On a clandestine mission deep into Russian territory, an American black ops team crash lands on an island research base that was mysteriously abandoned in the 1950’s. Cut off from the outside and under attack by an army of nightmarish creatures, Captain Nathaniel Renko is forced to battle his way through the hostile territory armed with the TMD (Time Manipulation Device) - a time altering weapon created over 50 years ago. Who created the TMD and why is just one of the many Cold War secrets Renko must uncover as he is thrown back and forth across time, making choices that will alter the course of world history...

Singularity is a first person shooter (FPS) which borrows from numerous games that have gone before. It looks and feels a little like the Bioshock games, but I couldn't help being reminded of that old PS2 game Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

Like Bioshock 1 and 2, you can gather more information on what on earth is going on by collecting recordings, notes and videos that are scattered all over the gaming environment. These slowly unlock the history of the project for those who love immersing themselves in the deeper story of games. Of course, for those who just like to crack on with the game play, ignoring these elements won't effect how the game pans out.

Your main weapon is the time manipulation device (TMD) which, as the name suggests, allows you to manipulate time to your advantage. So you can age things (or make them younger) like locks in order to make them weak and allow you access to what they were guarding. In combat this means aging your enemy to the point where they die of old age.

While the TMD is interesting, it's a little too simple to get the hang of and once you know what it does then getting around the environment and past the usual obstacles can be a little repetitive and soon starts to feel tiresome.

The gunplay aspect is also interesting and includes a weapon which allows you to steer a bullet in slow motion, which is great fun.

The oddest thing about this game is that Activision don't seem to have given it the publicity that it so rightly deserves. This is a pretty impressive offering which deserves a little more marketing support. Because of this it's likely to be lost in the increasing market of games being released, which is a great shame.

At its heart Singularity has an engaging story and intense game play and is certainly worth checking out if you're a fan of the FPS genre.

8

Nick Smithson