Backspace was a sci-fi RPG in the works at Obsidian

Obsidian was at one time working on a sci-fi RPG called Backpsace, which had time travel elements and the player taking on the role of a cyborg.

The game was in development using the same engine as Skyrim, and was in the prototyping stage back in 2011 and Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart told Kotaku that Backspace was "still on the shelf somewhere."

"Backspace was a project concept that we neither cancelled nor greenlit," he said. "We had some great people work on the idea for Backspace for a bit of time and then moved them off to other projects as opportunities came up.

"We've been around for ten years now and have had a bunch of great ideas that we still have sitting around that we may be able to return to in the future."

Here's what the design document says about the project:

BackSpace is a single-player action-RPG set in a scifi space environment with simple elements of time travel. The combat is paced similarly to Skyrim, but slightly faster since there is no concept of blocking. The easiest way to look at it is a mix of Mass Effect, Borderlands, and System Shock 2 for gameplay and setting.

In the distant future, mankind has colonized the far reaches of the galaxy. Near the center of the galaxy is an enormous space station dedicated to advanced research in a multitude of subjects such as temporal mechanics and nano-cybernetics. The game begins with the station falling under attack from an invading alien force.

As the player completes quests, solves puzzles, and eliminates enemies, they gain experience points towards their next level. When they gain a level, they are awarded stat points and ability points that they may use to increase their stats and abilities respectively. Every other level they can add a Perk.

It all sounds very interesting and there is plenty of concept art and more information on the combat and time travelling system through the link.