Singularity is Forgotten | Retrospective

If you love Bioshock or Half-Life then Singularity might be a good fit for you. Singularity was the last game developed by Raven Software before Activision Blizzard reassigned them to be a full time support studio for Call of Duty.
Singularity came out in 2010 and is an underrated gem of an FPS game. Set in an alternative Sci-Fi history players will control the Time Manipulation device and use it to fix the timeline.
Now, 12 years since the launch of the game and since the last time I played through it. I thought it was time to fire this first person shooter back up and experience its time traveling mechanics and story once more. In this retrospective / essay / deep dive I cover the game's story, mechanics and development history. The poor sales of this title helped in making it a hidden first person shooter gem that modern audiences can still enjoy.
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Video Chapters
0:00 What is Singularity?
1:40 A Thrilling Opening
12:49 Gameplay Features and Enemies
26:38 The Story
39:54 Endings
48:25 Multiplayer
49:21 Conclusion
#videogames #singularity #analysis

[@benmcreynolds8581]

This is one of my favorite hidden gems of a game. I love this game so much. I definitely just subscribed. Great channel. I never see this game get covered in detail like this.

[@VirtualLegacy]

Appreciate it!

[@RockorSomething83]

I remember years ago seeing the first gameplay reveal and trailers of this game, loving what I saw and waiting for it's release. Originally, Renko was supposed to be an Air Force Pilot flying over Katorga-12, before an EMP/Time Wave forced him to land (essentially the same concept, just different delivery) and Renko would wake with the TMD already attached to him. He would be guided along the island by a character called Yuri, who is mentioned in one of the final game's early audio logs (the same house you first meet the large skinny mutants in) and would try to uncover what was happening. You had fully rendered third-person cutscenes that showed Renko's full appearance, one of which involved raising the ship, which is still in the game but COMPLETELY different, and him talking to Barisov in the past after a time wave occurs. The story and gameplay in general seemed much tighter and more fluid; and just better overall. Needless to say, when this version came out, I was pretty disappointed. Still, I enjoyed it for what it was.

[@trevor3013]

I loved this game when I was a kid. It was the first game I had ever seen in GameInformer magazine. This and then prototype. Another game I love.

[@VirtualLegacy]

I hope to cover Prototype on here one day! It feels like Infamous kinda overshadowed it, but it's a very enjoyable series.

[@trevor3013]

@@VirtualLegacy infamous definitely overshadowed it on top of a underperforming and rushed sequel which kinda killed any future possible installment or franchise sadly

[@NorthstriderGaming]

A singularity remake or remaster would be dope. That game had the potential and horror to spawn a own franchise.

[@corkraddish]

Man I love this game! Not gonna lie, I found this game way more interesting than Bioshock, likely due to the story being more explicitly and visually told than through the environmental and audio log/radio focused telling in Bioshock. Multiplayer was also a blast, crawling on ceilings as a tick to launch onto someone and assume their identity, only to play along and betray them at the last second was so cool. You could also warp through walls/floors/ceilings a short distance as a soldier which instagibbed opponents if you got a sweet spot. Only other shooter of the era I think is as criminally underlooked is Syndicate. I'd love to see a retrospective review of that one in the future!

[@VirtualLegacy]

I've never played Syndicate, but I was thinking about picking it up soon! I'll have to look into it more.

[@grizzgo]

Wow, I had no idea this video was 50 minutes until I finished it... Good stuff! I think FPS games were so oversaturated that we missed some hidden gems for sure!

[@shoutingdollsgaze]

dude upload more vids! Great content!!

[@megamonster3538]

Fantastic video.

[@juanarkantos]

Actually I played this game back in 2010!! a friend recommended it to me and i loved it, then with time it seemed like it was a fever dream that never existed

[@kathelsupreme1152]

It is an amazing game for its time. I played it a few years ago and enjoyed it so much. While the game is very linear, and perhaps doesn't have much replayability to it, it is a very fun experience. The mechanics are fun while easy to understand, with solid character progression without too much complication. The story is decent and npc characters are memorable. The aesthetics of the game sets the mood perfectly and are a pleasure to watch. This video is a great retrospective and the game certainly deserves it.

[@Arcodus]

I like Singularity but have only played it once. I took the chaotic ending. Thanks for the video 👍

[@DishonoredSkull]

Just found your channel from the WFC video, then saw this. Singularity was a game I first found from..... DSP.... yeah, but thankfully came to love this game on my own terms and appreciation. I remember looking at it trying to be a Bioshock-like game but with time. An immersive sim with time is far overdue by now imo. I played on 360 and then on PC years later, I wish it had a new game plus and that it was longer, gameplay was good, the TMD was a real treat. One thing I think is underlooked is its soundtrack, those scenes in the sewers always felt creepy, accompanied with its atmosphere at times elevated the game for me. Never forget this game, despite it being 14 years.

[@tayabedaho]

it was gooood

[@Gultist]

have this in my library and i absolutely loved Time shift and Bioshock so i think i need to play this now

[@Deadforge]

Getting it in the mail this week and it will be my first time playing. It's definitely my style of game. If you want anothe rgreat game that messes with time play TitanFall 2. New well deserved sub from me and I'll be checking out your other videos. Keep it up🤘.

[@theStepFamm]

this game was dope. i used to see a lot of game trailers and write them down and said id play them one day when i could afford to. this was one of them lol and i played it in 4k 60fps and beat it in one day. i wonder what the multiplayer is like

[@VirtualLegacy]

Hopefully Microsoft does upgraded backwards compatibility for titles like this on the Series X. They own Activision now so IP like Singularity are under their control.

[@Sumbdy_u_know1999]

It gave me Half life 2 vibes, a sequel where it follows the bad ending with your e-99 soviet Russia and Dimichev with e-99 soviet US would be great, Dark Sector is another game I played around the same time as Singularity, check it out if you haven't heard of it 👀

[@VirtualLegacy]

Dark Sector is on the list of games I want to cover! It'll probably be a while before I get around to it. That game has the same devs as Warframe and is almost like the prototype for it.

[@Ssecave]

Now that microsoft own the licence, I HOPE this will come back one day. The concept is amazing.

[@VirtualLegacy]

I would love to see it get an update allowing for a native 4K image on the Series X.

[@redmafiapanda509]

I Actually picked it up at family video back in the day never finished it because i just jumped onto something else and got distracted imma pick this up again and finish it

[@LegendaryTunes]

Remedy Games learned so much from this game for when they made Quantum Break, a largely misunderstood masterpiece

[@sm4sh3d]

Okay-ish game, even at the time. The original vision was clearly compromised to rush its release. And did you seriously not mention Soldier of Fortune when speaking about Raven?

[@DeathMetalThrasher]

Love this game. I wanted more. This game did the whole fictictous Russian narrative better than Atomic Heart. Atomic Hearts art design is beautiful, but the gameplay is lacking as a bioshock clone. The TMD is cooler to use than any polymer glove abilities. E-99 > Polymer

[@VirtualLegacy]

I still need to go back and play Atomic Heart!

[@peloquin5652]

yeah, its not really fun in 2023 ... I didnt finished it F.EA.R. 2 was better imo