Time manipulation in video games is usually best experienced the same way it is in the mind-contorting TV series ‘Lost’: don’t try to think too hard about the technical details, suspend disbelief, and simply enjoy it for what it is.

Coincidentally, this is exactly what must’ve gone through the minds of the devs at Raven Software during the creation of their latest FPS, Singularity. While the plot and setting are both routine and cliché, and the technical side feels, somewhat ironically, like it belongs in a previous-generation game, Singularity still emerges victorious as a fairly solid shooter that makes for a surprisingly good… uh… time.

The back story is your traditionally tired time-travel fare: the military man protagonist, Renko, crash-lands on an island with an abandoned Russian research facility where scientists did scientist-y things with a newly discovered element, inadvertently turning soldiers into angry mutants and generally buggering up the very fabric of time.

Apart from the well-worn plot, Singularity also borrows heavily from other genre heavyweights, most notably Bioshock: in fact, the first section of the game, down to the retro instructional videos, audio logs and overall derelict ambience, is practically Rapture without all the water.

There are a couple of things however that lend merit to what could’ve been an awfully stale title, most notably the Time Manipulation Device (TMD). This doohicky allows Renko to move between the past (1955, when all the scientist-y tomfoolery went down) and the present, age enemies to dust or evolve them into mutants, blast baddies with shockwaves, and even disassemble/reassemble items of (select) scenery at will. Sadly most of these events are either superfluous or linear, which is disappointing considering the huge potential the storyline could’ve had.

Oddly enough though, despite looking like another Wolfenstein rehash on the surface, Singularity bundles all of its mediocre elements into a surprisingly solid shooter overall. Renko’s standard-issue arsenal of a shotgun, machinegun, pistol and sniper rifle are bland on their own, but varied environments and some tight corridor gunplay make the core ass-kicking mechanics remarkably fun.

The whole thing actually feels quite retro overall, a glimpse back to a time (groan) when FPS games were all about angrily shooting the crap out of everything that moves, and runnin’ and gunnin’ like a real loose-cannon soldier should. Even the time manipulation powers start to feel more useful when combined with blasting stuff; think freezing a soldier before unloading right between his beady Commie eyes, or turning one guy into a mutant so he turns on his friends while you fight.

This throwback vibe ties in well with the somewhat dated graphics too, which despite looking pretty tired on the flagging Unreal 3 engine are really quite well art directed and styled: some levels are very impressive, like a huge ocean liner dissolving back in time as you battle your way through it, and it’s moments like these that lift the game out of the trap of banality that it very nearly fell into.

Oh, and the Seeker weapon deserves its own paragraph and place on the list of ‘Things in Singularity that Don’t Suck’. This sniper-esque weapon slows down time and lets you guide the bullet around, pinpointing specific points on enemies’ bodies and blowing off limbs at will. This gets especially cool when you have to steer the round through the tiny Perspex window in a soldier’s riot shield, or blowing a dude’s head off even as he cowers behind a barrier.

Overall, Singularity pleasantly surprised me as a game which, on paper, should’ve completely tanked, but I found myself looking forward to playing it even though better judgement and experience said I shouldn’t. It certainly won’t change your life or make Uncharted 2 or God of War III fear their positions at the top of the charts, but Singularity still qualifies as a satisfyingly robust shooter that’s definitely worthy of your time.