Singularity – The Unsung Hero of E3?
E3 2009 was arguably a return to form for the California based gaming event, with a strong portfolio of both hardware and software developments from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo as well as a great 3rd party presence. With announcements left, right and center while the hype machine works overtime it’s no surprise that some titles are forgotten by the most important people of all… the gamers. What is a surprise, however, is that one of those forgotten titles has been nominated for one of the top awards offered by the E3 official panel of critics.
Singularity is being developed by Raven Software. Why should you care? Because Raven Software know what they’re talking about when it comes to first person shooters, with a history of quality titles such as Heretic, Soldier of Fortune and Quake 4. They are also working with id Software on the reboot of classic franchise Wolfenstein.
Like many a modern FPS, Singularity’s gameplay revolves around a gimmick. In this case, it is the TMD – to further elaborate, the Time Manipulation Device. This little widget allows you, not to “merely” manipulate the realms of time and space on yourself, but rather force these manipulations on the world around you – allowing for original ways to get around obstacles in addition to laying waste to your enemies. There are different modes on the TMD for you to play with:
- Revert – Send the physical properties of the person or object backwards in their own timeline, causing severe babality. Real life examples include restoring mouldy sandwiches into edible substances (perfect for eaing at Subway – “Oh no you didn’t!”).
- Age – Propel the physical properties of the person or object forwards in their own timeline. Real life examples include disintegrating estate agents.
- Stasis – Gravity Guns the selected object towards the player and freezes it in time (and space). Real life examples include pausing motorists who disobey minor traffic laws in order to closer examine their license plates.
- Impulse – Can be used to either zap objects into large enemies, or kill small ones. Real life examples include something hilarious.
How these abilities will be implemented in the level design and enemy types is yet to be seen, but how they will feature in the narrative is clear. After crashing your plane on a strange island, where hostile opposition with ambiguous motives, a shitload of unusual wildlife and a constantly jumping timeline (between 2010 and 1950) challenges your own aims. Sounds like a perfect set up for a prime-time sci-fi television drama to me, but at the same time a feasible framing for the presence of gadgetry such as the TMD.
Singularity looks like one of the most intriguing games to come out of E3, if not for its original gameplay concepts but for its questionable lack of publicity or hype at the hands of publisher Activision. Hopefully this lack of faith on the developer’s behalf will not deter Raven Software’s efforts towards this original title and Activision will pick up the ball in the coming weeks after being nominated amongst titles such as Modern Warfare 2 and Bioshock 2.
Singularity is due out in Autumn 2009 and will be available on PC, 360 and PS3.
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