This week I’m checking off another Xbox 360 game I’ve never played, 2010’s Singularity from Raven Software. Singularity is a sci-fi, horror-tinged FPS that came out about five months before the first Call of Duty: Black Ops and gave me some similar vibes as that game. Both deal with the Cold War escalation of weapons and technology between the USA and USSR, and like Alex Mason from Black Ops, Singularity’s protagonist Captain Nathaniel Renko finds himself in a conspiracy and a race to save the world from an early doom.

As Renko, you explore the former Soviet island of Katorga-12, and begin phasing between 2010 and 1955. It doesn’t take long before the timeline is altered and Soviet scientist Demichev rules the world with an iron fist. You use a T.M.D. (time manipulation device) to solve puzzles, battle mutant monsters and aid the resistance to save the world. Singularity plays as well as the tight, classic Call of Duty games of the era, with many weapons and abilities to upgrade throughout the game. It’s fun to rewind time to rebuild a staircase, or fast-forward time and watch your enemies age into dust mid-shootout. There’s lots of unique monsters and soldiers to battle and the game gives you multiple environmental ways to win fights.

The science fiction and horror elements make this game a bit more ambitious than the average shooter campaign, with plenty of twists, audio logs and notes to fill out the environments. It feels close to a BioShock or Half-Life in those regards. There are only a few main characters in the game and I would have liked to see the villain a couple more times chewing the scenery, more interactions with the resistance members and the silent protagonist be fully voiced instead.

After looking it up, I was sad to see that Singularity was Raven’s last original game before they became a Call of Duty support studio for the next 15+ years. Raven had a great run in the 2000’s with games like Jedi Outcast + Academy, X-Men Legends 1+2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the M-rated Wolverine game and more. All bangers. Singularity has me excited to check out their Wolfenstein game from 2009 for this blog soon.

Game Design: 4/5 Vibes & World: 4/5 Fun to Play: 4/5

Bonus Points:

• Kick-ass shotgun; it wouldn’t be a good FPS without one
• Just the right amount of jump-scares
• Using the T.M.D. to age enemies out of existence mid-fight

Current ranking of all Xbox 360 games:

• #1 – Singularity
• #2 – Kameo: Elements of Power