This game is no innovater but there is no major flaws and the shooting is fun.
Let's get probably the worst part of the game out of the way: the options menu. Aside from resolution choice there are no other video quality choices to be had whatsoever. Not a single one. I know console gamers couldn't care less about this kind of thing but on the PC this is laughable and just silly. Even blatant console ports like Resident Evil 4 let me tinker a few options. Getting past that item though the story was interesting. I was under the impression that there would be some parts in the future but was mistaken. Still, the flipping back and forth between the 1950's and present day and the changing of the future and past by your actions kept me looking forward to the next level. I especially liked the choices at the every end. I won't spoil anything but I liked that I was able to pick an option that I didn't think the game would let me do. Getting back to a couple minor gripes would be Raven Software joining the ranks of thinking my IQ was under 50. The game would pop up the word "Reload" across the screen when my magazine was almost empty. I could tell that without the warning because my ammo count is also listed on the HUD. I didn't need that hand holding and I couldn't turn it off. Another poke at my intelligence was items names appearing on screen. If my cross hairs waved over a typewriter then the word "typewriter" would appear on the screen. I just don't see the point. I know what it is. This happened for any item in the game such as bells, phones, etc.
Visually Singularity was no prize hog. I had 16X AA and AF forced through the Nvidia Control Panel and the game still looked pretty poor. AA and AF can't hide poor texture quality mediocre facial quality. Luckily the game had some visual bright spots such as having some decent bullet holes in the corpses and some good dismemberment that showed flashes of old Raven I know and love. The death animations were also well done, they made me feel like the guns I was firing had some power to them. I don't ask that every game be Crysis but Singularity came out in 2010 and I can name games a few years old that look better such as Far Cry 2 from 2008. I can't help but think if they utilized the PC platform more the game would have looked better without needing a beast of a PC to run it.
Well from a game play standpoint, game play being the most important, Singularity was very solid. It does a lot of little things right. I can alt-tab out of the game without issue which is a nice surprise these days. I can also toggle crouch which I much prefer over holding down C. In case you didn't know I like toggling over holding. The game uses health packs instead of the all too popular regenerating health. Now here comes the most amazing thing: the game NEVER crashed. Not once in the roughly ten hours it took to beat the game did it crash once. Anyone who plays modern games knows this is rare. I also liked how the game setup upgrades. You could upgrade your TMD device, your weapons and your perks. It gave me a reason to look for goodies in the levels and many of the stuff you could upgrade to was useful. Not everything was roses though. You are unable to change the difficulty after starting the game which bugs me to no end. There is no quick saving only checkpoint saves. You can only carry two guns at once, as if a game involving a time travel device is suddenly going for realism. I couldn't toggle aim which wasn't too bad but still I would have liked to. Also when you got control of the TMD impulse function which was like a melee attack you lost the ability to use the knife as melee. My problem with that is the TMD impulse uses energy as ammo meaning you can run out, the knife has no ammo. It's never a good idea to leave you with the possibility of having no way to fight back. Still I must say that the shooting was crisp and smooth and felt good which is the meat and potatoes of a shooter.
I'm never really a stickler for audio but the game did have some decent voice acting with the exception of one character. I am referring to your partner early on. He was annoying. The weapon effects were satisfying and the background music was good without being distracting.
The game didn't feel too short. The pacing was well done. There are longer game sout there, I beat this in about 10 hours on medium but for it's 10 hours I enjoyed it and didn't get bored.
Overall Singularity is the epitome of a solid game. It offers very little in the way of innovation but it is nice and polished. It never crashed, it was never boring, it kept me wanting more. I wasn't blown away but I came away happy. The gripes I had were pretty minor and never impeded my enjoyment of the game for more than a minute or so. I would recommend this game to any shooter fan. I paid $40 for it but I would place it's worth closer to the $25-30 range myself.
8/10