Zero Punctuation: Singularity
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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Wow, six straight probations/suspensions. That's a new record.
And there's something about tossing a baby with a hand grenade at enemies that makes me want to get a shrink.
And there's something about tossing a baby with a hand grenade at enemies that makes me want to get a shrink.
Since we're talking about plot twists, I recently completed BioShock for the first time, and there was a plot twist in the game that was very notable for its absence:
So after the big reveal that Atlas is really Fontaine, and you've been his genetically-engineered droid the whole time, you go after him for Revenge(TM). Well, about halfway through that part of the game, I suspected I was being set up for another plot twist -- that the guy you putted to death in Ryan's office was not really Ryan.
Fontaine clearly offended Ryan's objectivist "sensibilities," and would have liked nothing more than to see him removed from his masterwork, but his efforts to do so up to that point had failed. Also, the idea that a guy who could design and build a metropolis at the bottom of the Atlantic would be stupid enough to think that force of personality and personal conviction alone would stop you from sand-wedging his skull, shall we say, strained credibility. It occurred to me that, since bioethics had basically been tossed out the window (figuratively speaking; opening the windows is a bad idea in Rapture), Ryan would create a genetic clone of himself for the express purpose of being killed by whatever agency Fontaine had crufted together. Fontaine, thinking himself victorious, would then emerge in the open, where Ryan could then re-emerge and they could have a proper showdown.
And this is what I thought I was being set up for -- that Ryan would pop out of a closet somewhere and say, "Thanks ever so much for bringing this guy in the open," and you'd be placed in the position of having to choose between killing Fontaine, Ryan, or both.
But it didn't happen. It was just a garden-variety boss battle, with a marginal cinematic at the end.
Fontaine clearly offended Ryan's objectivist "sensibilities," and would have liked nothing more than to see him removed from his masterwork, but his efforts to do so up to that point had failed. Also, the idea that a guy who could design and build a metropolis at the bottom of the Atlantic would be stupid enough to think that force of personality and personal conviction alone would stop you from sand-wedging his skull, shall we say, strained credibility. It occurred to me that, since bioethics had basically been tossed out the window (figuratively speaking; opening the windows is a bad idea in Rapture), Ryan would create a genetic clone of himself for the express purpose of being killed by whatever agency Fontaine had crufted together. Fontaine, thinking himself victorious, would then emerge in the open, where Ryan could then re-emerge and they could have a proper showdown.
And this is what I thought I was being set up for -- that Ryan would pop out of a closet somewhere and say, "Thanks ever so much for bringing this guy in the open," and you'd be placed in the position of having to choose between killing Fontaine, Ryan, or both.
But it didn't happen. It was just a garden-variety boss battle, with a marginal cinematic at the end.
Anyone have any idea what the refrence to Blackburn was about?
The only reason I was intrigued was because I am from Burnley there footballing rivals.
The only reason I was intrigued was because I am from Burnley there footballing rivals.
Wow, I must have some pretty decent clairvoyance myself, just the other day I was playing Singularity at work and thinking "I think Yahtzee will rip on this game in his next review. It has all of his favorite points to rip on. It's too easy, it has gimmicks, and it blatantly rips off at least 2 other good games, this sounds too perfect for him to just go into, state the obvious, point out the lack of making people into babies, reanimating the dead, the number of staircases and chalkboards that are all imbued with Mysterious element Egg (and why every soldier can be aged.. why are they all imbued with this element?!)
Despite all that, I'm really enjoying the game because it has proper pacing and storytelling. In the interest of keeping this short, I'll sum it all up.
Enemies: Good, varied, damned annoying.
Weapons: Varies from poor to amazing, but I like the selection.
Areas: Dark and creepy in the present, Bright and colorful in the past, whatever.
Story: Doesn't work in many ways, but that's just nitpicking.
Support Characters: Aren't babysitting missions waiting to happen. They take care of themselves! (mostly.)
Favorite point not mentioned: The first person view mini cut scenes, they were done very well.
Gameplay: Smooth, interesting, and not sure if it wants to be action or horror. The amount of crap on the ground is clearly pointing to action, but some of the enemies are trying so hard to be scary. The puzzles may get you at first, but after that they are all copy paste.
Sounds/Music: No complaints.
EDIT: If I could add anything into the game, I would add in the chance to get off the linear storyline path (in a Disgaea kind of way) and "finish" the game at chapter one because you chose not to help someone. And having alternate paths to follow if you allowed certain events in the past to happen. Plotholes are always going to abound when some "world domination time changing event" takes place, so why not just get crazy with it?
Despite all that, I'm really enjoying the game because it has proper pacing and storytelling. In the interest of keeping this short, I'll sum it all up.
Enemies: Good, varied, damned annoying.
Weapons: Varies from poor to amazing, but I like the selection.
Areas: Dark and creepy in the present, Bright and colorful in the past, whatever.
Story: Doesn't work in many ways, but that's just nitpicking.
Support Characters: Aren't babysitting missions waiting to happen. They take care of themselves! (mostly.)
Favorite point not mentioned: The first person view mini cut scenes, they were done very well.
Gameplay: Smooth, interesting, and not sure if it wants to be action or horror. The amount of crap on the ground is clearly pointing to action, but some of the enemies are trying so hard to be scary. The puzzles may get you at first, but after that they are all copy paste.
Sounds/Music: No complaints.
EDIT: If I could add anything into the game, I would add in the chance to get off the linear storyline path (in a Disgaea kind of way) and "finish" the game at chapter one because you chose not to help someone. And having alternate paths to follow if you allowed certain events in the past to happen. Plotholes are always going to abound when some "world domination time changing event" takes place, so why not just get crazy with it?
1) It was released in late June for Europe and North America.T8B95 said:
2) Reminding you or letting you know if you forgot or haven't seen certain Yahtzee reviews: games tend to be released later in Australia than in other bigger continents.
Although a rather short review compared to other ones,I enjoyed it.
I finished the game and liked it,even with it's similarities to Bioshock.
I finished the game and liked it,even with it's similarities to Bioshock.
You know, element 99 isn't some big mystery. It's called Einsteinium. It's a legit element on the periodic table. It's a synthetic metallic element that's highly radioactive. It's created by sticking Plutonium in a reactor for several years like cheese. Why did they pick that? If they wanted to be original and realistic, they should've chosen element 118 which, if created, would be the first man made completely stable element.
Isn't that the element which allows for UFOs to work properly and other such conspiracy theories?lordwally said:
Holy crap. I know that exact bear, scared me half to death the first time I saw it, and that bee rollercoaster, the most boring 40 seconds of my life!
Oh wait what? Singularity, oh yeah. Can people make a FPS that isn?t generic anymore? I?ve yet to see much evidence.
Oh wait what? Singularity, oh yeah. Can people make a FPS that isn?t generic anymore? I?ve yet to see much evidence.
Russian voice actors guild! yes! hahaha
I've been commenting all the time about how there are way too many games lately where you fight Russians. I thought the cold war era of paranoia was over?
In addition to the games you pictured, MW2 and BFBC2 both pit you against Russians in fictional realities.
Enough with the damn Russians already! At least in STALKER and Metro, the main character is Russian as well, so it doesn't feel as blatantly xenophobic (plus those games were developed by Ukranians).
Was that guy shooting down Buddy Holly with a rocket launcher? haha
I had high hopes for this game from the initial teasers, but now that I've seen several reviews, it seems like my hopes were misplaced
I've been commenting all the time about how there are way too many games lately where you fight Russians. I thought the cold war era of paranoia was over?
In addition to the games you pictured, MW2 and BFBC2 both pit you against Russians in fictional realities.
Enough with the damn Russians already! At least in STALKER and Metro, the main character is Russian as well, so it doesn't feel as blatantly xenophobic (plus those games were developed by Ukranians).
Was that guy shooting down Buddy Holly with a rocket launcher? haha
I had high hopes for this game from the initial teasers, but now that I've seen several reviews, it seems like my hopes were misplaced
Funny review, but I'm still getting this game. Turning people into dust sounds fun. I'll decide myself if it's better than Wolfenstein.
