Available: PS3, Xbox 360
Controller Type: PC-style Mouse
From: SplitFish
Years ago, we FPS fans had only one destination: the PC. Doom early on, Half-Life during the renaissance, and though it has the status of being more of a cult classic, the original Aliens vs. Predator game (and having not played the latest incarnation as well as hearing that it was terrible, I have to say that game was awesome). This was clearly during the early days of the current millennium, but when I got that fantastic Dell PC in 1998, I had never been around much first person greatness and found out quickly that the idea of pointing and aiming a weapon with a mouse and moving with WASD was not only super intuitive but just plain fun.
After a short while, the FPS scene crept onto the Playstation in the form of Medal of Honor. It took me quite some time to love this form of FPS, by form I mean the fact that the d-pad was not even close to a mouse and keyboard both in terms of analog functionality and available keys, but I became pretty good at headshotting Nazis all the same. As the Playstation became the biggest thing since sliced bread and sales blew up, they pulled a cue from the N64 and released the DualShock controller, obviously featuring dual analog sticks, completely enhancing the way games were played, significantly so for the console-FPS fans through the world. But they still didn’t have it “right.”
The PS2 saw an enhanced analog paddle, tweaking the sensitivity and reducing the stiffness a bit of the sticks in question. Other than this there wasn’t a huge change, mind you, as the original DualShock controllers worked interchangeably from the second generation. They featured the same input port and were, for lack of more difference, the same. PS3’s controller made significant jumps in many areas, such as weight, more trigger-like shoulder buttons, better pressure sensitivity, and the best analog movement to date. I’m a PS fanboy, but I’ve had plenty of time with the Xbox 360 pad, and though it’s a great gamepad, the PS3’s is just tops. As anyone who uses the Kontrol Freak FPS Sticks will tell you (or those who agree with my review of said peripheral), the addition really makes them top notch for FPS play. However, it still just isn’t the old mouse-and-keyboard combination. Whether it’s the ability to move at ridiculously tiny increments to extremely quick movements or the keyboards thousands of keys yielding so many functions in a game that there are keys left over (with the exception of games like Rainbow Six that used each key for SOMETHING), the paddle has always lagged behind it’s PC cousin in terms of versatility, again, specifically in the realm of the first person shooter.
Then came SplitFish and the Frag FX. The FX is a peripheral for the PS3 that utilizes a mouse on a mouse pad and a Wii-Nunchuk-like secondary controller for movement. As with the PC, the mouse is used for everything a mouse would be used for. The face buttons normally found on the controller are also where your thumb rests on the FX, allowing for quick access to reloading, crouching, etc. An added mouse-clicker is in the middle of the two mouse buttons also which can be used as the R3 button in order to spring, aim in Rainbow Six Vegas, and so on.
The left-handed peripheral is used as the left analog stick mainly, thus used for movement. It also features three trigger buttons for L1, L2, and “F,” the frag button. The frag button allows for pressure-sensitive slowing of the mouse for when you need to quickly (or subtly, should you choose) switch from aiming from the hip to extreme precision. Although the mentioned FPS Sticks from Kontrol Freak do a great job of this, there is no way to adjust the sensitivity on the fly as with the frag button. There is also a dial on the side of the left-handed extension of the peripheral in question that allows for even more control over the sensitivity of the entire controller. Add in the fact you can change the X/Y sensitivity of most games through the menus, and you have a great array of diversity in movement.
The peripheral is certainly a fantastic idea, but there are two things that really stand out in my mind. First, since it’s been ten to 15 years since I PC-gamed, I have really lost my touch. Without a keyboard, the unit also suffers. However I cannot comment on using a keyboard in conjunction with the mouse, because I never tried. Maybe that would cure that problem, though. The second small grievance is the “mouse pad” that comes with the controller: it is way too slippery. They should have added some suction cups or even some of that rubber/silicone that you put on the dashboard of your car that holds your cell phone in place simply with friction. The pad is also at an angle to accommodate the holder for the left-handed part of the controller, but I feel they could have compensated for this in a different manner and kept it flat. The only option for a flatter-form of play is to put it on your lap, but that’s just downright awkward. I’ll add in a third complaint, too: I have not really used the controller enough to prove its meddle, again to hark back to the Freak Sticks wherein I used them for a few hours before I felt very comfortable.
All in all, this is a great little toy for any FPS fan. I’m still a die hard gamepad guy, but I feel given enough time (and dying enough times, which keeps it frustrating) it would become great. Until they come out with a legitimate keyboard and mouse that plugs in just like it would in a computer, this will certainly do; especially to those who have just made the jump to consoles.
Usability: As mentioned, the sloping mouse pad makes for a bit of terrible awkwardness. Also, again as stated, the lack of any kind of friction from the pad to the surface on which you play makes for some sliding around. I would have also liked the pad to be bigger, although in fairness that would have made the whole thing pretty large and bulky. Another downside is that even on a flat table it doesn’t work that well. It DOES work pretty well, but the laser could have been a bit more potent. All this negative aside, it’s all you can get if you’re into the combo. And to reiterate (a fourth time—sorry), given some time I bet this thing rocks like crazy.
Controls: Just as you’d expect—it’s like the old keyboard and mouse combo on the PC, making for some excellent FPS play. The buttons are mapped perfectly, and the ability to tweak sensitivity with the Frag button on the fly and the dial makes just about any sensitivity a reality and thus is made to suit everyone.
Total: 89, B+
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Grand Theft Auto IV – The Lost and Damned/The Ballad of Gay Tony: Aging Worse Than Demi Moore
Available: Xbox 360/Playstation 3/PC
Game Type: 1 Player Action
From: Rockstar Games
I’m sure we all remember where we were on that infamous day when Rockstar declared mutiny on they Playstation 2; I myself was on my umpteenth game of NHL 08, taking the recommended 15 minute break after an hour (actually it was more like after five hours—sorry safety review board) and standing on my porch reading the latest game previews in magazines. The shock was not so great that I lost my balance, as I assumed after last generation’s mid-gen transfer to the Xbox, Rockstar would have seen how profitable this multiplatform usage of its IP could be. The truly heart-stopping moment came when we learned Microsoft swindled the good folks at Rockstar into giving them exclusive access to the downloadable content for (what ended up being) two standalone adventures, similar to the GTA III’s Vice City and San Andreas—to my understanding, while making great strides in the series all around, they ran off the same engine as. It seems video game journalists can be wrong just like any other media outlet, as eventually the expansion packs were released to the PS3 and finally on disc for both systems.
The Lost and Damned follows Johnny Klebbitz, stand-in President of one of Liberty Cities most feared biker gangs, the Lost. The real President of the club, Billy, was sent to jail and subsequently rehabilitation for his growing addiction to all things, as Rockstar puts it “bikes, babes, booze, and blow—in any order, and preferably all at once.” Given his addictions, Billy struck up a plea bargain and allowed his best friend and second in command Johnny to take the helm as acting captain. While gone, Klebbitz decided it was time to change the gang’s image and accept the increase in business dealings and turn “his” gang into more than a crew of motorcycle enthusiasts dealing drugs, drinking, and fighting. Instead, Klebbitz starting using the Lost to become less thuggish and more practical, harnessing the nightclub life and Mafioso ideology, i.e. still using their biker gang ruggedness, but for profit, not fun. Turning the carefree life of the biker into a businessman, in Billy’s eyes, was not the way things were supposed to go down.
On the other half of the disc, we have the Ballad of Gay Tony. Gay Tony is a nightlife legend, living and breathing the glitz, glamour, and flashing lights of the high end Algonquin nightclubs while at the same time ruling them all. Hard times have begun to catch up to Gay Tony, as the nightclub scene is dying; he has become more addicted to “illegal powders,” and right-hand man Luis Gonzalez is getting the call more frequently to right the wrongs of an aging partier on the verge of a breakdown. As a former street-corner peddler, Luis is no stranger to the woes of the street and the glory of crime. This makes him the perfect man to take up the job of Gay Tony’s driver/protector/go-to-man, and Luis is more than glad to be around all the bright lights and pretty ladies.
After the essential stories of each of the included games are out of the way, the rest is really disappointing in its standard fare. Graphically, Rockstar hasn’t made much progress in these releases, although in all fairness they are the DLC did come out sometime around a year ago if I’m not mistaken. But one would think you’d see some improvement over the original current generation release. I also believe the blur effect was utilized again, because these games are far more blurred than their predecessor was.
In terms of controls, everything remains intact. The cover system used in GTA IV remains, which was a huge step for the franchise, but after playing recent games since April of 2008, it’s lost its luster as well. The aiming mechanic still shines, as I love the auto-aim/full manual aim mapped on the same button. Some games are content with choosing one or the other, but I feel that those ready for the challenge should be attuned to the requisite degree of finesse involved in half depressing the shoulder button for lengthy shootouts. I’m not a fan of auto-aim, but in the GTA universe it’s generally necessary to keep yourself from getting killed in the more frantic shootouts, especially for first-timers.
Another negative aimed specifically at the Lost and Damned is the focus on bikes, which shouldn’t detract from the overall experience, significantly so if you downloaded that title specifically rather than purchasing them both. I did happen to purchase them both, though, so the point remains: I like the sports bikes, but I dislike the choppers. I just don’t like how they drive, and the focus on them is irritating, although as stated implied within the games storyline. Had I purchased the DLC on its own, I would have no reason to complain and probably wouldn’t have ordered it. There is also a group mechanic in L&D whereby when riding with a group leader, an icon pops up and the goal is to stay within the icon to regain health for both your character, Johnny, and your bike. I found this to be completely annoying, as sudden, jerky turns and acceleration/deceleration make it nearly impossible to remain in the supposed area. I think it’s a great idea in theory—not so much in practice.
Honestly, there’s not much to say about this game, as I summed it up pretty well with the statement that it’s standard fare. There are some unique ideas like riding with the group and some grandiose moments like skydiving, but none of them really added much flare to the game after skydiving in Just Cause 2 and riding to my heart’s content in the latest Midnight Club. Outside of these few things it’s GTA IV minus interesting protagonist Niko Bellic.
So for those of you who haven’t yet gone mad on your trips through ample playthroughs of this generations original Grand Theft Auto, this is a great choice. If you have an internet connection and do not want a hard copy, go ahead and shell out the $15-$20 for the Ballad of Gay Tony, the less motorcycle-centric of the two, and if you loved the bikes then do the opposite. But if the great games released since April of 2008 have struck your fancy, be it graphically, control-wise, or something of the nature, don’t waste your time. Everything fun from the original is there, but there’s really not much room to grow.
Graphics: If this came out with GTA IV it would have gotten a perfect score, if not for its sheer graphical power than for the consistent framerate and reliability of the attention to detail. As it sits though, there hasn’t been much advancement such as GTA III to San Andreas.
Controls: As good as ever. They work just fine, but as with graphics I would have liked to see some improvements and/or tweaking, but it’s still great.
Story: As with Niko Bellic’s tale of the tragic American Dream, the stories are rather well done in terms of the GTA-gangster. Not AS good as Niko’s mind you…
Multiple Play: This is GTA’s bread and butter; college dorm room shootouts, online GTA-style frag fests, etc. They all remain in tact and the same as ever, which seems to be my judgment for the elements on a whole.
Total: 70 C-
Game Type: 1 Player Action
From: Rockstar Games
I’m sure we all remember where we were on that infamous day when Rockstar declared mutiny on they Playstation 2; I myself was on my umpteenth game of NHL 08, taking the recommended 15 minute break after an hour (actually it was more like after five hours—sorry safety review board) and standing on my porch reading the latest game previews in magazines. The shock was not so great that I lost my balance, as I assumed after last generation’s mid-gen transfer to the Xbox, Rockstar would have seen how profitable this multiplatform usage of its IP could be. The truly heart-stopping moment came when we learned Microsoft swindled the good folks at Rockstar into giving them exclusive access to the downloadable content for (what ended up being) two standalone adventures, similar to the GTA III’s Vice City and San Andreas—to my understanding, while making great strides in the series all around, they ran off the same engine as. It seems video game journalists can be wrong just like any other media outlet, as eventually the expansion packs were released to the PS3 and finally on disc for both systems.
The Lost and Damned follows Johnny Klebbitz, stand-in President of one of Liberty Cities most feared biker gangs, the Lost. The real President of the club, Billy, was sent to jail and subsequently rehabilitation for his growing addiction to all things, as Rockstar puts it “bikes, babes, booze, and blow—in any order, and preferably all at once.” Given his addictions, Billy struck up a plea bargain and allowed his best friend and second in command Johnny to take the helm as acting captain. While gone, Klebbitz decided it was time to change the gang’s image and accept the increase in business dealings and turn “his” gang into more than a crew of motorcycle enthusiasts dealing drugs, drinking, and fighting. Instead, Klebbitz starting using the Lost to become less thuggish and more practical, harnessing the nightclub life and Mafioso ideology, i.e. still using their biker gang ruggedness, but for profit, not fun. Turning the carefree life of the biker into a businessman, in Billy’s eyes, was not the way things were supposed to go down.
On the other half of the disc, we have the Ballad of Gay Tony. Gay Tony is a nightlife legend, living and breathing the glitz, glamour, and flashing lights of the high end Algonquin nightclubs while at the same time ruling them all. Hard times have begun to catch up to Gay Tony, as the nightclub scene is dying; he has become more addicted to “illegal powders,” and right-hand man Luis Gonzalez is getting the call more frequently to right the wrongs of an aging partier on the verge of a breakdown. As a former street-corner peddler, Luis is no stranger to the woes of the street and the glory of crime. This makes him the perfect man to take up the job of Gay Tony’s driver/protector/go-to-man, and Luis is more than glad to be around all the bright lights and pretty ladies.
After the essential stories of each of the included games are out of the way, the rest is really disappointing in its standard fare. Graphically, Rockstar hasn’t made much progress in these releases, although in all fairness they are the DLC did come out sometime around a year ago if I’m not mistaken. But one would think you’d see some improvement over the original current generation release. I also believe the blur effect was utilized again, because these games are far more blurred than their predecessor was.
In terms of controls, everything remains intact. The cover system used in GTA IV remains, which was a huge step for the franchise, but after playing recent games since April of 2008, it’s lost its luster as well. The aiming mechanic still shines, as I love the auto-aim/full manual aim mapped on the same button. Some games are content with choosing one or the other, but I feel that those ready for the challenge should be attuned to the requisite degree of finesse involved in half depressing the shoulder button for lengthy shootouts. I’m not a fan of auto-aim, but in the GTA universe it’s generally necessary to keep yourself from getting killed in the more frantic shootouts, especially for first-timers.
Another negative aimed specifically at the Lost and Damned is the focus on bikes, which shouldn’t detract from the overall experience, significantly so if you downloaded that title specifically rather than purchasing them both. I did happen to purchase them both, though, so the point remains: I like the sports bikes, but I dislike the choppers. I just don’t like how they drive, and the focus on them is irritating, although as stated implied within the games storyline. Had I purchased the DLC on its own, I would have no reason to complain and probably wouldn’t have ordered it. There is also a group mechanic in L&D whereby when riding with a group leader, an icon pops up and the goal is to stay within the icon to regain health for both your character, Johnny, and your bike. I found this to be completely annoying, as sudden, jerky turns and acceleration/deceleration make it nearly impossible to remain in the supposed area. I think it’s a great idea in theory—not so much in practice.
Honestly, there’s not much to say about this game, as I summed it up pretty well with the statement that it’s standard fare. There are some unique ideas like riding with the group and some grandiose moments like skydiving, but none of them really added much flare to the game after skydiving in Just Cause 2 and riding to my heart’s content in the latest Midnight Club. Outside of these few things it’s GTA IV minus interesting protagonist Niko Bellic.
So for those of you who haven’t yet gone mad on your trips through ample playthroughs of this generations original Grand Theft Auto, this is a great choice. If you have an internet connection and do not want a hard copy, go ahead and shell out the $15-$20 for the Ballad of Gay Tony, the less motorcycle-centric of the two, and if you loved the bikes then do the opposite. But if the great games released since April of 2008 have struck your fancy, be it graphically, control-wise, or something of the nature, don’t waste your time. Everything fun from the original is there, but there’s really not much room to grow.
Graphics: If this came out with GTA IV it would have gotten a perfect score, if not for its sheer graphical power than for the consistent framerate and reliability of the attention to detail. As it sits though, there hasn’t been much advancement such as GTA III to San Andreas.
Controls: As good as ever. They work just fine, but as with graphics I would have liked to see some improvements and/or tweaking, but it’s still great.
Story: As with Niko Bellic’s tale of the tragic American Dream, the stories are rather well done in terms of the GTA-gangster. Not AS good as Niko’s mind you…
Multiple Play: This is GTA’s bread and butter; college dorm room shootouts, online GTA-style frag fests, etc. They all remain in tact and the same as ever, which seems to be my judgment for the elements on a whole.
Total: 70 C-
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Singularity: A Preempt of This IP’s Future Maybe?
Available: PS3/Xbox 360
Game Type: First Person Shooter
From: Raven Software/Activision
As a fan of science fiction and time traveling escapades, I was pumped to play Singularity. Futurama, one of my all time favorite shows, has ranked as such because of the fantastic method implemented in the entire space/time continuum paradox in which it parodies. Granted the show itself ranks among the Simpson’s as a great animated sitcom, but it’s my love for the ideas with which the plot and script therein are formed that really draws me to watching, even when there were only around fifty episodes.
So when I read about Singularity in several magazines and online gaming sites, I was jazzed. The idea of manipulating time fused with a strong first person shooter element had me dreaming about blasting Russians with Cold War fury and reverting them to aged powder was just too much to remove from my radar.
As indicated, Singularity takes place in October of 2010 on a fictional Russian island called Katorga 12. AS the story goes, in the 1960s as the Cold War heated up, the Soviet Army found a new mineral on the small island of Katorga dubbed E99. Fearing the American’s nuclear might, the Soviets enlisted their top scientists Doctors Bistrov and Dimetrev to devise a means to an end—the end of the Cold War, the end of American aggression, and the end capitalism and its principles. Through extensive research and experimentation, a device was born—one capable of changing not only Russia’s future, but its past as well, along with the whole world.
Dr. Bistrov had noble intentions when he figured out E99 was capable of bending time as we see it. He noticed the areas with high levels of E99, for example near a tree, caused monstrous deformities, or so it appeared. Bistrov noticed that wherever these high volumes of the translucent, viscous, orange material was found, things happened—as in the tree example, sometimes a sapling would grow into a mutated version of its older self, bubbling with E99 pustules, and other times the opposite would occur. As Bistrov enhanced his studies and delved deeper into the subject, he began developing high tech mechanisms for manipulating this new substance. During his research and mechanism inventing, Dr. Dimetrev caught wind and had other plans.
Dimetrev thought that with this new substance and its time manipulating machina, the American dogs would pay for their crimes against the motherland. Catching wind of a particularly important device on which Dr. Bistrov had been working, Dimetrev ordered the execution of his partner on the grounds of his being a traitor to the Soviet Union.
But everything went wrong. There was an explosion, as E99 was highly volatile, and the entire island—flora, fauna, scientists, and everyone else—was caught in a time warp. And that was the last the world heard from Katorga 12.
Shortly before October of 2010, United States satellites found a patch of high radiation over an unknown island off the Russian coast. A two-man aircraft is sent in to investigate, and our character Corporal Benchev is introduced as copilot of this ship. Upon reaching their destination of Katorga 12, all hell breaks loose; the plane crashes, and when our hero awakes, the pilot is dead, and he is lost. The supposed technological island, having had vast radioactive resources, is a in a decrepit state, almost as if this was an island that time itself forgot. Within moments, monstrous undead-looking mutants attack from all sides, time warps crop up around a corner, and trees grow into giant versions of themselves or revert to seeds. As we search the area, we’re given bits of information through notes, old 8 mm recordings, and demolished chalk boards discussing the struggle of the two doctors. Enter the time manipulation device, the TMD.
This lengthy set up is where the intrigue dies and makes way for generic gunplay and useless time manipulation. With the introduction of the TMD, we find a way to revert broken containers to their original form yielding health packs and ammo; chalkboards get put back together to give a better sense of the happenings on the island; and Russian enemies can be sent through the passage of time and turned to dust. Sounds fun right? Well, I don’t blame you—that is exactly what I thought when I read about all this and began my playthrough.
As stated, the gunplay is generic at best, with spotty hit detection resulting in a boring FPS experience. Russian soldiers hide behind crates with the precision of an excited puppy—as soon as it’s been decided by these so-called “soldiers” that the process of taking cover has grown boring, they pop out and blast in an unsophisticated method to say the least. When they are hiding, that doesn’t mean they hide well; I don’t believe I encountered one soldier that was capable of recognizing what a head shot is. The E99-mutated enemies in the form of brown, aged zombie-like creatures or muscle bound, dual-headed, blue skinned zombies fare none too better. Their methods amount to running at you and maybe jumping up to a wall in a linear fashion, all the while getting rounds pumped into their supposedly grotesque bodies. The “pumping of rounds” is an apt description, since hitting the trigger multiple times results in multiple shots; in other words, when you have the shotgun equipped and hit the trigger twice before the first shot is fired, the second shot will fire on impulse. Speaking of which, I’ve not played a shooter in quite some time where the trigger button was so delayed.
Firearms include an Ak-47 rip-off called the Valkyrie, which was supposedly created with E99 technology, although I cannot figure out how this is implied. It shoots like a standard weapon, less the fact that its just no fun to shoot due to the delayed trigger reaction, the slow bullet speed, and the aforementioned spotty hit detection. A shotgun is available, but suffers from the poor trigger-reaction method. The sniper rifle seemed fun at first, including a temporal displacement action that slows time—but the fun of this makes way for ridiculousness when every headshot blasts the enemy skull to nothingness (as does a shoulder shot for whatever reason). One weapon that was quite fun was a weapon that fires rounds you can manipulate mid-flight, similar to the arrow shooting segments of Heavenly Sword. I also encountered what was called a Rail Gun, but aside from shooting slowly it didn’t do much other than a minor explosion that did little to enhance the FPS play.
The TMD has some highlights, but they all become very repetitive and seem to be employed more for finding story progressing chalkboards and fixing busted recorders and health pack/ammo crates. The mentioned time enhancing or reversion isn’t even done well, as it’s a simple click of the shoulder button to send something forward or back through time like a toggle. If it’s decayed it can be renewed—if it’s alive or functioning, it can be broken. More differentiation in the time progression/reversal would have been greatly welcome and could have made for a much better experience. Other tools involve stopping time within a generated orb (only useful for puzzles, and by puzzles I mean stopping fast moving fan blades—really, that’s all it works on, not even fast moving bosses), and a gravity enhancement only useful for stopping enemy grenades and launching them back at them. The problem with the gravity situation is that the enemies throw projectiles in a strange super arch that launches off the top of the screen, only to quickly fall down to your feet. I’m not saying it was hard, just not fun. To summarize, the TMD quickly devolves from a fun, seemingly useful tool to a trial and error type of puzzle-beater.
In terms of graphics, I’ve not seen anything so bland in quite some time. Severe problems with texture pop make me want to snap the disc in half, and it doesn’t even need to be a change in venue or scenery to cause it. Just standing in the same room allows for walls to lose all graphical quality, only to have what little quality there was to reappear. Enemies are awful too, as once killed and investigated there is little more than pixilated sprites conveying their (as mentioned) supposedly grotesque appearance. When a busted medical crate is fixed, suddenly it won’t open, but you can crouch and walk around until you happen to find the “sweet spot” where you can pick up the pack through said crate. Overall the graphics are just bland and poorly implemented, not nearly as enticing as they appeared on the preview videos and such. Also, I was hoping for some creative uses of the TMD, not just toggling old and new.
Overall, this is one lackluster performance, although had I known it was created by the same people that brought us uber-homosexual Dick Mercinko’s Rogue Warrior I surely would have stayed away. I can’t really recommend this to anyone, whether you’re a fan of shooters or science fiction, it’s just a let down. There are certainly more horrifyingly bad experiences to be had for sure, but there are certainly much better ones of each genre, and though I wasn’t super impressed with Time Shifters, having purchased it too late to be impressive, I think that has a lot better hold on each element. And here’s a quick note to the gaming industry in entirety: until Raven Software makes a good game, please stop paying these schmucks to make garbage. We have enough of it in our landfills as it is.
Graphics: bland and texturally displeasing. The supposedly horrifying monsters are so poorly designed that they look as though they belong in a late 90s Playstation game.
Controls: they work, I suppose, but the FPS isn’t that tight, leading to some very plain shooter segments. Even the couple weapons I liked couldn’t save this disaster.
Story: Pretty good really. The core of the story as detailed above is the stuff that legends are made of, but shows us that a great story alone isn’t enough to make a game good.
Multiple Play: had the TMD functionality been more diverse, they game could have been seen through multiple eyes each playthrough. As it is, it’s just tough to digest it once.
Total: 68, D+
Game Type: First Person Shooter
From: Raven Software/Activision
As a fan of science fiction and time traveling escapades, I was pumped to play Singularity. Futurama, one of my all time favorite shows, has ranked as such because of the fantastic method implemented in the entire space/time continuum paradox in which it parodies. Granted the show itself ranks among the Simpson’s as a great animated sitcom, but it’s my love for the ideas with which the plot and script therein are formed that really draws me to watching, even when there were only around fifty episodes.
So when I read about Singularity in several magazines and online gaming sites, I was jazzed. The idea of manipulating time fused with a strong first person shooter element had me dreaming about blasting Russians with Cold War fury and reverting them to aged powder was just too much to remove from my radar.
As indicated, Singularity takes place in October of 2010 on a fictional Russian island called Katorga 12. AS the story goes, in the 1960s as the Cold War heated up, the Soviet Army found a new mineral on the small island of Katorga dubbed E99. Fearing the American’s nuclear might, the Soviets enlisted their top scientists Doctors Bistrov and Dimetrev to devise a means to an end—the end of the Cold War, the end of American aggression, and the end capitalism and its principles. Through extensive research and experimentation, a device was born—one capable of changing not only Russia’s future, but its past as well, along with the whole world.
Dr. Bistrov had noble intentions when he figured out E99 was capable of bending time as we see it. He noticed the areas with high levels of E99, for example near a tree, caused monstrous deformities, or so it appeared. Bistrov noticed that wherever these high volumes of the translucent, viscous, orange material was found, things happened—as in the tree example, sometimes a sapling would grow into a mutated version of its older self, bubbling with E99 pustules, and other times the opposite would occur. As Bistrov enhanced his studies and delved deeper into the subject, he began developing high tech mechanisms for manipulating this new substance. During his research and mechanism inventing, Dr. Dimetrev caught wind and had other plans.
Dimetrev thought that with this new substance and its time manipulating machina, the American dogs would pay for their crimes against the motherland. Catching wind of a particularly important device on which Dr. Bistrov had been working, Dimetrev ordered the execution of his partner on the grounds of his being a traitor to the Soviet Union.
But everything went wrong. There was an explosion, as E99 was highly volatile, and the entire island—flora, fauna, scientists, and everyone else—was caught in a time warp. And that was the last the world heard from Katorga 12.
Shortly before October of 2010, United States satellites found a patch of high radiation over an unknown island off the Russian coast. A two-man aircraft is sent in to investigate, and our character Corporal Benchev is introduced as copilot of this ship. Upon reaching their destination of Katorga 12, all hell breaks loose; the plane crashes, and when our hero awakes, the pilot is dead, and he is lost. The supposed technological island, having had vast radioactive resources, is a in a decrepit state, almost as if this was an island that time itself forgot. Within moments, monstrous undead-looking mutants attack from all sides, time warps crop up around a corner, and trees grow into giant versions of themselves or revert to seeds. As we search the area, we’re given bits of information through notes, old 8 mm recordings, and demolished chalk boards discussing the struggle of the two doctors. Enter the time manipulation device, the TMD.
This lengthy set up is where the intrigue dies and makes way for generic gunplay and useless time manipulation. With the introduction of the TMD, we find a way to revert broken containers to their original form yielding health packs and ammo; chalkboards get put back together to give a better sense of the happenings on the island; and Russian enemies can be sent through the passage of time and turned to dust. Sounds fun right? Well, I don’t blame you—that is exactly what I thought when I read about all this and began my playthrough.
As stated, the gunplay is generic at best, with spotty hit detection resulting in a boring FPS experience. Russian soldiers hide behind crates with the precision of an excited puppy—as soon as it’s been decided by these so-called “soldiers” that the process of taking cover has grown boring, they pop out and blast in an unsophisticated method to say the least. When they are hiding, that doesn’t mean they hide well; I don’t believe I encountered one soldier that was capable of recognizing what a head shot is. The E99-mutated enemies in the form of brown, aged zombie-like creatures or muscle bound, dual-headed, blue skinned zombies fare none too better. Their methods amount to running at you and maybe jumping up to a wall in a linear fashion, all the while getting rounds pumped into their supposedly grotesque bodies. The “pumping of rounds” is an apt description, since hitting the trigger multiple times results in multiple shots; in other words, when you have the shotgun equipped and hit the trigger twice before the first shot is fired, the second shot will fire on impulse. Speaking of which, I’ve not played a shooter in quite some time where the trigger button was so delayed.
Firearms include an Ak-47 rip-off called the Valkyrie, which was supposedly created with E99 technology, although I cannot figure out how this is implied. It shoots like a standard weapon, less the fact that its just no fun to shoot due to the delayed trigger reaction, the slow bullet speed, and the aforementioned spotty hit detection. A shotgun is available, but suffers from the poor trigger-reaction method. The sniper rifle seemed fun at first, including a temporal displacement action that slows time—but the fun of this makes way for ridiculousness when every headshot blasts the enemy skull to nothingness (as does a shoulder shot for whatever reason). One weapon that was quite fun was a weapon that fires rounds you can manipulate mid-flight, similar to the arrow shooting segments of Heavenly Sword. I also encountered what was called a Rail Gun, but aside from shooting slowly it didn’t do much other than a minor explosion that did little to enhance the FPS play.
The TMD has some highlights, but they all become very repetitive and seem to be employed more for finding story progressing chalkboards and fixing busted recorders and health pack/ammo crates. The mentioned time enhancing or reversion isn’t even done well, as it’s a simple click of the shoulder button to send something forward or back through time like a toggle. If it’s decayed it can be renewed—if it’s alive or functioning, it can be broken. More differentiation in the time progression/reversal would have been greatly welcome and could have made for a much better experience. Other tools involve stopping time within a generated orb (only useful for puzzles, and by puzzles I mean stopping fast moving fan blades—really, that’s all it works on, not even fast moving bosses), and a gravity enhancement only useful for stopping enemy grenades and launching them back at them. The problem with the gravity situation is that the enemies throw projectiles in a strange super arch that launches off the top of the screen, only to quickly fall down to your feet. I’m not saying it was hard, just not fun. To summarize, the TMD quickly devolves from a fun, seemingly useful tool to a trial and error type of puzzle-beater.
In terms of graphics, I’ve not seen anything so bland in quite some time. Severe problems with texture pop make me want to snap the disc in half, and it doesn’t even need to be a change in venue or scenery to cause it. Just standing in the same room allows for walls to lose all graphical quality, only to have what little quality there was to reappear. Enemies are awful too, as once killed and investigated there is little more than pixilated sprites conveying their (as mentioned) supposedly grotesque appearance. When a busted medical crate is fixed, suddenly it won’t open, but you can crouch and walk around until you happen to find the “sweet spot” where you can pick up the pack through said crate. Overall the graphics are just bland and poorly implemented, not nearly as enticing as they appeared on the preview videos and such. Also, I was hoping for some creative uses of the TMD, not just toggling old and new.
Overall, this is one lackluster performance, although had I known it was created by the same people that brought us uber-homosexual Dick Mercinko’s Rogue Warrior I surely would have stayed away. I can’t really recommend this to anyone, whether you’re a fan of shooters or science fiction, it’s just a let down. There are certainly more horrifyingly bad experiences to be had for sure, but there are certainly much better ones of each genre, and though I wasn’t super impressed with Time Shifters, having purchased it too late to be impressive, I think that has a lot better hold on each element. And here’s a quick note to the gaming industry in entirety: until Raven Software makes a good game, please stop paying these schmucks to make garbage. We have enough of it in our landfills as it is.
Graphics: bland and texturally displeasing. The supposedly horrifying monsters are so poorly designed that they look as though they belong in a late 90s Playstation game.
Controls: they work, I suppose, but the FPS isn’t that tight, leading to some very plain shooter segments. Even the couple weapons I liked couldn’t save this disaster.
Story: Pretty good really. The core of the story as detailed above is the stuff that legends are made of, but shows us that a great story alone isn’t enough to make a game good.
Multiple Play: had the TMD functionality been more diverse, they game could have been seen through multiple eyes each playthrough. As it is, it’s just tough to digest it once.
Total: 68, D+
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