Obsidian Time Travel game Backspace

Imagine a game with a huge variety of weapons, time travel, alien invasion, and everything on the engine Skyrim.

This is Backspace , a project that was developed at Obsidian. A small team developed the design and concept of the game in 2011. And although the game did not go beyond the concept, it would interest many. Obsidian many should know about Fallout: New Vegas and the recent Project Eternity (I don’t think and remind about NWN 2).

A single role-playing game, whose actions unfold in the era of the space age with a combat system similar to Skyrim, but somewhat more dynamic. Something like a mixture of Mass Effect + Borderland + System Shock 2. Given the engine, we can say that it is a Sci-Fi Skyrim.

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I came across a description of the concept game on Kotaku (Jason Schreier spoke with Feargus Urquhart, the main company). Backpace was planned for development with Bethesda and was supposed to use the Skyrim engine. Head of the studio - Feargus Urquhart, says that Backspace is not rejected, however, the development of this project was frozen, and the team switched to other projects. But, if you look at the recent successes of Armikrog , Torment: Tides of Numenera , Divinity: Original Sin , then in the future we can see Backpace at kickstarter.com.



What is the game like?

BackSpace is a single-player action-RPG, which takes place in outer space with simple elements of time travel. The combat system is similar to Skyrim, but a little faster, since there is no possibility of blocking. It's easier to look at this as a mix of Mass Effect, Borderland, System Shock 2 in terms of gameplay and control.

And although the world is not fully open in the game as in Skyrim, players will be able to travel between many worlds (planets), there is also a huge space station in the game that the player can travel around (Hi Mass Effect).

As stated in diz. dock:

The station can be compared to the Citadel from Mass Effect or Babylon 5.

You would play cyborg - for 90% of people and 10% for a machine that works in a research laboratory attacked by aliens. To summarize briefly:

In the distant future, humanity colonized the far corners of the galaxy. Near the center of the galaxy there is a huge space station where a lot of research is carried out: time travel, nano-cybernetics, etc. The game begins with an alien attack on this station.

During the game, due to a technical error, you will be thrown into the future for ten years. You will spend most of your next game jumping between past and future in an attempt to fight off aliens. As part of the assignments, you would need to travel in time to save humanity.


Character development in Backspace would be similar to Skyrim or Fallout with the possibility of initial setting of the characteristics and their subsequent improvement.

By completing quests, solving riddles and destroying enemies, the player gradually increases his level. With the receipt of the level, it becomes possible to distribute new points to different abilities. You can also choose any perks (just like FO3 / FNV).

Initially, you can set the character’s base character and choose his specialization, so to speak: a mad scientist, a lone wolf, an arrogant scientist. All of this will affect the NPC relationship with you.


Firearms will include: machine guns, shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, sniper rifles and rocket launchers. Melee weapons would include katanas, sledgehammers, battle axes, saws, and something called a “temporary spear.”

The fights in Backspace are generally similar to Skyrim. A player can attack an enemy using various weapons / abilities that he gains during the game. It is also possible to completely avoid the battle, if you use different tactics. Weapons can also be two-handed and one-handed.

There would also be abilities using a mechanical arm: the Claw Strike ability, for example, transforms your hero's hand into a claw for a quick attack. You can also use psionic abilities to deal damage to an enemy.

It would not have done without stealth elements, but unlike Skyrim / FNV, the secrecy in the game will be 100% and undetectable (unless something destroys the stealth). A player is completely hidden when he enters stealth mode. This mode will gradually consume energy until the invisibility cloak is deactivated. This will avoid many fights and break up with the world (:


What about companions?
Since only a player can travel in time, the companions in BackSpace take the form of AI, which the player can equip in a special slot. The equipped AI can participate in the dialogue with the player and provides, depending on the type, various bonuses: an increase in energy regeneration or damage. AI can be found in many parts of the game and take different forms.

It is also worth mentioning about one interesting concept - scarabs. Scarabs are small robots that have become multi-tools of the future. They are able to perform many tasks at the station: the construction of complex structures, the restoration of vital systems. Scarabs work semi-autonomously as soon as they are given a command, but most of the time they are controlled by the Queen (StarCraft is immediately remembered (:)). Each area at the station has its own queen to help balance the workload, and at the core of the Super Queen station that coordinates the actions of the others. The queens are not self-aware, have minimal AI and completely obey their owners.

Scarabs are also used on planets. Before the planet is colonized, the scarabs clean it and build the main base for humans.

Another couple of concept art:






Keep in mind that this is an early vision of Backspace: if Obsidian ever decides to make this game, then the final game is likely to be significantly different from the original idea.

How do you like this concept? Interested?