Singularity review

Strap on your Time Manipulation Device and prepare for the journey of your life

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Manipulating time is awesome

  • +

    Plenty of terrific weapons

  • +

    Great boss fights

Cons

  • -

    Shooting often feels iffy

  • -

    Archaic health system

  • -

    Dated and uneven visuals

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

From the get go, Singularity has widely been portrayed as a low-rent BioShock, but after a few hours of play, its true inspiration becomes more readily apparent: Half-Life 2. While your female buddy is admittedly no Alyx Vance, the TMD knocks Gordon Freeman’s gravity gun into a cocked hat. Better still, it’s only one facet of this game’s extraordinary arsenal.

Singularity’s narrative is sub-BioShock, hokey sci-fi fare. You’re heroic US Air Force pilot Nate Renko, trapped on the Ruski isle of Katorga-12 – home to all manner of nefarious experiments with the element E99. When a brutal dictator pokes his nose in, things go a bit Island of Dr Moreau, a devastating time-continuum cock-up occurs and the 50s Cold War timeline gets royally messed up. Cue sole responsibility for manipulating time and saving the world falling on Renko.

The manipulation involves a combo of basic puzzling mostly involving using the TMD to rewind time and restore rusty gear, though look out for massive alterations and dazzling shootouts. We’d need ten pages to detail them all, but whether you’re aging a Russian trooper so his skeleton crumbles, devolving him into a blind savage who turns on his comrades, creating a temporal field bubble and pumping the frozen foes within it full of lead before watching the bubble disappear and them explode, or simply gorily gibbing nearby baddies with a burst of temporal energy, the blasting is fresh, exciting, dynamic, and never afraid to mix things up.

So what if the shooting’s often spongy, the health system frustratingly archaic and the visuals dated and uneven? Terrific weapons, powers and boss scraps mean the good times come thick and fast with this cult classic.

Jul 6, 2010

More info

GenreShooter
DescriptionSo what if the shooting’s often spongy, the health system frustratingly archaic and the visuals dated and uneven? Terrific weapons, powers and boss scraps mean the good times come thick and fast with this cult classic.
Platform"Xbox 360","PS3","PC"
US censor rating"Mature","Mature","Mature"
UK censor rating"18+","18+","18+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
More
CATEGORIES
Latest in Action
Rift Apart
Retiring Insomniac boss says developers should still tackle new genres, but it's much riskier these days due to time and money
Dollman being buckled into a seat in Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima left "a number of clues" in the new Death Stranding 2 trailer, including hints of a day/night cycle
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Ubisoft shareholder plans protest in response to mismanagement, Assassin's Creed Shadows delays, and alleged acquisition talks with Microsoft and EA
Key art for Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered showing Shay Patrick Cormac in a black and red outfit that's a cross between Assassin and Templar armor, with his ship The Morrigan behind him
Assassin's Creed Shadows can wait – I spent 40 hours mopping up the map in the one game in the series everyone skipped
GTA 3 Mobile screenshot showing claude running away from police near a casino
The fan-made Dreamcast version of GTA 3 is looking way better in the latest look, introducing tech that "would’ve previously been a slideshow"
The titular Bayonetta in Bayonetta 2
Devil May Cry and Bayonetta veteran Hideki Kamiya is still leaning on Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's wisdom at new studio Clovers: "I have always made decisions based on his teachings"
Latest in Reviews
Lenovo Legion Go S with FlyKnight gameplay on screen featuring player character holding bow and arrow with enemy ant in backdrop.
Lenovo Legion Go S Windows 11 review: “my heart aches for this mixed up handheld”
Talisman 5th Edition game components
Talisman 5th Edition review: "The characterful imperfections of the original game remain clear to see "
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 review: "A colossal package even if you never go anywhere near Virtual Currency"
Altered: Trial by Frost booster box and packs on a playmat
Altered: Trial by Frost review - "Satisfying enough to offer highly varied gameplay"
Three SteelSeries QcK Performance mouse pads on a wooden desk
I didn't expect to prefer a coarser mouse pad, but SteelSeries' new QcK Performance range has changed my mind
Boro and Alta sit on a bench together in Wanderstop
Wanderstop review: "Exalting the transformative power of tea"