Exploring the rift can often times be extremely dangerous. Of course by ‘The Rift’ I am talking about the never ending amount of virtual worlds we step into as gamers. Each game handles this rift differently but they toss you into the virtual world without any hints on how to solve the crisis. Consortium approaches the idea much differently. iDGi has managed to turn your gaming station into a portal to another dimension.
Most games will see you playing as a character. While this is true with Consortium, you are also playing yourself. You have traveled to another time, another dimension to play as Bishop 6. The Bishop acts as the protector of the entire crew. Bishop 6 is a commanding officer on a high tech Boeing influence jet called Zenlil, which has a mind of its own. The moment you arrive in this alternate universe it seems like the ship knows you do not belong, there is even a couple of moments when it seems the ship is trying to kill you and everyone else aboard. There are a couple of times when you can tell characters that they are video game people and not real. I had a lot of fun with that. The crew also has to deal with Angelov, the leader of a group called the ‘Homeless Mercenaries’. Which you can make fun of every chance you get. All this tied in with a murder and the jet quickly becomes a death trap. As Bishop 6 your job is to basically save this entire vessel which acts autonomously as its own character.
This Sci-Fi RPG with first-person shooter attributes does not boast any truly new gaming mechanics but the interactions with the NPC’s is incredible. Most of the players time aboard Zenlil will be dealing with other characters. The interactive menu that enables the heart of the conversations leaves the player with many options. These options of course dictate what happens in the game. If you say something wrong, someone will stop liking you. Nothing we have not heard of before, but for some reason these characters are really well thought out. The voice acting is not too bad either.
Consortium by itself is not that long. In fact only about 3-4 hours of gameplay. What makes it special is amount of replay value. I managed to change the outcome of the game about six different ways, even by going as far as saving a character’s life. If you are looking for a game that can tell a great story, look no further. With pretty good first-person action and a whole ton of options this game can quickly grab the attentions of many fans.
Now the Bad. At the release iDGi did not really seem to care how buggy this game was. I am saying ‘was’ because yesterdays patch (1/18) really fixed a lot of stuff, I mean REALLY. It was a crashing buggy mess. With that said I do still recommend this game. Its a fun light hearted view of what our future may or may not look like if it was inspired by Star Trek or Mass Effect. (I mean come on, your name is Bishop).