14 DAY TRIAL // 
Interdimensional Games is a small independent developer that came up with some great ideas for its game Consortium, a single-player narrative-driven adventure taking place aboard a hi-tech airplane, set in the near future.
The game plays like a sort of story-heavy first-person role-playing shooter affair, a perspective that is always welcome in such titles, especially when the gameplay is reminiscent of the old glory days of adventure games.
In fact, all the time while playing Consortium I thought to myself that this must be what a decent Star Trek game feels like, what with all the talking and using guile and negotiation before resolving to force.
Story
Consortium is meant to be the first in a series of games that will explore the story uncovered within a parallel dimension, in the year 2028.
After a mad genius develops an AI meant to solve Earth's problems, and as such it starts leading a sort of future-UN peacekeeping organization, the Consortium, people eventually start freaking out that the AI's true purpose is to enslave mankind.
Of course, factions opposing the AI's efforts sprout, among which the religious nuts and the corrupt military dictators are the most prominent. Only it's not as black and white as that, as evidence gathered supports either claims, and the choice is the player's to make.
As fortune has it, people from our world can connect with the parallel world through a satellite, taking control of certain key characters, such as the one-man army Bishop Six, present aboard a hi-tech flying craft tasked with a sensitive mission.
The whole story takes place in a very short time, entirely aboard Consortium Command Vessel C-3800-D Zenlil, equipped with a crew of seventeen able men and women, where players have to find out the true nature of the characters and events that unfold.
Gameplay
Right off the bat, you can tell that the whole experience is meant to give the impression of going through an interactive novel, as the developers themselves confess to being obsessed with story-telling, a detail which is readily apparent when visiting their website.
There's a whole truckload of text to go through, and ample role-playing options, from confessing your true nature to being obnoxious, a goody two-shoes or simply remain quiet, which is a splendid idea and great for when you don't like either of the choices presented to you.
There is also a terminal that you can use to browse some news items and quickly get up to speed with what's going on, a very nice touch.
The characters seem pretty lively and their conversations are genuine, they go about the ship minding their own business and appear as credible beings that exist in a real universe, rather than pieces of cardboard with some plot-progressing text scribbled on.
You are also afforded great freedom, you can do or ignore what people tell you and even aggravate them if you so choose; if there's a critical situation to be addressed and you can't be bothered, someone else will step in and eventually do it, instead of the entire world freezing and waiting for your input.
It is a very refreshing experience indeed, as you can just get distracted during an important conversation and go in the next room to look at something shiny, and the limited time window that in-game characters afford you for feedback will expire, causing the game to go on without you.
The dialogues are very solid, and you'll find none of the cheesy one-liners that characters who immensely enjoy chewing gum and kicking ass deliver once they find themselves lacking the masticable half of their personality.
Even the obnoxious ones speak like normal people or ignore you, which is kind of the only bad thing, as you can't start punching someone in the face for not talking to you or not giving you the answers you are looking for.
Fortunately, the developers have had the decency to address this through an ingenious if rather convenient mechanic, related to how the whole plot is set into motion, through a neural link that gets out of sync when you start straying from the allowed and/or projected interactions.
As you go around the ship minding your business, which usually means pestering the NPCs, you will notice that your choice in dialogue will either increase or decrease your alignment with individual characters aboard the Zenlil, leading to them having different reactions to your presence in the future.
There is great replay potential, as your choices can have very different consequences, and exploring the ship a second time around will allow you to find many of the things you missed on your first try, and maybe even figure out what actually happened.
The unfortunate part is that the action, at least the parts that require shooting, are not up to par with the rest. Thankfully, the bane of precision known as mouse acceleration can be disabled, but aiming still seems like something you're not really supposed to do, not to mention that enemy AI is set to 'target practice.'
You can circumvent shooting altogether, but it's still disappointing when it happens. There's something about the way the player avatar moves, combined with the fact that you can't aim or take cover, that hints to the fact that the game is not really intended to be a shooter and the whole mechanic was just tacked on, with fighting coming off as artificial.
A great idea though was the inventory management screen, which slows time down to 20 percent of normal speed. Beside the funny-sounding character voices around you, you get to equip or repair a couple of systems, while at the same time not completely disconnecting from the action around you.
There is also some sort of wonky space combat, but let's focus on the game's attitude toward foreign militia groups as minor inconveniences that you should try to ignore for the most part, instead of focusing on getting as much blood on your hands as possible while getting a pat on the back.
Sound and visuals
The game's dialogue is entirely voice acted, and the actors have done a very good job at convincingly portraying the in-game characters, with their multinational background and different personalities fleshed out rather marvelously.
Some weapon and ambient sounds seem a bit off from time to time, but the overall experience is so immersive that you won't even pay attention to what's going on around you, it's all going to feel natural, including the subtle music that shifts depending on the how tense the current situation is and does a good job of adding to the atmosphere.
The visuals are mostly ok, not good compared to first-person shooter industry standards but not bad either, just dated; they look a little cartoonish and sometimes glitch, but considering they are a bit reminiscent of old sci-fi movies, they get a pass. The game is not so much about the visual experience anyway.
Consortium is a really immersive role-playing experience that plays like an adventure game set in the early days of the Star Trek universe. It is similar to what a modern incarnation of the classic point-and-click adventures of old should be like, complete with diplomacy and multiple choices with different consequences and end results.
The most disappointing thing about it is how short it is. You can easily go through it in around 3 to 4 hours, and while it is exciting and it ends in a well-executed cliffhanger, you're still left with the feeling that it's only an episode, and not an entire game.
Consortium is a valiant effort in the end, not a revolutionary force but a solid game experience from an unknown developer that shows a lot of potential, and offers a better written but watered down and much shorter Mass Effect style of encounter.
