Singularity (Xbox 360)

Singularity is a fun FPS and While not perfect it delivers the goods with atmosphere and solid controls. Theres a little bit of other FPS games mixed into it (which is good) so youll notice a tiny bit of Bioshock while playing the game when you come across the upgrade booths and collecting E99 instead of adam. The game is very linear but that doesn't effect the enjoyment. The story is interesting especially the time travel focused bits plus there are audio logs and notes hidden around that add a little to it. I wouldn't buy the game for the multiplayer as its a bit poor (also it only has 3 maps) but the singleplayer is alot of fun and has some stand out moments.

Note: You'll find a fun weapon called the seeker which allows you to control its bullets flight path by steering it with left analogue stick

There are some minor flaws such as the save system and being unable to backtrack for items in some levels due to the fact that some doors will lock shut once youve passed a certain point .

If you do buy it, i hope you enjoy it :)

Singularity, a game that has literally come out of nowhere. Very little hype, minimal advertising and trailers yet we have such a beast of game it's a shame it hasn't been pushed to sell, I bet Raven are wishing they had their own time manipulation device now!

The game starts out with you (Nate Renko) traveling to Katorga-12 to investigate new readings. Whilst aboard the chopper a huge explosion erupts which looks like an EMP and causes the chopper to come crashing down. You soon find out that you have been caught in the middle of a huge cover up by the Russians and it's time to find out what's going on here.

When you start playing you are in a dark eerie area that is covered in fire and wreckage and you make your way through, instantly you see 2 corpses disintegrate right in front of you and immediately know things are a little bit out of the ordinary here. You progress through and it's very moody, atmospheric and actually pretty scary. With only a knife at your disposal it's time to find a gun, FAST.
It's not long until you start fighting enemies, which are extremely nasty looking. Raven have done an excellent job creating these beasts because they are really ugly and really freaky. The game makes you jump very often as you progress through tight corridors and small rooms. It's not the scariest game ever, but it made me jump more than most horror games, even when you are most expecting something to jump out at you it still catches you off guard. You battle plenty of enemies through the game, and there is a nice variety of them too. Some teleport, some turn transparent, some just want to rip you apart from head to toe, and the soldiers try to destroy you with the weapons.

One of the best features in Singularity is the TMD (time manipulation device) which is a very original idea and has some amazing features. For starters you can simply cause items to levitate and place them where you like. You can age things to make them crumble and collapse to reveal hidden areas, or reverse them so they're like brand new again. There is so much you can do with the TMD and it's amazing fun! The TMD also allows you to turn humans in to a monster type thing called a revert, which will then attack anything that makes noise (other soldiers) so this can be a great advantage, you can also cause them to explode which works like a bomb. It has loads of other cool features, but I don't want to spoil any surprises.

The story is very gripping from start to end, i have played some very long sessions on Singularity because it is so much fun and so intriguing. I haven't enjoyed an FPS like this for a while now and the cool weapons and TMD make it even better. Weapons can be upgraded and you upgrade your TMD as you progress through the game. Singularity didn't need a multiplayer to try to add to the games lifespan, they should have just focuses 100% on the single player because that's where the games strength is. In fact, every time I've tried to get in to an online game it has failed, and you're waiting in a lobby for ages for maximum players. Really poor to be honest.

But pretend their is no multiplayer and you have a real under dog game here, it's so much better than you would ever imagine. It has excellent controls which are very responsive. Lovely graphics most of the time and great voice talent for the characters. It certainly reminds me of a few games all merged into one but it has made for an excellent game and a game that deserves a sequel. Hope this review has helped you decide whether or not you want the game.

Quick Summary; Scary, nice graphics, great story, great controls, amazingly fun, easy(ish) achievements, poor multiplayer.

Thanks for Reading

Good game - totally recommend it. It isn't very original to me, but I have been playing games for a while now. Very reminiscent of FEAR, Half Life, and a bit DOOM3- it's enjoyable and one of those you want to play right through in one (very long) sitting. I played it on th hard setting but didn't find it particularly so, still, the story is compelling and single player is a blast.

Multiplayer is great on this game, there is a decent variety of maps but only 2 game-types; thankfully both are very good but not as addictive as the campaign for me.

Only downside to the whole thing is that it auto-overwrites checkpoint saves as you go, so you can't select a mission to play through again for example; when you get to certain sections, the door or area behind you gets blocked off so you can't backtrack for a better weapon or a missed weapon upgrade you saw but didn't get. cough!. I gave 5 * because its the only thing I've played since it came through the letterbox!

**UPDATE!! - there are only 3 maps in 'Extermination' - I thought there were more because they are quite big - they are split into 3 and a new area opens when you activate a beacon.