Info about Consortium: THE TOWER: Official game description: Inspired by both the original CONSORTIUM and old-school sci-fi first-person shooters, Consortium: The Tower is a role-playing experience with an unparalleled degree of player freedom.​ GAME DESCRIPTION ---------------- We here at iDGi have invented a satellite capable of opening a rift through time and space. Travel with us through this rift to the year 2042, and take first-person control of Consortium agent Bishop Six on his first official mission. The result is a highly unique, fourth-wall shattering role-playing experience where you essentially play YOURSELF in full control of another human being. While the game presents you with a seemingly straightforward mission to rescue hostages, you have complete freedom to approach all situations as you see fit. Decisions are remembered, and can drastically change the outcome of the story. Follow the Consortium mandate and work with your team to accomplish their goals, choose to work directly against them, even fully joining the other side, or skirt the line and play both sides for as long as you can. Both sides have their own truths, and it’s your job to sort them out and decide for yourself who to believe and why. In the middle are a host of characters from all sides of the conflict, each complete with hundreds of lines of dialogue, as well as interconnected backstories and motivations. We aim for Consortium: The Tower to become the ultimate sci-fi action immersive simulation. Absolutely everything in this game has a narrative or world-building explanation behind it, including all of the game mechanics. In other words our goal from the very beginning was to ensure there are no “gamey” elements, allowing for maximum immersion. (The 3D automap, revealing all of Act 1) BACK STORY ---------- London, England, December 21st 2042. Terrorists have seized control of the Churchill Tower Power Facility, located in the center of the 1.5 km high Churchill Tower, and taken all of its civilian employees hostage. The global para-military police agency, The Consortium are being brought in to subdue the terrorists and rescue the hostages, and YOU are the principal agent in charge of the mission. In the weeks prior to this incident industrial nanites, the primary workforce behind the construction of vast sections of The Churchill Tower, have mysteriously gone haywire. The building’s construction was ground to a halt just days before your arrival. Vast sections of the Tower are unfinished and reshaped, making navigating to where the hostages are a serious challenge. Due to the unusual nature of the situation, this highly connected society of 2042 quickly become enamoured by your actions. Within hours billions are glued to their VR-decks, hanging off every move you make. Watch as news reports alter based on your actions, and an ever present “public opinion meter” determines your overall standing in their eyes. Besides the specific story unfolding on the tower, the Consortium Universe is extremely vast, encompassing over ten years of development and worldbuilding. Every nook and cranny of every character and event has been meticulously planned, and allows for a completely optional rabbit hole to delve into for those looking to get lost in an alternate future from our own. KEY FEATURES ------------ * Play this game entirely on its own or import your universe from CONSORTIUM and continue your story seamlessly! Playing the first game is NOT required to fully understand the narrative. * Imported games include alternate dialogue and situations stemming from your choices in CONSORTIUM. * New Players unfamiliar with CONSORTIUM will also be given unique dialogue and situations based on having NOT played the first game! * Explore hundreds of pages of optional backstory and lore through an in-game Information Console (our version of a codex) * A semi-realtime element allows for events to trigger based on playtime, and for world events outside of The Tower to pop periodically. Keep an eye out on these events, and piece together an interconnected narrative that spans well past the confines of The Tower. **SURVIVE!** ------------ * The Churchill Tower is a highly dangerous environment, with extreme temperatures, security turrets, potentially hostile soldiers, great heights, deadly air vents and more making simple survival a real challenge. * Utilize a classic drag and drop RPG inventory system and manage a wide variety of gear and ammunition that turns you into the world’s ultimate super soldier - a Consortium Bishop. Make deals with combatant squad leaders for better gear, or take them down and loot their bodies. * All of your technology requires Utility Energy to function. Get more Utility Energy by “recycling” dozens of everyday objects scattered throughout the world. Even garbage and litter can yield you vital Utility Energy! If it’s a loose object in the world, it can be recycled. * Find and unlock the Engineering System and gain the ability to upgrade all of your gear to suit your playing style. More than 50 currently available upgrades, with more to come. **TALK!** --------- * Choose to talk your way through most of the story, and never even raise your weapon. * Every single NPC found in Consortium: The Tower, including all of the “bad guys,” are there for a narrative reason. You have the choice to try and strike up a conversation with everyone you can find using our realistic, and heavily upgraded waterfall dialog system. * All combatant squad leaders include full backstories along with believable motivations for their actions, and a path toward alliance. You can also speak to the members of the various squads… some may not want to speak with you, but many will and may offer up useful information for your mission. * Non-linear storytelling. Most of the narrative moments can be triggered in any order, and the game will remember what you've done previously and customize your encounters to account for what you've actually done so far in the story. This seamlessly allows for a ridiculous level of replayability. * As of Early Access Alpha 1.0, there is already over 2,500 lines of fully voiced interactive dialog to discover. Our characters are portrayed by top notch voice talent, including Mark Meer (Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect trilogy) as “The Voice”. * Dialog choices truly matter and can cause major changes to occur. Be aware of who you’re talking to, learn their particular biases, and always be careful what you choose to say, or not say! * Forge friendships with individuals and alliances with various factions and decide for yourself who is to be trusted. There is no “right and wrong,” only differing perspectives. * Manage incoming messages and conversation requests from your colleagues and advisors (Consortium or otherwise!) with your Conversation Manager. **FIGHT!** ---------- * Choose to pit yourself against AI driven mercenaries and soldiers that will flank you, take cover and have a genuine sense of self-preservation - they will surrender to you if they are clearly losing. They can also fall unconscious, but be sure to inject them with incapacitating nanites or they will eventually wake up and re-join the fight! * Battle against a variety of deadly security turrets that are challenging to destroy * Utilize SIX different weapons and a total of TEN different fire-modes with differing tactical value. Your equipment will take damage from incoming fire, so you’ll have to deploy repair nanites to keep your gear in working order. * Multiple lethal and non-lethal solutions to resolving combat. If you want to avoid being kicked from the Consortium, you’ll need to try for non-lethal solutions when you can. * Learn to switch between the Freefall Suit and Battle Utility Suit, and understand the pros and cons to each. * Deep and realistic player damage system. Manage shields and armor to avoid taking any damage. If you let your defenses down you may start bleeding out or incur serious organ damage, meaning you’ll have to deploy expensive medical nanites to stay alive. **EXPLORE!** ------------ * You have complete freedom to explore the completely non-linear and interconnected sections of the Churchill Tower as you see fit. Early Access Alpha 1.0 includes roughly half of the finished gameworld at a minimum, with plenty of space to expand the scope of the environment in the future: * the roof with currently 6 different ways into the Tower interior you can find. * a massive park entombed by construction nanites and transparent titanium * multiple vent mazes and elevator shafts * multiple floors of the hotel * large mysterious water filled pipes and multiple industrial areas * the spacious and open Hotel Lobby * No movement restrictions and no invisible walls! Use your freefall suit to FLY anywhere you can see as long as you have enough utility energy. * Seamless first-person parkour. Super jump and ledge grab your way into dozens of hidden areas and secret ways into and around the building. * Use a fully 3D automap to keep track of where you are in the Tower. **SNEAK!** ---------- * The more AI sees you, the more agitated they get which in turn increases their chance of engaging in combat with you. If you wish to avoid gunfights, you will need to manage how much the AI sees and hears you. * Use the engineering system to upgrade your gear’s acoustics and become a truly silent prowler! * Use the Tactical View to see potential combatants and recyclables through solid surfaces and plan your approaches. * Sneak up behind combatants and use your Taser to take them down without drawing the attention of their squadmates. * Find and use the Stealth Shield node to make yourself completely invisible to pass in front of turrets and enemies with ease. Beware that you will still make sound, which can be mitigated through engineering upgrades! * When sneaking around potential combatants, listen in on their conversations to learn more about the world and situation you find yourself in. Release date: 21 Sep, 2017 Categories: First-Person Shooter, RPG, Choice-based Narrative, Exploration, Stealth Gameplay, Resource Management, Equipment Customization, Tactical Combat - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Meaningful choices; high replayability (weight 0.75): The game emphasizes player choice, branching narratives, and high replayability. Decisions have real consequences, and players cannot experience everything in a single playthrough due to the immense number of storylines. - Improved sequel; unique experience (weight 0.61): The game is considered a significant improvement over its predecessor and a unique, underrated gem. Importing saves from the first game enhances the experience, and the story is engaging. - Unique dialogue; fourth-wall breaks (weight 0.21): The game features unique conversation mechanics, branching dialogues, and the ability to role-play as oneself, breaking the fourth wall. The player's choices in these conversations have consequences. - Gameplay-focused; tower setting (weight 0.2): The game focuses on gameplay within a large tower setting, while still maintaining a strong story. It's been compared to Deus Ex in a single, expansive location. - Well-done voice acting (weight 0.16): The game features well-done voice acting, with returning voice actors delivering good performances. This contributes to the overall immersion and quality of the game. - Non-lethal takedowns rewarded (weight 0.07): The game rewards non-lethal takedowns of enemies, earning the player favor with the Consortium. This encourages strategic and less violent gameplay. - Intensely detailed world (weight 0.07): The game features an intensely detailed world that requires paying close attention to the environment. This encourages exploration and immersion. - Improving polish and quality (weight 0.07): The game is consistently improving in terms of polish and quality with each release. This indicates ongoing development and refinement. - Engine updated to Unreal 4 (weight 0.06): The game engine was updated from Source to Unreal Engine 4. This likely resulted in improved graphics and performance. Common complaints: - Abandoned, unpolished, and unfinished (weight 0.95): The game suffers from a lack of updates, with some reviewers noting no changes in years, leading to a feeling of abandonment and an unfinished state. This stagnation, combined with the game's Early Access status, raises concerns about its future development and overall quality. Many reviews mention the game is abandonware. - Significant bugs and poor controls (weight 0.93): Reviewers consistently report numerous bugs, poor controls, and broken gameplay mechanics that severely hinder the player experience. The game's alpha state is often cited as a contributing factor to these issues, with some reviewers encountering game-breaking bugs and aimbot-like AI. - Empty world, confusing design (weight 0.55): The game world feels empty and unfinished, lacking engaging content, environmental storytelling, and sufficient dialogue. The level design is confusing and cramped, making navigation difficult and contributing to a sense of disorientation. - Poor combat and stealth mechanics (weight 0.32): The combat system is criticized for its difficulty, poor AI, and unreliable stealth mechanics. Enemies exhibit unrealistic accuracy, and stealth attempts are often unsuccessful, leading to frustration and a lack of viable gameplay options. - Inconsistent narrative and dialogue (weight 0.23): The game's narrative and gameplay integration are inconsistent, with aggressive playstyles leading to expulsion from the Consortium. Dialogue with guards is often nonsensical, and their reactions to the player's actions are unpredictable, creating a disjointed experience. - Restrictive and frustrating save system (weight 0.22): The restrictive save system, limited to specific locations and a single save per universe, is a major source of frustration. This limitation can lead to significant progress loss and discourages experimentation, clashing with the immersive sim genre's expectations. - Missing and broken voice acting (weight 0.16): Missing or incomplete voice acting and broken dialogue are frequently mentioned, detracting from the game's presentation and immersion. The use of robotic voices to replace missing lines further exacerbates the issue. - Lacking direction and guidance (weight 0.11): Players often feel lost and lack clear direction, struggling to understand objectives and navigate the game world. This confusion can lead to extended periods of aimless wandering and a negative initial experience. - Lacking balance and tutorials (weight 0.07): The game suffers from a lack of proper balancing and tutorial guidance, leaving players without sufficient information or support. This deficiency can lead to frustration and a steep learning curve. - Scarce energy, tedious scavenging (weight 0.06): Energy, a crucial resource for suit functions, is scarce, forcing players to constantly scavenge for recyclable materials. This resource scarcity can become tedious and detract from the overall gameplay experience. - Uninformative item descriptions (weight 0.06): Item and weapon descriptions consist solely of flavor text, making it impossible to effectively compare items and make informed decisions. This lack of practical information hinders player progression and strategic planning. Gameplay feedback: - Expanded world, choice, and freedom (weight 0.47): The game expands upon the original with a larger world, more player freedom, and branching narrative choices that affect gameplay and relationships. Players can expect more action, stealth, and interactivity within the expanded environment. - Energy management is crucial (weight 0.22): Resource management is crucial, as actions consume energy that must be replenished by recycling items. Players must manage their energy for healing, repairs, and suit functions, adding a survival element to gameplay. - Gear, upgrades, and suit variety (weight 0.17): The game features a gear and upgrade system, with a sufficient arsenal of weapons, equipment, and gadgets. Different suits provide unique abilities, such as flying or X-ray vision, adding tactical options. - Quality-of-life improvements added (weight 0.16): Several quality-of-life improvements enhance the player experience, including the ability to speed up time, pause conversations, transfer saves from the previous game, and a map that reveals itself as the player explores. - Interesting game setting (weight 0.05): The setting is described as big and interesting, but lacks specific details. This point is too vague to be highly important. Performance notes: - Improved graphics and scenery (weight 0.07): The game's graphics have been upgraded, with the scenery looking notably better. This indicates a positive visual improvement in the game's presentation. - Uses Source engine (weight 0.05): The game Consortium 1 utilizes the Source engine. This is a factual statement about the game's technical foundation but doesn't offer much evaluative feedback. Recommendations: - Recommended for immersive sim fans (weight 0.28): The game is recommended for players who enjoy immersive sims, deep stories, meaningful choices, and unique world-building. It is seen as a departure from mainstream AAA games, offering a single-player experience with extensive lore and real decision-making opportunities. - Recommended for Consortium fans (weight 0.11): The game is specifically recommended for players who enjoyed the previous Consortium game. It expands upon the original's concepts on a much larger scale. - Support innovative gameplay (weight 0.11): Reviewers suggest supporting the developers to encourage gameplay innovation over prioritizing graphics. The game is also recommended for old-school gamers. - Improve exploration with save history (weight 0.07): Exploration is hindered by the fear of bugs and easy deaths. Reviewers suggest implementing a save history and persistent map to encourage risk-taking. - Plane version is more polished (weight 0.07): The plane version of the game is considered more finished and well-rounded compared to other versions. This suggests inconsistencies in the quality across different platforms or versions of the game. Other player notes: - Early access, incomplete content (weight 0.27): The game is in early access with only the first of three acts currently available. Some reviews mention inconsistent update frequency, while others praise constant updates, indicating a potentially unstable development process. - Sequel set in futuristic tower (weight 0.25): The game is a direct sequel to Consortium, set in a futuristic universe where players control an operative in a peacekeeping organization on a high-tech aircraft. The game begins immediately after the events of the first game, with the player entering a chaotic tower to face terrorists. - Immersive sim, complex narrative (weight 0.21): The game employs 'Immersive Sim' elements and breaks the fourth wall, featuring multiple layers of storytelling and interwoven timelines. Despite breaking the fourth wall, the game takes itself seriously. - 'Die Hard meets Deus Ex' (weight 0.07): The game's concept is described as 'Die Hard meets Deus Ex'. This suggests a combination of action-oriented gameplay with immersive sim elements. - Significant hidden content (weight 0.06): The game has a lot of content that players may not have seen yet, even in the available version. This suggests a high level of replayability or hidden content. Emotions: No emotions}