“WOW! This game is beautiful.” That was pretty much the first thought that came to mind when starting up Singularity 5 and loading that initial tutorial tower; one of the five levels you’ll need to complete as you explore a futuristic 2050 Paris in this slick and stylish wave-based shooter. The game is pretty intuitive to play and nearly impossible to win. Thankfully they added an Easy difficulty a few weeks ago for slugs like me with 50-year old reflexes, so I was at least able to complete the game. Normal difficulty was kicking my ass just mere minutes into the second stage.
So the general premise is that you are slaughtering wave after wave of robots called Artificials, which actually look like evolved sentry bots from Portal. There are five types of Artificials, each with their own tactics and weapons. Some fly, some run, some roll, and some just appear in your face if you turn your back for a second. You start off with pistols and grenade launchers that you can dual wield in any combination. Pistols have more ammo but do less damage while one or two grenades can destroy a bot but there is a lengthy reload cycle. Your arsenal evolves along with the challenge the more you play.
Singularity 5 has a distinctive look from the weapon design that favors black, white, and gold textures to the epic futuristic environments and crazy sky boxes. There is so much white and gold – this could have been heaven if it weren’t for all the killer robots out to get you. The special effects are insane and there is so much going on that I usually died from sheer confusion. You have robots that will blind you with these black shards you have to swipe away and there is non-stop grenades floating toward you that you must either shoot or knock away. And then you have wave after wave of robots flying toward you, rolling at you, or just getting all up in your face. You play from a fixed firing point and the game will advance your location, or you might find yourself on a hoverbike slowly moving through the level like a rail shooter. Thankfully, the gameplay is focused into a 180-degree field of combat so you don’t have to worry about sneak attacks from behind.
This is definitely an arcade-style game that is over quickly and then you repeat to boost your combos and scores. Thankfully the game is only $10, which is more than fair for a 5-chapter game, especially when one of those is the tutorial. Some might say the stunning visuals and epic soundtrack are worth that alone, and with the surprisingly challenging difficulty you won’t be mastering Singularity 5 anytime soon.
While this game is available on Steam and can be played using either Rift or Vive, our review copy was from the Oculus Store, so I can only speak to the quality of the Rift version. The Touch controls were excellent with a fantastic feel and accuracy to the guns. I loved the targeting sights on the pistols even if I never had the time to use them to line up my shots, but the fire-from-the-hip accuracy was spot on. You actually get a pretty good workout swiping your hands around to knock back grenades or smash those pesky shards.
The technical quality is fantastic with consistent 90fps rendering and surprisingly detailed visuals with lighting and reflections and plenty of visual effects. Since you are playing from a fixed (or slow moving) position there is virtually no chance of motion sickness. This is definitely a visual showcase title for the Oculus Rift. My only big complaint was that the recalibration function built into the Rift did not work with this game, so on the level with the hoverbike I was floating off to the right side of the bike, which made it hard to target and shoot anything on the left or coming at the bike head-on. I had to physically stand up and move about two feet to the left to make my real-life body line-up with the in-game visuals. Hopefully a future patch will enable recalibration – it’s pretty much a must for any VR game.
I’m not the biggest fan of wave-based shooters, but Singularity 5 goes to show that a stunning presentation and immersive VR with quality shooting controls can convert even a cynic like myself. I would love to see this tech and design aesthetic get used in a story-driven FPS game. Monochrome Paris has crafted a unique world, and I would love to see more of it. Meanwhile, I’ll be working on my shooting and swiping skills so that maybe one day I can complete this game on Normal difficulty.
