Singularity™

Very fun hidden gem from the beginning of the 2010s. This game asks the question: "What if CoD devs made a campaign with survival horror and sci-fi elements?" and the answer is, it turns out surprisingly well.
Pros:
Great gunplay.
Grisly, creative monster designs & mechanics.
Awesome time-manipulation mechanics, probably second best next to Quantum Break.
Cool story, with enough intrigue and paradoxes to make you wonder what ending you get is 'best'.
Sound design and art direction are ahead of their time.
The early game was my favourite part of it: when you have minimal equipment and no time powers, the time-dilation mutants are genuinely unsettling and gives the game a survival-horror feel.
It has what I like to call a mandatory power fantasy moment: you spend the whole game at the enemy's mercy, then you become super overpowered in the closing hour and stomp on fools. It's great. I love when games do this.
No bugs or glitches in my playthrough.
Great compatibility even on very modern hardware. I played in 1080p 240fps.
Length is ideal for an FPS game. Anything longer than 6 hours for an FPS tends to overstay its welcome, I clocked in at 5.5 on Hard.

Cons:
Sequel-baits with the epilogue and it's been 15 years now, so the thread goes nowhere.
Early game sets up a survival horror atmosphere pretty well, with dark and morbid backstory involving children forced to eat mutating meals, but quickly devolves into a CoD campaign with a cool setting.
Plot twist was pretty predictable, I called it before the game even tells you.
Balancing is out the window: the four best weapons in the game are available to you within the first hour, removing most of the tension.
Game feels like it wasn't fully realised, most likely due to Activision forcing Raven to put this out earlier than it was ready. Per Wikipedia: "According to Keith Fuller from Raven Software the game had a troubled development and was almost cancelled by publisher Activision"
Can't rebind every action, so pickup is stuck as "R", which is also Reload. A product of its time when PC ports were fledgling.
Baby Spider enemies are a total nuisance and not fun to fight at all.
No cloud-save support, so save your file somewhere before you uninstall. Not the devs fault, it was 15 years ago, but it's worth knowing.
If you want a classic FPS campaign that's over before it gets tiresome, this is well worth picking up, especially with the frequency in which it goes on sale for around £7. This shows the developers of CoD beneath Acitvision's umbrella are hungry and capable of creating something new and different, they need only be given the chance to.

After languishing in my backlog for years, I finally booted up Singularity more than a decade after its initial launch in 2010. I went in blindly, knowing little about the game and relying solely on a friend’s recommendation. To my surprise, I discovered that it is set in an alternate Cold War, primarily on the fictional Soviet research island of Katorga-12, where experiments involving a mysterious element called E99 lead to catastrophic consequences. One of the most intriguing elements of the story is the ability to time travel between two eras — 1950s and the modern day (2010) Russia — adding a fascinating layer to the narrative.
The narrative revolves around Captain Nathaniel Renko, sent on a covert mission to investigate the disappearance of a secret Soviet research team working with E99. As he explores the island, Renko uncovers dark secrets tied to the experiments and their devastating results. The story unfolds through environmental storytelling, audio logs, and encounters with a few key characters that gradually reveal the depth of the island's horrific past. The game takes numerous cues from Half-Life and Bioshock in several areas, such as its narrative structure and some plot twists that will feel familiar to fans of those titles. The overarching themes of ethical dilemmas in science, particularly the consequences of time manipulation, resonate throughout the storyline. As players gradually uncover the dark history of Katorga-12, they encounter various characters whose fates are intertwined with the mysterious E99. Although I did not feel particularly attached to the characters, they were sufficiently fleshed out to keep the story engaging. The campaign length is typically around 6 to 7 hours, but I could easily see it being completed in just 4 hours if you blitz through it like B.J. Blazkowicz from Wolfenstein. Whilst some may view the relatively short campaign as a drawback, I believe it fits well, especially given that the world-building does not reach the same heights as in Bioshock or Half-Life, even with its solid setpieces and twists near the end. The game has four endings, therefore it has replayabilty to an extent, but then again, you can easily watch them online once you finish the game in your first playthrough. Additionally, whilst fun, I ultimately found myself wishing that the time-travel between the two eras was utilised more frequently within the story, as it felt underused at times and could have enhanced the narrative experience even further.
The gameplay blends traditional first-person shooter mechanics with the innovative Time Manipulation Device (TMD), which Renko aquires early in the story, allowing players to manipulate time in various ways, such as aging enemies into dust, turning Soviet soldiers into creatures to attack their peers, simply slowing down/stopping time or restoring objects, to name a few. The sensation of using the TMD to manipulate the environment or disintegrate foes into dust is quite exhilarating, and players can even encounter small puzzles reminiscent of those found in Half-Life 2 — tasks like stacking boxes or creating pathways encourage some exploration albeit limited, and creative problem-solving. Retrospectively, I wished the game could have pushed the time manipulation powers even further, as there was potential for even greater gameplay depth. Furthermore, the combat remains engaging, featuring a variety of firearms ranging from rifles to shotguns and miniguns, complemented by diverse enemy types as previously stated — from monstrous aberrations to Soviet soldiers. This ensures that combat remains dynamic and compelling. However, a notable downside is that in the second half of the game, once players have upgraded their weapons and powers, the game can become too easy if you feel overpowered, revealing a balancing issue. Otherwise, the game is a fairly standard gun 'n' run shooter from the late '00s.
Visually, Singularity shows its age now, especially considering it was built on Unreal Engine 3, which for its time was solid. However, in 2024, I still found the visuals quite acceptable — I have certainly encountered much worse in other titles. Sure, the game immerses players in dark, industrial environments that create a bleak atmosphere, but they can occasionally feel repetitive due to their muted colour palette of greys and browns. This uniformity can make it challenging to differentiate between areas after extended play; however, the levels themselves offer enough variety in layout and design to maintain interest.
Also, it's worth noting that Singularity features a multiplayer component that, unfortunately, has been long dead. Given the game's age, no one plays multiplayer nowadays, so I could not experience that part of the game. Moreover, the game lacks subtitles, which is quite surprising given the importance of accessibility in modern gaming, and this omission can detract from the overall experience. Additionally, the current Steam version of the game does not support Steam Cloud, meaning that if you uninstall the game or switch to another machine, you may lose your progress, which can be frustrating for players who want to pick up where they left off without the fear of losing their progression.
Despite some of its shortcomings, Singularity remains a delightful experience, albeit very linear, and I am relieved to have finally embarked on this journey after letting it sit in my backlog for so long. The TMD powers are genuinely enjoyable, especially as you advance in the game and master the time manipulation mechanics that add an interesting twist to the combat, and the narrative stands on its own. Yes, whilst the game is quite derivative of both Half-Life and especially Bioshock in some aspects, I genuinely enjoyed the experience. Interestingly, upon reflection, Singularity may even be seen as a spiritual precursor to 2023's Atomic Heart, considering their thematic and gameplay similarities, and some of its time manipulation mechanics remind me of TimeShift from 2007 to an extent. Heck, it reminds me a bit of F.E.A.R. at some point.
Lastly, it is unfortunate that the game never received a sequel, as it holds significant potential that could have been fully realised with further development. As Raven Software has shifted focus to the Call of Duty franchise for a long time now, it feels likely that Singularity stands as their swan song, marking the end of their original IPs (as of writing this). If you are a fan of story-driven FPS games and seek something with a unique twist, Singularity is certainly worth exploring. I went in without any expectations, and it turned out to be a satisfying experience, reminding me of Bioshock and Half-Life in many ways, albeit without reaching the same heights. This title possesses a charm and creativity that make it a hidden gem worth your time, even if it is not at its full potential. I would highly recommend it to anyone willing to look past its flaws, and if only there were a sequel to further explore some of its potential endings. If you can get the game on sale, it's a steal!

This is so much more than just "yet another mid 2000 generic military shooter with some gimmicky time travelling superpowers"
It's both a lazy attempt from Activision to plagiarize Bioshock and to make a quick buck on Irrationnal games's back but also the last desperate cry from Raven software before being sent to the call of duty mines....
I miss you Raven

Singularity is an interesting time manipulation/travel FPS. Developed by Raven Software, it was their last game before becoming a Call of Duty support studio.
The story starts out with you accidentally saving a man from a fire, leading him to take over the world as the Soviet commander. Together with help from some allies, you need to go back in time to stop this from happening as the world is in shambles. There's some twists and turns along the way, leading to an interesting story.
The gameplay is what's mostly interesting in this game, getting to play around with a classic weapons arsenal together with the gimmick of the game - the Time Manipulation Device. Mainly used to puzzles, it is also a great weapon against enemies. It's fun to use and play around with, as the puzzles sometimes needs some extra thought put into them to reach a solution. There's a few boss battles, but nothing major and it's noticable that the game takes inspiration of games such as Bioshock (if anything for all the recordings you can find in the game), with for example the available upgrade system where you can gain perks.
Overall it was a fun game and Raven Software once again (and for their final time) shows that they can make a competent game. Despite its age, this is a game that still holds up. It perhaps doesn't have the deepest story, but the special game mechanics makes it stick out among other FPSes of its time.

Too bad Raven Software is working the Call of Duty mines, they could be making banger video games right about now. They made Warzone, and as thank you, they were forced to work on it more, rather than given freedom. ActivisionBlizzard milking them for all they got.

Game is a banger, buy it!

Had some trouble early on (those tick enemies are the worst), but once I got the minigun, the game became way too easy—though ridiculously fun.

It’s ambitious but feels disjointed at times. Gunplay, however, is top-notch.

Sadly, this was Raven’s last original game… still miss them.

If you want to play this game like a sane person, download the Flawless Widescreen application to make your FOV playable as this game is hard locked to a console FOV value, making it nauseating to play without the fix as the game doesn't include a slider in the settings
Singularity is a cool mishmash of a shooter combining elements of Half life 2, Bioshock,Metro and COD. Only worth checking out on sale as the campaign is short and offers no replay value, the multiplayer is also long dead so no value there.
The campaign runtime for me on hard was 6.5 hours, short experience but well worth experiencing if you like shooters of this time period with strict linear mission to mission format, gauntlet shooting sections, great horror atmosphere, cool setting of dystopian Russian world domination, radiation mutants and time travel from the present to 1950s Russia.
The TMD tool is also very reminiscent of the gravity gun from Half Life 2, manipulating enemies and objects via force pulsing and telekinesis, you can also age items to to access loot/upgrades and interact with puzzle/platforming sequences.
Shame to see the devs Raven Software after this game got sent to the COD sandmines lmao, would've been cool to see a sequel.