sci-fi story lineâprobably for the best, given the noisy environmentâinstead dropping us about an hour and a half into the game. At this point, protagonist Nate Ranco already has the time shifting glove that gives Singularity its core mechanic, letting the player revert and age objects and enemies.
That mechanic comes in handy for puzzle solving and offensive attacks, making Singularity a more strategic, puzzle heavy shooter.
What Is It?
Singularity is a first-person shooter set on a mysterious island known as Katorga-12 home to a series of Russian experiments involving âElement 99,â the element that powers that time distorting glove Ranco wears.
What We Saw
We played through a 15 minute long segment, shooting bad guys, solving puzzles and watching some of the gameâs time warping cinematics unfold. We experimented with Singularityâs time manipulation glove, played with the Chronolightâa device that lets players see objects that exist in different time periods, then pull them into Rancoâs presentâand poked around with some of the gameâs firearms.
How Far Along Is It?
The game was due to be released this Fall, but was pushed back to the first quarter of 2010. The playable demo was indicative of a mostly complete product, but Raven Software reps said theyâll take the extra time from the gameâs delay to polish the title further.
What Needs Improvement?
Our Familiarity With The Controls: Raven packed a lot into the control scheme, which took a little getting used to. Gunplay is standard stuffâfire with the right trigger, sight or zoom with the left trigger. The game padâs bumpers are used to work the TMD, which can initially be awkward, especially when one is trying to use the time glove to decay a barrier an enemy is hiding behind while also returning fire. Weâre presuming the learning curve will be less steep in the retail experience, as players wonât be thrown a full arsenal from the get-go.
What Should Stay The Same?
The Shootinâ: Capable stuffânot too surprising, considering Ravenâs experience with first person shooters. Gunplay felt solid, with a nice variety of machine guns, shotguns and pistols. Thereâs even a pistol that fires Element 99 rounds, letting the player curve their shots. The TMD can also be used as a weapon, with rapid impulse bursts that push back enemies and a time revert function that pits enemies against each other.
The Graphics: Most of Singularityâs visuals are dark, gritty and moody. But thereâs a splash of color peppered throughout, with ghostly blues and oranges helping to break up the deserted environments. Singularityâs mix of futuristic and Cold War era settings makes for a nice mix.
The Puzzles: Thereâs some really clever stuff in the demo alone. At one point, we were blocked by a set of concrete stairs, which we had to degrade with the TMDâs age option. But then we need to get up those stairs, so we pointed the glove at the rubble and rebuilt them with the revert function. The Chronolight also came into play, with the demo requiring us to pull a platform from the past into the current time, filling the gap in a broken walkway.
Final Thoughts
Singularityâs move into next year is a disappointing one, because the mix of shooting and puzzle solving makes a relatively interesting shooter a potentially fascinating one. Itâs going to take some getting used to grasp some of Singularityâs time shifting puzzle solving tactics, but we look forward to strapping on the glove again soon.
