14 DAY TRIAL // 16:00. Singularity is supposed to be bleak and innovative. I quite liked the teaser videos they fired off last year, with a dark conspiracy tone, so let's see how the first person shooter from Raven (Please make Heretic 3!) holds up for one hour.
16:01. I have literally just fired the game up and a message pops up saying that content is being saved, warning me not to turn off the game. These are clear symptoms of console port.
16:12. The intro movie is very efficient in delivering information about the setup of Singularity but I would have liked to learn more from in game sources, like the propaganda movie you get to see in the first building you enter after the helicopter crash. Though I'm not certain the developers had any idea about how Russian propaganda really worked, the movie has a certain Fallout 3 vibe to it, which is nice, but totally out of place.
16:30. How long does Singularity need to get to some actual gaming? I've finally got a gun and encountered a few monsters but I spend more time crouched in the darkness listening to tapes that have been conveniently spread about the school I am currently exploring. Oh, I have also apparently time traveled so that I can save a guy from an explosion and fire. Exciting but far too short.
16:42. I had a genuine scare moment with a monster that sprang to life just as I was reaching the top of some stairs. I visibly twitched and missed with the first shot of my shotgun. Note to self: familiarity with horror game tropes does not breed resistance to said cliches.
16:55. Singularity doesn't know which side of the field it's interested in playing: on the one hand, it limits the character to lugging around two weapons, forcing some tactical choice; on the other hand, it throws ammo and E99 tech all over in the kind of chests that seem completely out of place.
Singularity fails to impress in the first hour but as my time expired, I got to the beginning of an exciting firefight so I will keep going to see if the pace picks up and how the time manipulation works later on.