inXile's Clockwork Revolution made quite an impression at the Xbox Games Showcase, and not just for its uncanny resemblance to BioShock Infinite. Microsoft is really, really keen for you to know that this game is being led by the developers behind Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.
Hearing the name Arcanum in 2023 is going to be extremely exciting to an extremely small percentage of people reading this article, but honestly, that's what's so neat about how hard Xbox is observing the connection to Clockwork Revolution. "The creators of Wasteland and Arcanum are bringing an incredible time-bending steampunk action RPG to Xbox Series X|S and PC," as the Xbox blog after the recent showcase put it.
Another blog focused more directly on Clockwork Revolution leads with the note that "the project is led by game director Chad Moore and principal designer Jason Anderson, who just happen to have created one of the greatest steampunk RPGs of all time - Arcanum." Xbox marketing VP Aaron Greenberg echoed that line in a tweet.
Originally launched in 2001, Arcanum was an isometric RPG in the style of classics like Baldur's Gate and Fallout, but with a unique steampunk setting. It launched to positive reviews and numerous awards, and remains beloved by dedicated PC RPG fans to this day, but for whatever reason it never garnered the long-term reverence that its equally-lauded contemporaries did.
Clockwork Revolution certainly builds on Arcanum's steampunk aesthetics, though its first-person action gameplay bears more resemblance to something like BioShock or Dishonored, as you use a combination of guns and supernatural powers to fight against a host of enemies including giant automatons. This is officially billed as a "first-person RPG," however, so maybe the action's been oversold for the sake of the trailer here.
The E3 2023 schedule is coming to a close.
