Singularity

Preview - Not a Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy

BioShock was a very good game, and it was also an important title in that it proved serious plots and a more cerebral approach to action could still be a hit on consoles that were previously all about frenetic, mindless action. Raven were clearly watching, and so we come to Singularity.

Set in the 1950s and the present, Singularity is a time traveling sci-fi shooter which includes a few BioShock-esque game mechanics; a left-hand wrist-mounted contraption allowing you to control the age of objects, while you harbour a range of more traditional guns in your right-hand.

The game is set on a mysterious island, a relic of Cold War experimentation, and you play the role of a US air force pilot sent to investigate. However, your plane crashes during a seemingly routine fly-by, and you awake to find yourself stuck on this bizarre outcrop, where Soviet scientists once meddled with time... a strange device newly attached to your arm.

As we're guided through the game, the first thing that is immediately apparent is the thick atmosphere, which looks to create the sense of wonder and tension that came as you explored BioShock's Rapture. There's also a mysterious voice guiding you from afar, just like you know what, and as you explore it becomes apparent that this is no ordinary abandoned military installation, but altogether something eerier. Dark and dangerous experiments have been underway, meddling in time and 'singularities', and the world around you slowly begins to flicker between the 50s and the present.

Your wrist device (the TMD) gives you superhuman powers such as telekinesis and time-control, enabling you to age humans and objects, and this has gameplay applications as we're shown during the playtest. During one segment our tough hero ages a wall to re-build a staircase, while in another he moves a wall forward in time to a point where it has collapsed in order to pass through. You'll also be able to age foes in the heat of combat, although your enemies will also flick in and out of your 'time', leaping between now and the 50s to trick you during battles.

Raven believe that their use of time in Singularity will be fairly unique, and they promise to blend this theme with intense combat, a conspiracy-laden plot and epic sci-fi environs. The Cold War feeling should also help build an interesting atmosphere, the game apparently the brainchild of one of Raven's co-founders who was a child during the paranoia of the 1950s. That sense of mystery promises to be pervasive in the game; our hero facing the prospect of the world ending in 2010 unless a Soviet experiment can be brought under control.

The intriguing 'Element 99' is at the heart of this, the player having to rebuild the world and piece together the story - as time flicks wildly out of control. The TMD is of course key to progress, allowing you to age-revert and age 'ageable' objects, and we're even wondering if some of the game's puzzles will include hints of Braid in there.

Visually, Raven have tried very hard to create a setting that will also help tell a compelling yarn, and the tape recorders left by scientists once again take their cues from BioShock; further fleshing out the mystery for interested players. The sense of crumbling decadence is palpable too, while the developer have clearly worked overtime on some of the settings which are detailed and occasionally enthralling.

Beyond the cunning use of the TMD, Singularity will also further unsettle the player with a few horror elements; visions of the past, monsters, ghosts, the unstable island repeatedly presenting the player with 'jumps' to other times, complete with scripted in-game sequences. The use of flashbacks should help keep things fresh and surprising, while as your powers grow you'll be able to 'pull' items into your world from other times, the 'Null Zone', enabling you to bridge gaps with girders and the like as you attempt to progress through the game world.

Visually, Raven's opus seems to be at its most impressive when you stumble across so-called age events, the world around you changing its age as you move, and beyond supernatural foes there will also be standard fire-fights to contend with as you're pursued by soldiers across the island. The TMD will also help you battle these forces, as you age and revert whole chunks of the facility to fight your pursuers.

Eventually, as you learn more about this bizarre island and become more accomplished with the TMD, you'll start impacting increasingly large objects. During one section we're shown, our radio-based guide tells us to revert an entire building, and we use the electricity of a giant power ball to achieve this feat.

Singularity is certainly looking interesting, the atmosphere and use of plot in particular catching the eye; even if its inspiration is hardly subtle. Still, we're concerned over the implementation of the 'time' gameplay mechanic, and await hands-on time to test all this out properly.

Singularity is developed by Raven and published by Activision, the game will be out on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year.