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Though it might
now seem
strange to think
it, Activision was
once known for
more than Call
Of Duty – even
going so far as to occasionally take
bold risks. After all, this is the same
company that put the toys-to-life
craze on the map with the Skylanders
franchise, introduced the world to
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and had a
major role in helping Bungie realise
the full potential of Destiny as an MMO
shooter. 2010’s Singularity may not
have been quite as headline-grabbing
as these aforementioned success
stories, but its bonkers premise and
inventive time-warping mechanics
still render it a cult classic.
At first, it seems pretty paint-by-
numbers for an FPS. You take on the
role of a soldier undergoing a covert
op, until your helicopter crashes on
a remote island and you’re forced
to adapt. Only this is no ordinary
island. And you’re not fighting typical
soldiers. Before you know it, you’re
sucked into the past and perform
an act that sees you responsible for
changing the course of history.
If this setup sounds incredibly
campy, that’s probably because
it is. Singularity released
during a time where
shooters didn’t have to
be grounded, gritty or
take themselves too
seriously, instead having
the confidence to give
players something a little
more eccentric. Thankfully,
this approach looks to
be returning via the likes of
MachineGames’ rebooted Wolfenstein
and Bethesda’s new punk rock take on
Doom, but Singularity kept this flame
alive back in the day.
A lot of this is down to the island
itself, Katorga-12, which was used
by the Soviet Union to conduct
experiments during the The Cold
War. All seems well upon your arrival
but being zapped back to 1955 and
saving scientist Nikolai Demichevsoon changes this, warping the
present into a Russian-dominated
state in which the very man you saved
now rules the world. Restoring order
involves utilising a suite of creative
weaponry to gun down humans
and gamma-affected mutants, all
while learning the power of the
Time Manipulation Device
(otherwise called the TMD).Time to kill
You grab hold of
this gizmo about an
hour into the game,
instantly being granted
with the power to shift
objects between the past
and present. Broken staircase in
your way? Mend it with a zap. Need a
doorway leveraged? Slip a crumpled
box underneath and restore its
former height. Singularity smartly
works the TMD into lots of puzzles
like this, nicely breaking up the
shooting action. Things get even
more interesting, however, when
turning the TMD onto your foes. Using
it on average humans will see them
age instantly before your eyes, whilesubjecting any prowling mutants to
its effects has them phase into reality
so they can then be easily shot at. All
of this is occurring as you regularly
hop between 1955 and 2010 in all its
B-movie glory.
Playing through it again almost
ten years later, Singularity makes me
wonder what game Raven Software
would make if it’s ever let off the Call
Of Duty leash. Strong single-player
shooters in the triple-A space are a
dime a dozen these days, and the
studio has enough creativity to launch
a new series. Who knows if Activision
will ever revisit experimental shooters
again? But it’s good to know it has a
gem like this in its back catalogue. QFighting the past to save the future amidst the time-bending
shooting and B-movie sci-fi schlock of Singularity AARON POTTER
PUBLISHER ACTIVISION / DEVELOPER RAVEN SOFTWARE / FORMAT XBOX 360 / RELEASE DATE JUNE 2010“You’re sucked into the past and
perform an act that sees you
responsible for changing history”
WHAT IS IT?
A sci-fi shooter heavily
centred around time
travel; Raven Software’s
final game before joining
Activision’s Call Of Duty
family of studios098 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
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