Here’s everything you need to know about Clockwork Revolution, from its release window to the first gameplay details.
At this year’s Xbox Games Showcase, we learned about Clockwork Revolution, a newly-announced Xbox Series X game. The game will draw on the studio’s legacy of creating immersive worlds and adventures in Wasteland 3.
The Steampunk-infused action-adventure Clockwork Revolution takes place in a very unique world, feeling both distinctly sci-fi and eerily reminiscent of the past. If you’ve been waiting all too patiently for news on Bioshock 4, this game may tide you over. From the release date to the first gameplay details, you’ll find everything we know about Clockwork Revolution so far.
Currently, Clockwork Revolution is expected to release in 2024. Therefore, it won’t be on our list of new games for 2023, but it does give us plenty to look forward to.
Since inXile is an in-house developer, Clockwork Revolution will be available on Xbox Series X and PC platforms in 2024. Backwards compatibility with Xbox One remains to be seen, but the fact that it will be a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass is exciting.
Trailer for Clockwork Revolution
During this year’s Xbox Games Showcase, the Clockwork Revolution announcement trailer set the scene beautifully. The scene shows off the Victorian steampunk aesthetic of Avalon, including flying steam trains and large blimps. The game’s futuristic take on the Victorian industrial revolution features plenty of robots, and we also meet the protagonist for the first time.
Clearly, Lady Ironwood rules her city with an iron grip, as she defaces a poster of the mysterious Lady Ironwood. Lady Ironwood’s voice underscores the trailer, sounding like a perfectly poised bad guy already, and judging from the impressive array of old-fashioned but high-tech weapons the playable character possesses during gameplay sequences, we’re going to love taking her down.
Playing Clockwork Revolution
A sci-fi take on a historical setting, Clockwork Revolution is a first-person shooter action game. Moreover, it features “dynamic time-bending combat, deep interconnected roleplaying systems, and the ability to create your own unique character.”
I am particularly intrigued by Avalon, a “vibrant Victorian-era metropolis” where “wealthy industrialists replace their limbs with ornate clockwork prosthetics, while mechanical servants serve them at their leisure.” While these technological advances have nefarious origins, Lady Ironwood’s use of time travel allows her to change moments in history in order to keep the social strata working for her and her fellow upper-class citizens.
While exploring the world of Clockwork Revolution, we will use a time travel device known as a Chronometer. We can travel back in time, influence the past, then return to the present to experience the effects of our decisions.
Additionally, the gameplay sequences in the trailer depict first-person gunplay with muskets and other, more technologically advanced items that perform similar functions.
Developer of the Clockwork Revolution
As inXile’s first title published by Xbox Games Studio, Clockwork Revolution is its first title. Avalon’s magical-industrial setting is nothing new to some members of inXile, including game director Chad Moore and principal designer Jason Anderson. They will be able to draw on their experience with 2001’s Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura for this new steampunk RPG, and 22 years after Arcanum’s launch, it’ll be interesting to see how those influences have influenced the game. Fallout’s precursor, the Wasteland series, is probably the best-known work of inXile.
We shouldn’t hold our breath waiting to hear more about the game from the developer. “We’re still in the early stages of development,” the studio says, calling the trailer a “pre-alpha sneak peek”.
