Feeling threatened by the United States and its nuclear weapons, the Russians were forced to hunt for uranium after WWII. Instead of uranium, they discovered something else on Katorga-12, a little island off the east coast of Russia. This something was E99, the most potent energy source known to man. Stalin immediately recognized the significance of this finding and poured as much money as he could into exploring its military implications.
Despite the risks, the scientists were forced to investigate as quickly as possible. Eventually 1955, an unexplained and incomprehensible calamity occurred, killing everyone on the island and moving the project’s officials to abandon it. However, in 2010, an American spy satellite detected radioactivity over the island, raising concerns about a repeat of the Chornobyl tragedy. They dispatch the Black Ops team Spartan-21 to investigate what is going on. Their helicopter crashes due to an unexpected electromagnetic surge. Nathaniel Renko, one of the few survivors, is tasked with solving the mystery of Katorga-12.
Singularity is a first-person shooter in the style of BioShock. They are reading notes and listening to audio messages left by the island’s occupants before the disaster reveals much of the story. A handgun, a shotgun, and more odd armaments, such as the Seeker, which shoots E99-enriched bullets controlled by the player, are available. Each weapon can be upgraded multiple times, increasing the amount of the magazine or the weapon’s strength. These improvements, weapon swapping, and purchasing of additional ammunition are carried out at weapon lockers spread across the stages. However, to upgrade, the player must first locate hidden caches holding weapons technology and then collect the E99-technology.
The unique gameplay components concentrate upon the Time Manipulation Device (TMD) discovered early in the game. This device, wrapped around Nathaniel’s left arm and constantly updated throughout the game, allows Nathaniel to alter space and time in battle and puzzle-solving. Using the TMD on human targets, such as Russian soldiers, will result in premature death. The creatures (mainly former humans) may behave differently; for example, some explode after a few seconds. Later in the game, the player can even transform a human soldier into a monster that will battle alongside him for a set period.
Because of the TMD’s power to change the age of an item, it is also helpful for problem-solving. This allows the player to age a crate until it collapses, then use the TMD like the Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2 to drop the remnants under an almost closed rolling gate, pushing the gate open. In addition to the automatic upgrades granted throughout the game and abilities such as a time-ball that freezes everything inside it in place, the player will discover formulas along the way and use them (along with E99-technology) at specific upgrade stations to further increase the device’s powers. Finding the TMD also allows the protagonist to travel back to 1955 at particular stages in the game, where he must change the course of events, akin to Cryostasis’ flashback sections. While the player’s options are pre-defined, a decision made during the game’s last section will branch the tale into three possible endings.
Multiplayer for up to 12 players is also available in the two team-based modes, “Creatures vs. Soldiers” and “Extermination.” While the latter is just Team Deathmatch, “Creature vs. Soldiers” demands troops to capture and defend beacons on the map for a set period for the next one to become available, while the creatures do all in their power to prevent this. In both scenarios, players can select from four different classes on each squad and customize them to some extent, choosing the weapon and TMD power the player employs as a soldier. While the soldier classes are simple, the four creatures are distinct, each with specific controls to compensate for the soldiers’ access to the strong TMD. These talents include spotting adversaries through walls and temporarily transforming into a soldier.
