Singularity Catch-All

I liked the game magnitudes more than I had expected. Up there with CoD4 and Crysis 2 as my favorite FPS campaigns. We disagree on plenty of games though, so it's probably just not your cup.

I purchased this last week as well and really enjoyed it. I liked the mechanics and the story! Nothin like dropping a time bubble on a group, wading in and shooting all the mobs in the head with a shotgun and watching them all drop when the bubble expires!

I'm enjoying this so far. I like how you get to mess around with the timeline and save/kill different characters. I'm not really enjoying the audiologs and movie reels though. Normally I love that kind of thing, but every single movie reel seems to start off with yet another explanation about how E99 is only found deep underground on this one particular island. Some of the audio recordings are interesting, but there are tons of them and too many just seem to be yet another variant of "I'm hiding from the monsters. Oh no! They found me! *scary noises*". The actual gameplay is quite fun, though. I like the Seeker.

All the recorder logs and notes seem very deliberate and obvious. The other thing that they do is make you passively sit in one spot listening/reading, rather than the System shock/Bioshock/Dead Space way of doing it which is to let you play them as you walk around. They had a good thing going with the 'echoes', imprints, ghosts or whatever they call them, but don't use them nearly enough, they could easily be a straight replacement for many logs.

The other thing about the recorders is that at the start of the game they're intact, as soon as you get the TMD you have to restore every, single, one, which adds a few seconds of waiting to every single log you want to hear. That kind of crap isn't being respectful of your player's time. Yes, we know you've got a nice gimmick, just don't beat us around the head with it.

I might reinstall Soldier of Fortune 1/2 after I'm done to remind myself how Raven games used to be.

muttonchop wrote:

Some of the audio recordings are interesting, but there are tons of them and too many just seem to be yet another variant of "I'm hiding from the monsters. Oh no! They found me! *scary noises*".

Yeah, definitely. The audio logs are silly (we're supposed to believe that these people were carrying around an enormous reel-to-reel tape deck in the middle of this crisis?), largely pointless from a story standpoint (almost every recording amounts to "our lives were so happy, but something went wrong, the monsters ate Olga/Dmitri/whoever and now they're coming for me!") and implemented in an annoying way. Raven borrowed a bunch of the trappings of Bioshock without constructing a world and narrative that is similarly worth exploring.

I also found much of the game's imagery to be aggressively gory and unpleasant, in a gratuitous late 1990s kind of way. I understand that a horror-tinged shooter requires some horrific imagery, but when you get to the umpteenth room with a bunch of soldiers impaled on spikes and dangling from the ceiling it's long since worn out its welcome. It all feels very Quake-ish. Again, this is a vein that's been tapped by Singularity's two most obvious influences (Bioshock and HL2) but in my opinion gore and horror is used much more effectively in both of those games, in part because you're not continuously assailed by it. That's just a matter of taste, though, and to be fair the beginning and ending portions of the game were both quite a bit better than the plodding middle part in that regard.

I finished the game and enjoyed much of it. The weapon design is pretty cool, the gunplay and combat feel good--it's a polished, competent shooter. It just doesn't feel particularly cohesive or inspired, and its dogged similarity to some of my favorite FPS games sets it up for some unfavorable comparisons.

Podunk wrote:

I finished the game and enjoyed much of it. The weapon design is pretty cool, the gunplay and combat feel good--it's a polished, competent shooter. It just doesn't feel particularly cohesive or inspired, and its dogged similarity to some of my favorite FPS games sets it up for some unfavorable comparisons.

Raven are just one of those companies that have been around forever in game industry timespans. I don't think they've ever done anything really brilliant (maybe besides Heretic 2) but they can be relied upon by Activision to deliver a game that will sell some, which is what they want.

Scratched wrote:

Raven are just one of those companies that have been around forever in game industry timespans. I don't think they've ever done anything really brilliant (maybe besides Heretic 2) but they can be relied upon by Activision to deliver a game that will sell some, which is what they want.

That's been my impression as well. And now they get to join the Modern Warfare assembly line!

Podunk wrote:

but when you get to the umpteenth room with a bunch of soldiers impaled on spikes and dangling from the ceiling it's long since worn out its welcome.

I'm only just past the very first boss, and I'm already tired of seeing soldiers impaled on spikes. They're friggin' everywhere. Hell, the first boss introduces himself by throwing a spike at an impaled soldier. The spike knocks the corpse free and impales it on a different wall. Double impalement! What does it mean?

I'm less concerned about the mutagenic properties of E99 than I am about the fact that it also apparently causes some sort of weird impaling fetish. Maybe I shouldn't be carrying around all this E99 tech.

There is the "Mutant = Violent deformed savage" thing going on.

I picked this up in the steam summer sale, and have really been enjoying it, up until I hit the g0%da&n fu**ing b*llsh*t phase-ticks area. Possibly one of the most frustrating and poorly designed episodes to have to get through in a game since sniper town in MOHAA.

This youtube video of a kid raging trying to get through it (very NSFW language) is EXACTLY how it makes me feel. I've tried about 20 times. Health packs ... useless. Weapons ... useless. OMGZ TIEM POWARS!!... yeah, useless. Running like a frightened schoolgirl? useless.

Is there something I'm missing here? I'm grinding my teeth into a powder in frustration.

Jeff-66 wrote:

I picked this up in the summer steam sale, and have really been enjoying it, up until I hit the g0%da&n fu**ing b*llsh*t phase-ticks area. Possibly one of the most frustrating and poorly designed episodes to have to get through in a game since sniper town in MOHAA.

This youtube video of a kid raging trying to get through it (very NSFW language) is EXACTLY how it makes me feel. I've tried about 20 times. Health packs ... useless. Weapons ... useless. OMGZ TIEM POWARS!!... yeah, useless. Running like a frightened schoolgirl? useless.

Is there something I'm missing here? I'm grinding my teeth into a powder in frustration.

Ah, yes. That one took me a few tries. I believe the solution that ended up working best for me was to run a bit and try to round them up then drop one of the time bubbles (the name escapes me) around myself. The ticks get stuck in the bubble and you can kill quite a few with each shot of your gun. After that it was a matter of running the perimeter of the room and picking off the left overs and bubbling again. I know that's a little vague, but it's been quite a while since I played it. Hope it helps some though. Good luck.

Really? I got through the phase tick part on my first try (Normal difficulty). I just shot them with the shotgun and used the blast ability whenever I got swarmed. Is it something that really ramps up on harder difficulties, or did I just get lucky?

sithcundman wrote:

Ah, yes. That one took me a few tries. I believe the solution that ended up working best for me was to run a bit and try to round them up then drop one of the time bubbles (the name escapes me) around myself. The ticks get stuck in the bubble and you can kill quite a few with each shot of your gun. After that it was a matter of running the perimeter of the room and picking off the left overs and bubbling again. I know that's a little vague, but it's been quite a while since I played it. Hope it helps some though. Good luck.

Ah, I'd forgotten about the time-bubble thing. I was using the time-conversion, which turns one to fight for you, but they don't last long, and I'd tried force-push thing, which works but you use up your time powers so fast and when you either apply a health kit or rejuice your time power, they swarm and kill in that very short window. The time bubble thing sounds like it might do the trick. I'll try that, thanks.

Really? I got through the phase tick part on my first try (Normal difficulty). I just shot them with the shotgun and used the blast ability whenever I got swarmed. Is it something that really ramps up on harder difficulties, or did I just get lucky?

Oh I'm sure everyone and their brother will post that they made it first try, making me feel even more {ableist slur} :), but I think you got lucky. If you watch that video I linked, you'll see why it's so frustrating. You can't just run away down that long hall either. The little bastards just keep spawning out of the walls.

I definitely did NOT get through the phase ticks on my first try. In fact, the few random difficulty spikes were probably my biggest problem with the game, which I really liked otherwise.

Tagged for later. I got this game during the summer sale. The way things are going, I'll probably get around to playing it just in time for the Christmas sale.

Yeah that part was tough but throwing a time-slowing bubble at your feet and aging the spawn egg things rather than shooting them did the trick for me. I took my time and after a couple tries it was fine

It's true that for no good reason the ticks are the hardest enemy all throughout the game. Very fast, numerous and if they get to you they f%*$ you up pretty bad

Yeah, I hate the phase ticks too. Fast, numerous, spawn out of nowhere (ok, tunnels in the walls) and knock off a ridiculous amount of health with each hit. Such fun. :rolleyes:

I'm not finished yet but think I'm getting closer (just got the upgrade to the TMD that lets it no longer use E99) and some of the shiny is wearing off. I was really enjoying the game and atmosphere early on but the ridiculous boss fights and the fact that you are just doing whatever you are told to do (despite the fact that there are all these notes around saying "You're doing the wrong thing!" yet Renko keeps blindly following along even without being asked "would you kindly..." do it) are starting to bug me. I like to explore in games and this one seems more interested in pushing me from one set-piece, scripted battle to the next.

I also think I've played too many Eastern European/Russian games. I've had fun with S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Metro 2033 and such and so playing a game set in Russia that isn't Russian just feels... off.

I think there's a good idea in there, it just didn't quite make it out. And I can't help but feel that it wants to be Bioshock really, really bad but just... isn't.

I doubt I would have finished it if not for the massive PRESS H FOR HEALTH message that warns you. Well, slightly better than covering your face in raspberry jam I suppose.

I finished it a week ago and I'm amazed at how unremarkable it was, the only bit I can really remember is that there was a boat. I'm not sure quite what it is but Raven games just seem so dull.

interstate78 wrote:

Yeah that part was tough but throwing a time-slowing bubble at your feet and aging the spawn egg things rather than shooting them did the trick for me. I took my time and after a couple tries it was fine

Should I be aging the bubbles before, or after I open the gate? I've tried doing that before the gate opens, and they come out of them anyway! I don't see how I could possibly have time to age them during the fight though.

It's true that for no good reason the ticks are the hardest enemy all throughout the game. Very fast, numerous and if they get to you they f%*$ you up pretty bad

What's weird is that just before this segment you fight a big boss guy in an arena type battle, and I basically had no problem with him, other than it being a fairly lengthy fight. I swear to the FSM I think a tick exploding at your feet does more damage than the boss' big ass hammer. Really dumb. If I were reviewing this game, I'd knock off a full star for this segment alone.

Oh, and they totally stole the ticks from Gears of War.

I really liked the game a lot. It wasn't on the same level as Metro 2033 perhaps, but had an enjoyable story with fun mechanics. I absolutely loved the fact that it provided an auto-save point that let you quickly replay through the final sequence to see all three endings.

The ticks never bothered me, but that's possibly because I was rather fond of an overpowered game mechanic - the slow time bubble. I got into the habit of wandering around with a bubble constantly generated and ready to launch. There simply wasn't any opponent in the game (other than one relatively easy "boss" fight) that was a challenge at all once you had a sphere deployed.

Elycion wrote:

I got into the habit of wandering around with a bubble constantly generated and ready to launch. There simply wasn't any opponent in the game (other than one relatively easy "boss" fight) that was a challenge at all once you had a sphere deployed.

That's one thing that got me, it's an I-Win button. The ability to age/destroy cover or change enemies is nice, but totally pointless if you give the player a tool that makes it irrelevant.

Jeff-66 wrote:

Should I be aging the bubbles before, or after I open the gate? I've tried doing that before the gate opens, and they come out of them anyway! I don't see how I could possibly have time to age them during the fight though.

Yeah I took care of the bubbles before opening the gate but when I aged them nothing came out. I'm pretty sure I played at the normal difficulty level so I don't know why they'd come out anyway for you. Strange ...

interstate78 wrote:
Jeff-66 wrote:

Should I be aging the bubbles before, or after I open the gate? I've tried doing that before the gate opens, and they come out of them anyway! I don't see how I could possibly have time to age them during the fight though.

Yeah I took care of the bubbles before opening the gate but when I aged them nothing came out. I'm pretty sure I played at the normal difficulty level so I don't know why they'd come out anyway for you. Strange ...

I aged every bubble possible before opening the gate, and they didn't just come from the gate, they were still pouring out of the walls from somewhere.

I finally just got past that complete bullsh*t zone, and it's honestly inspired me to write to Raven to ask what the flying f*ck were they thinking. Even using the time-bubble, it took me 5 or 6 more tries. Every single time I needed to do something, be it shoot, cast another bubble, force push, or heal, i was delayed by a goddamn animation, (bandaging, reloading, etc) and when the bubble expired there was a mob waiting to pop and melt my health to 0.

The crucial mistake Raven made in that area was assigning FAR too much damage to a single tick's pop. Then to add 10 or 12 at once, and it's ...

IMAGE(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/ziffel66/forum/fuuuuu.jpg)

Jeff-66 wrote:
Really? I got through the phase tick part on my first try (Normal difficulty). I just shot them with the shotgun and used the blast ability whenever I got swarmed. Is it something that really ramps up on harder difficulties, or did I just get lucky?

Oh I'm sure everyone and their brother will post that they made it first try, making me feel even more {ableist slur} :), but I think you got lucky.

I did use something like 5 health kits in that room, so I think I just lucked out and got enough breathing room each time I needed to heal. I might also have been using the upgrade that gives you health for killing stuff, I can't remember if I got that before or after the tick section.

ARISE!

The girlfriend informed me that my copy just came from Amazon today. I found myself in one of those "lots of stuff to (re)play, nothing in my library really jumping out at me" moods the other night, so I checked out the Quick Look on GiantBomb. As soon as they made reference to Bioshock, I was looking it up on Amazon.

I am now doubly excited to get out of work.

I have such great memories of this game. I think you're in for a surprise and a treat.

It's a good'n. I don't really understand the negative reaction a lot of people had to it. It's TOTALLY a Bioshock wannabe, but it's also tons of fun. The TMD is a great slaughter enhancement device -- I'm sure you'll see what I mean.

Yeah, I'm totally getting the Bioshock vibe. It's not nearly as polished, though; Bioshock offered it's world and story up if you wanted, but never felt stuffed in your face like it does with Singularity; it's like the latter is trying just a but too hard. Still, it's a small gripe; I'm really enjoying it. I don't even have that fancy TMD yet and I'm really digging the combat, so I can't wait to mess around with that thing.

What difficulty did you guys play on? I went with normal, and glad I did: fights are manageable yet challenging, and I feel as if the minute I start to get cocky, I'd get wrecked. Just how I like it.

This game is little gem. Lots of fun. The MP was a blast too; heavy L4D versus vibe with teams of human soldiers vs. creatures, each side having 4 different classes with different abilities. It was a small community though. I got it during the first week of release, and I kept running into the same people in matches all the time.

Blind_Evil wrote:

I have such great memories of this game. I think you're in for a surprise and a treat.

Totes - this was a great game. Really enjoyable.