Review: Singularity (Xbox 360)

Last week, I was standing in my local Gamestop (one of two that are less than a quarter mile from my apartment), lost in thought.

I had two Russian-themed FPSs in my hands: "Metro: 2033" and "Singularity". Unfortunately, there could only be one.

On a whim, I went with "Singularity."

I was intrigued by the "Bioshock"-ripoff vibe I got. Turns out that vibe was pretty accurate. There are a lot of other influences mixed in, particularly "Timesplitters" and "Half-Life." But "Bioshock" is the most noticeable; sadly, "Singularity" doesn't live up to its pedigree.

I say ripoff because "Singularity" is much too similar in plot and gameplay to "Bioshock", with none of the polish. Your mute, faceless character crash lands in an isolated part of the world. A revolutionary scientific discovery has gone awry, leading to the collapse of the society and the proliferation of monsters. Sound familiar?
There are even scattered messages and tape recorders that are supposed to provide backstory. Unlike "Bioshock", though, there is no personal connection to the characters. All one hears is some random Russian employee of the Katorga-12 facility, voicing concern before dying horribly.

The living characters are pretty shallow, too. The esteemed Nolan North voices the first character you meet, a fellow US Special Forces soldier that spits military jargon and (thankfully) is killed within the first half-hour. That leaves you with the villain, a Russian military officer out to harness the secrets of the game's Magical McGuffin, E99 (and by extension, the Time Manipulation Device, which I'll get to later).

The villain isn't around much; most of the time, you're taking orders from an old Russian scientist or escorting the RPA (Resident Piece of Ass), Kathryn. She and her motives are never clearly explained. In an alternate future, she and her organization are out to stop the USSR, which never collapsed. In fact, they took over the world thanks to the Magical McGuffin.

But what about killing things and blowing shit up? Unfortunately, there's a lot of tedium to wade through before getting to any satisfying combat. There are upgrade stations throughout the levels that allow you to spend money (in the form of E99 technology fragments) on upgrades to your character and weapons. By the time you get anything good, the game is mostly over with.

There are a few interesting weapons. The Spikeshot fires an explosive projectile that detonates after a few seconds. The Seeker fires fully steerable explosive rounds. The grenade launcher also has -- you guessed it -- steerable explosive rounds. The weapon designs are nothing inspired, and as cool as some of the features are, I wasn't all that impressed.

Dr. Barisov (left) is an annoyance throughout the entire game.
"Keptin, do this! Keptin, do that! Keptin, please do not shoot me at the end of the game!"
Oh, I so totally did. 

Part of what limits the enjoyability of the weapons (and the game as a whole) is the lack of feedback. It can be difficult to tell how much damage you're dealing, or being dealt. Most modern games have a mechanic where, if you're critically low on health, you get a second or two of reprieve. This is the game's way of telling you, "Hey, stupid! Time to take cover and heal up!" "Singularity" has no such system; many a time, I suddenly dropped dead before even realizing I was low on health.

Speaking of death, there was one section in the sewers that took quite a few tries to get past. These little explodey bug thingies rush in on you all at once, and they make The Flood from "Halo" look like water balloons. Two hits from these guys, I'm just about dead. What hope did I have against 20 or more? I don't know how I made it out, but if I hadn't, I would have sent the game back unfinished.

The aforementioned TMD is a surrogate for the Plasmids in "Bioshock." Basically, it's a wrist brace that magically fixes all the plot-critical objects in the game. It looked promising at first; it plays a bit like the Gravity Gun from "Half-Life". It's needed to solve puzzles, and can come in handy during combat. Unfortunately, switching between your magic Power Glove and firearms takes some focus, so combat isn't as fluid as in "Bioshock".

Really, "Singularity" could have been much improved if it had focused on crazy weapons or just the TMD. Neither of them excel, or work together nearly as well as in "Bioshock".

Do I have anything good to say? Yeah. I'm glad I didn't purchase it at full retail, so that's a relief. And the music is pretty good… fairly standard action/sci-fi stuff, but well-made all the same.

That said, I still only recommend "Singularity" as a rental, or a very cheap purchase (under $20). "Singularity" is bland and utterly forgettable; you won't be missing much. I probably should have gone with "Metro 2033", which I heard was interesting, if flawed. It's hard to say… usually games, good and bad, leave an impression on me. But I can't for the life of me bring myself to remember or care about much of "Singularity".