• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Singularity |OT| - Anyone? No?

GIJOE-like set of typical weapons? Spider-tank in the sewers level? Silly corridor shootings with a pride of being silly and a shooter? Communism context with Russian mega-villain? Gravity gun? Shiny-gadgets reward system? A random dystopia?
I wonder why they didn't put as a main character a Pterodactylus that shoots 10000s missiles from his mouth - missiles that upon exploding release a horde of zombies that will eat the enemy alive - it would have gotten a 9 from the reviewers instead of an 8, and be a gamers' favourite :lol
 
TTP said:
When is this out in EU? Any word about how PS3 version performs?

Looks very good indeed.

Out on the 24th, that's what the publisher told me, so should be in stores.

Acti's had the promo copies since last week, but only shipped this week. Got ours a few days ago. Playing on PS3 and it's super solid framerate, looks good, great controls...surprise since it's UE3, I dont think there's any difference between the PS3 and Xbox 360 builds. Game feels really, really polished and of course should be.

One major fucking cause of annoyance is lack of subtitles, so you reelly have to pay attention to the radio broadcasts and an NPC speech...dont know if this is Raven's choice or just a budgetary issue. Fucking annoying.
 

S1kkZ

Member
Samurai Penguin said:
7 Hours isn't too bad I guess, though it's still a little disappointing. Was that with you rushing or taking your time? Generally I can take a 4 hour game and stretch it out to 6-7 Hours by taking it slowly...or taking 2 years to finish like I did with CoD #4 :lol

So if 7 hours was a standard non rush play through, I am sure I can stretch it out to about 10 hours :p
standard, non rush.
 

Naeblish

Member
RiotPelaaja said:
One major fucking cause of annoyance is lack of subtitles, so you reelly have to pay attention to the radio broadcasts and an NPC speech...dont know if this is Raven's choice or just a budgetary issue. Fucking annoying.
Ugh, wtf, i hope this is not the case in the EU.
 

heringer

Member
AgentOtaku said:
Could you possibly copy/paste that review and PM it to me?
I'm at work and would really like to read it, thanks!
Oh, sorry. I just posted the review and went to bed right after. :(

I guess you're off work now. Probably sleeping. :lol
 
heringer said:
Oh, sorry. I just posted the review and went to bed right after. :(

I guess you're off work now. Probably sleeping. :lol

Nah, i'm at work right now actually. Eurogamer is blocked here...
 

Spookie

Member
S1kkZ said:
a nice (non open) ending. there is room for a sequel but the ending is satisfying.

Which one did you get? Two of them felt very unpolished next to the 'good' ending. It was a very nice touch though.

I finally finished it last night since I had no time in work. It improves a great deal towards the end even it did borrow a bit from other shooters.
 

glaurung

Member
Finished the single player campaign, EU version.

The game is basically a dud, not worth a purchase.

Why is that? One the hardest difficulty I managed to breeze through the single player campaign in two sittings and I wasn't really in a major hurry. What the game brings to the table is the atmosphere from the Bioshock series, the graphics from Bioshock or Timeshift and the shooting mechanics from MW2/Bad Company 2/RtCW. The weapons feel like they're lifted mostly from the Resistance series, while being nowhere near as much fun.

What amused me was the budget quality of the Russian representation. Basically, in terms of this game, Russian means reversed letters R and K and a z-category straight to DVD movie voice acting. The man dialog trees are tolerable, but what really irritated me was the fact that there are only a few Russian soldier quips. This means that you will keep hearing the same sentences in a horribly spoken Russian over and over and freaking over again. I swear to god if I have to hear that "he's in a trap" line again, I'll stab someone in the eye.

The graphics are really poor. Even though the SP is completely linear, there is little to no great detail to the picture quality. The engine is also plagued by poor texture loading, making scenes with above average action being played out with the lowest textures. This bugged Bioshock 2 as well.

So the game is really short. The story is good though and nothing impedes its progress. There are multiple endings, but the outcome is seeing either a short clip in FMV or seeing a series of images. There might be a third ending, but I did not try to get that.

What annoyed me further was the fact that they dumbed the game down during the development process. The original previews showed a much more brooding environment, more adult characters and much more intense shooting. A few weeks before E3 they released some puzzle game play video and I swear to god that it is not in the final game. That was perhaps one of the more engaging puzzles. The puzzles that you do get in the game are very simple and they do not really use the devices they themselves have set up. Yet there is the context for a great puzzle system: bring an item from the future to the past, age an item in the past to make it different in the future and whatnot.

The main problems with the game for me:
  • Incorrect Russian and horrible voice acting.
  • Cartoonish characters.
  • Weak puzzles.
  • Crap graphics.

Rent if you must. I for one cannot comprehend the 8+ grades from reviews. Or blame my bipolar disorder.
 

Spookie

Member
glaurung said:
So the game is really short. The story is good though and nothing impedes its progress. There are multiple endings, but the outcome is seeing either a short clip in FMV or seeing a series of images. There might be a third ending, but I did not try to get that.

In case you can't work it out, the three endings are:

- Turn around and go back in time, the good ending
- Or shoot the stereotypical Russian scientist
- Shoot both of them.
 

S1kkZ

Member
Spookie said:
Which one did you get? Two of them felt very unpolished next to the 'good' ending. It was a very nice touch though.

I finally finished it last night since I had no time in work. It improves a great deal towards the end even it did borrow a bit from other shooters.
i got the good ending hwere i go back and kill myself. then got back into the helicopter with drake and watch the statue. i reloaded the savegame and killed the "good"doctor. the ending was mostly comic stills but still ok. is there another one?
 

Spookie

Member
S1kkZ said:
i got the good ending hwere i go back and kill myself. then got back into the helicopter with drake and watch the statue. i reloaded the savegame and killed the "good"doctor. the ending was mostly comic stills but still ok. is there another one?

The 3rd ending you take over the world apparently. I got that one first as I was fucking sick to death of both of them. :lol
 

Zenith

Banned
I remember one of the trailers showed you infiltrating via Blackbird but the intro now shows choppers. Did they change it or are they difference scenes?
 

glaurung

Member
Zenith said:
I remember one of the trailers showed you infiltrating via Blackbird but the intro now shows choppers. Did they change it or are they difference scenes?
No Blackbirds anywhere in the game.

The game starts exactly like Modern Warfare.
 

surly

Banned
I picked this up today and I keep dying on the same bit over and over again: -

It's near the beginning, where you see one of those ghost/flashback things and then you open a set of double doors. As you do that, an arm reaches through and grabs you, then the doors close and waves of those little blue guys appear. I've only got a pistol with 24 shots and 5 health packs, with another 1 on the ground, but there seems to be several ways of these little blue fucks and they seem to disappear when I fire a them, and if I try to stab them they just batter me. There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go either, so presumably you have to kill them all.

Have I missed a place where you can pick up some of the other weapons? There seems to be ammo lying about for various guns, but all I have is the pistol.
 

RS4-

Member
surly said:
I picked this up today and I keep dying on the same bit over and over again: -

It's near the beginning, where you see one of those ghost/flashback things and then you open a set of double doors. As you do that, an arm reaches through and grabs you, then the doors close and waves of those little blue guys appear. I've only got a pistol with 24 shots and 5 health packs, with another 1 on the ground, but there seems to be several ways of these little blue fucks and they seem to disappear when I fire a them, and if I try to stab them they just batter me. There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go either, so presumably you have to kill them all.

Have I missed a place where you can pick up some of the other weapons? There seems to be ammo lying about for various guns, but all I have is the pistol.

Ahh, I remember that part, there's a destroyed truck and it's just a big square area right? Just keep your distance, if they jump, just get away asap because the stupid pounce takes off like 70% of your life. They go invis, put distance between you and them again. I think you were supposed to have a shotgun by then.
 

K' Dash

Member
surly said:
I picked this up today and I keep dying on the same bit over and over again: -

It's near the beginning, where you see one of those ghost/flashback things and then you open a set of double doors. As you do that, an arm reaches through and grabs you, then the doors close and waves of those little blue guys appear. I've only got a pistol with 24 shots and 5 health packs, with another 1 on the ground, but there seems to be several ways of these little blue fucks and they seem to disappear when I fire a them, and if I try to stab them they just batter me. There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go either, so presumably you have to kill them all.

Have I missed a place where you can pick up some of the other weapons? There seems to be ammo lying about for various guns, but all I have is the pistol.

There should be a shotgun on the ground near the doors, a well placed shot is 1 hit kill.
 

surly

Banned
K' Dash said:
There should be a shotgun on the ground near the doors, a well placed shot is 1 hit kill.
Thanks. I'll have another look around for it. It's bloody hard with just the pistol!

EDIT - Found it. I dunno how I managed to miss that, as it's right in front of the door. lol.
 

K' Dash

Member
surly said:
Thanks. I'll have another look around for it. It's bloody hard with just the pistol!

Before that part there was a weapon locker, why didn't you just take the shotgun and the machine gun instead of just the pistol? if you don't mind me asking.

Anyway, the shotgun should be in the area near the doors, just look for it first, when you know exactly where it is, reload the checkpoint grab the shotty and fuck'em.
 

surly

Banned
K' Dash said:
Before that part there was a weapon locker, why didn't you just take the shotgun and the machine gun instead of just the pistol? if you don't mind me asking.
I thought those were just for upgrading weapons, like the weapon upgrade machines in Bioshock.
 

DSc

Member
Oh Raven, please never change.

singularity-borat-easter-egg-04c251dc9b43a9.jpg


I've been playing this all evening and it's bloody fantastic! It's criminal that Activision hasn't marketed it at all well.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
DSc said:
Oh Raven, please never change.

singularity-borat-easter-egg-04c251dc9b43a9.jpg


I've been playing this all evening and it's bloody fantastic! It's criminal that Activision hasn't marketed it at all well.

The fuck ?! :lol :lol
 

mikeGFG

Banned
I remember seeing an E3 trailer for this about a year and being either confused about the premise or just indifferent. Playing the game now is a nice surprise-- I'm big sucker for time-travel plots and alternate-timeline realities anyway. The game itself handles well, and the aesthetic is a nice mix of post-apocalyptic and supernatural. Things like incorporeal vegetation are a nice touch, which very much remind me of Final Fantasy movie's Phantom monsters.

The linearity and distinct UE3 look dont bug me. What does bother me is the sound design: All the weapons sound like Nerf toy-guns. A single round of my magnum pistol leaves monsters disemboweled, but the gun sounds like I snapped a pencil in half. It doesnt add up. Fun game, though. Gotta get back to it.
 
DSc said:
Oh Raven, please never change.

singularity-borat-easter-egg-04c251dc9b43a9.jpg


I've been playing this all evening and it's bloody fantastic! It's criminal that Activision hasn't marketed it at all well.

:lol @ the broken english.

I need to play this game.
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
fffuuu

the stores are closed today aswell....

bah, just as good I guess world cup is reaching the sweetspots now
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Eurogamer gave it an 8/10

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/singularity-review?page=2
Very little here hasn't been seen elsewhere before, but Singularity has more to recommend it than simply being a polished, entertaining collection of well-executed clichés and set-pieces. It's the first game I've played in ages that realises first-person shooters can bundle in as much philosophy and as many moral dilemmas as they like, but fundamentally they're still about shooting monsters in the face, and so what it lacks in originality it makes up for in variety, pacing and exuberance. First-person shooters are always silly! Well done to Raven for making one that likes being silly.
 

DSc

Member
Finished this last night. Absolutely stunning! Though it borrows pretty heavily from other games (there are big doses of BioShock, Half-Life 2 and Timeshift in there, and the way you're constantly upgraded with new abilities feels a bit Metroid Prime-y) it's easily Raven's best game yet.

It does go a bit more shoot-heavy in the last hour or two, as most games of this ilk tend to, but there are some fantastic setpieces, brilliant weapons and a couple of awesome boss battles along the way. The ending too (or endings, should I say) is wonderfully satisfying. Tried the multiplayer out briefly too and was pleasantly surprised - the mutants vs humans mode is fantastic fun.

I urge people to try it - I can't believe Activision has left this to die.
 
I haven't got this yet but I'd just like to echo the positive sentiments towards Raven. They've always been a great developer in my books. While I haven't played the entirity of their backlog of what I have played has almost always been a top quality game. For me their crowning achievement is undoubtedly Jedi Outcast, which probably to this day still has the best melee combat system in a shooter.
 
well i bit the bullet.... it's sitting here, ps3 version.


very much sent to die... neither of the two big branches of game in my town had it, nor gamestation.... hmv had it and the guy told me they only got a couple in.


activision basically doesn;t care about games they can't annualise... so why did they bother at all, i wonder?
 

mjc

Member
Is the free Prototype mail-in only offered through Gamestop or can I get it through Amazon as well?
 

Ducarmel

Member
For those giving impressions can you state what system your playing the game on, PC or 360/PS3?

Especially you glaurung.
 
Playing PS3, games superb especially for an UE3 game, I haven't seen the 360 version, but the PS3 is about as perfect as it can get, absolutely no complaints.

I'm nearing the end of the game and I gotta say if you like fps games with B-movie plots, you will love this one. Raven uses every cliche in the book (protect NPC while waiting for elevator, large mutated crab/spider boss etc), but this is a game where everything is done to near perfection. You know, things like super smooth framerate, controls, pacing, visuals...everything's great - Singularity is nothing if not supremely polished. On Normal difficulty level the pacing is great and so far no difficulty spikes, just a very, very entertaining ride.

It's a contested genre, but if only every game would be this polished and entertaining, really loving it. Well thought out trophies too.
 
I might pick this up, it looks fun.

It seems like they've just... forgotten to release it on Steam though. It just says "Available: June 2010".

Edit: Jesus, the multiplayer looks amazing. It's a shame the amount of players will suck.
 

K' Dash

Member
Does anyone know how to deal with the little spiders? they were fucking killing me in seconds when I was in the
sewers
and I know they'll show up later and I don't want to split the disc in two.
 

heringer

Member
Those who finished it, can you explain something to me, without spoiling the rest of the game?

I just got to the point where the doctor explains to me what happened to the world. Apparently that guy you saved from the fire at the beginning nuked all the world with the E-99 and became the supreme chancelor or something. But didn't I killed him 50 years ago? I thought that the world as I find right now is exactly what I would be avoiding by killing him. Since there's no subtitles I was a bit confused with this. Also, I couldn't watch the video that explain the whole thing again (shame on you Rave) Is it another person or did he survive the shot?
 
Top Bottom