Back to the Future Meets Fallout In This Stunning New RPG

While the future of Fallout has finally begun to appear a tad more positive with confirmation that numerous projects are in the works, it has yet to arrive, leaving fans eager for something new in the lurch. Fortunately, while small in number, there are a few RPGs that adopt a similar style, liberally borrow gameplay mechanics, or share the same bleak, post-apocalyptic setting that fans can entertain themselves with as they await the arrival of Fallout 5 or whatever it is that Obsidian Entertainment is cooking up.

Among the handful of games like Fallout stands a new contender, one that shares all of its best elements while adding in a fun new layer inspired by Back to the Future. This time-travel RPG has all the ingredients that made Fallout such a smash-hit, and, undoubtedly, hopes to share in such meteoric success. Fortunately, as it has a strong developer creating it and a major publisher backing it, there’s every chance that this RPG that’s Back to the Future meets Fallout could finally be the spiritual successor to Bethesda’s legendary series we’ve all been waiting for.

This Time-Travel RPG Is Perfect For Fallout Fans

Clockwork Revolution character in steampunk armor shooting a flamethrower.

Fallout’s retrofuture aesthetic has always given it a time-travel-esque sheen, but the series has never pushed that angle. Fortunately, for those who felt that the Fallout franchise needed a little bit of Back to the Future energy, the upcoming Xbox exclusive, Clockwork Revolution, is the perfect solution. Blending the first-person, immersive, sandbox, choice-driven gameplay of Fallout with Back to the Future’s past-altering shenanigans, Clockwork Revolution looks set to be a mind-bending RPG with incredible production values and a killer core hook.

In Clockwork Revolution, you bounce between the past and present in an attempt to right the wrongs caused by Lady Ironwood, the despot ruler of the game’s setting, the steampunk city of Avalon. Your actions in the past will have massive consequences in the future, according to the game’s Steam store page description, including altering character interactions, the various storefronts dotted around the city, and the city as a whole.

“Your decisions in the past echo through time, reshaping Avalon in unexpected ways. From character interactions to storefronts to the city itself, your choices–big and small–won’t just change the world, they’ll rewrite it.”

Of course, when you’re not engaging in the game’s central narrative, making difficult choices and impacting the present, you’ll be blasting the elite ruling class with an assortment of weapons and abilities in action-packed, Fallout-esque, first-person combat. It all looks like a lot of fun, which isn’t terribly surprising considering it is developed by RPG experts, inXile Entertainment (best known for its Wasteland series), and published by Xbox Game Studios.

Clockwork Revolution Could Be The Game Xbox Needs

Clockwork Revolution is one of the few games that Xbox has confirmed will be an Xbox Series X/S exclusive. While it is also coming to PC, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 users shouldn’t expect it to grace their respective consoles in the same way the likes of Halo: Campaign Evolved and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 have. Consequently, a lot is riding on Clockwork Revolution to succeed, as Xbox is almost using it as a test to see if there is enough interest in Xbox’s hardware ecosystem to justify pushing for more exclusives in the future.

Of course, Clockwork Revolution is a much smaller title than those aforementioned Xbox-published titles, so it feels a tad unfair to put so much pressure on it. However, it seems likely that Xbox is banking on the favorable comparisons to the likes of Fallout and Bioshock, as well as its ability to fill the gap between its release date and the inevitable release date of Fallout 5, to draw newcomers to the Series X/S.

For those who are interested, and those keen enough to buy a whole new console for it, Clockwork Revolution is set to release in 2027. A specific release date hasn’t been given, although Xbox and inXile Entertainment are sure to divulge those details closer to the actual date. One can hope that, even should it fail to bolster the sales numbers of the Xbox Series X/S, it will make up for the lack of Fallout games and deliver a comparable RPG experience that fans can enjoy while they await Bethesda’s next post-apocalyptic epic.