---Finding games considered to be "Hidden Gems" is pretty daunting, as everyone has their own definitions and opinions on what gets this hallowed status. One game that has had a stronger sense of Hidden Gem has been Singularity here, which is often propped up by the Xbox 360 crowd. That isn't for no good reason. A - This is one of the last games developed by legendary FPS studio Raven Software, who up to this point has had a fantastic run of games even in the 2000s with the Wolfenstein reboot, Quake 4, X-Men Origins, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Everything they would do after Singularity would come to as little as a footnote credit in subsequent Call of Duty games.
---B - Many would see Singularity as a breath of fresh air amongst the late 2000s FPS landscape. It bares reminding that during this time FPS's had big bombastic set-pieces, with red tinted screens, limited arsenals, cover mechanics, shoe-horned campaigns that gave way to multiplayer instead, and more. By contrast, Singularity's health bars and mechanics are welcome relief from that. Heck, you get a minigun as a regular weapon in this game. Any other game during this time would relegate that to a gimmick item for one mission.
---Singularity also very much wears it's classic FPS influences on it's sleeves. You've got audio logs via Bioshock, Horrorcore via F.E.A.R., and even a Gravity-Gun esc glove via Half-Life 2. That last item you can use to also shoot balls that slow time, or force pushes to knock back enemies. In that sense, Singularity gives the player some nice options during firefights. It's also got upgrade points to the player and weapons, which fills a nice secrets quota, though these aren't as interesting to get as what you would find in a Serious Sam or Duke Nukem game.
---Singularity also starts strong with an intriguing story about Russian experiments camps messing with a strange element. However, once you reach the big twist at the end of the first leg of the game, things go from interesting to predictable in my opinion. It's also when the game's weak feeling gun weaponry starts to feel stale. For a majority of Singularity, there are these little nuggets where you think it might surprise you, but Raven Software never really fully capitalizes on these moments.
---It doesn't help that the game was made with Unreal Engine 3. While Unreal has a certain pedigree now, back then it's murky textures, cheap effects, and shiny bump-mapping was an eyesore, and it's only gotten worse with time. Raven Software alleviates this with some good environment design, but you have to look past Unreal 3's awful fidelity to admire the props. Everything else about Singularity is kind of forgettable. It's flow is fine, it's music is there, the voice-acting is ok, and the game throws in something new every once in awhile to keep things fresh. However, I think Singularity's "gen" status isn't very earned. There isn't much impressive here nowadays. In the future it will probably stay hidden. - [05/10]