At Gamescom, I had the opportunity to sit down with developer Owlcat Games and check out something that has had me stupidly excited since it was announced. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a new 3rd person space RPG based on the incredible books and show, The Expanse. I’m going to walk you through what I saw during a 60 minute in-game demonstration, and honestly, why you should be adding this one to your wishlist.
The Expanse…Expands
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a 3rd person ‘Mass Effect’ style sci-fi action RPG that’s set in the universe of The Expanse, an incredible set of books and an excellent TV show of the same name. Set in the 24th Century, humanity had conquered the solar system via the invention of the ‘Epstein Drive’, a new type of Fusion Engine. As much as grounded science fiction is the order of the day, there are some heavy political themes throughout, with humanity split into various factions who all distrust one another – Earthers, Martians and Belters.
If you’re new to the IP and have no idea what the differences are, I’ll summarise! While Earthers and Martians are self explanatory. In The Expanse, Belters is a term used to refer to people who are born and live in the Asteroid Belt or Moons in our Solar System. Their physical traits are altered due to generations of living in zero-G or low gravity environments, becoming taller with enlarged craniums. They also have brittle bones, but can recover faster than Earthers and Martians (Also known collectively as ‘inners’, a term used to refer to humans who live on the inner planets) from extended zero-G exposure. Anyway, enough education, let’s talk gameplay!
Character Creation
The story unfolds across the events of the first two books (or the first two and a half seasons of the show), and the consequences of ‘in-universe’ occurences, in addition to the surrounding political events are felt throughout the narrative. However, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn’s adventure branches into its own unique path within the Expanse universe. Character creation involves not only designing your main character and choosing whether to be an Earther, Martian or Belter. This choice will have a knock on effect in the game, affecting the story, your choices and what content is available to you. It will also generate a twin sibling named ‘J’. This brother (or sister!) shares a similar appearance, replicating your chosen origin and gender, though hairstyle, personality, and other traits will differ to what you choose. ‘J’ serves as the first companion in the game and will join you during the opening missions.
While those first few missions are completed together, later outings will allow you to choose to bring your twin or leave them behind, and bring along different characters. During character creation, players can choose from different pre-set starting points – two were shown in the demo, but the developer promises more in the final game. The pre-set itself is basically a base combination of different skills and systems. You’re not going to be locked into a particular class and can freely shape your character.
Welcome to Pinkwater
The demo itself highlights the second mission of the game. We’re currently working for Pinkwater Station as a Security Mercenary, and the story begins following the Eros incident, and details the catastrophic events that occur there. Amid that genocide, only our protagonist and their twin survive, with the rest of the team killed while attempting to escape. We commandeered (stole) a Protogen ship to escape and have perhaps somewhat foolishly brought it back to Pinkwater. We travel through the station, and head to our Station Commander’s quarters to inform them of what happened.
The environment detail in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is nothing short of incredible. Even at this early stage, Pinkwater Station is packed with detail. Materials and texture work really impressed me, giving the environments a very genuine, ‘lived-in’ feel. As we make our way through the main plaza, Holden’s broadcast from the show plays out on the monitors, detailing the genocide on Eros (The developers have shared that some of the actors will reprise their roles for the game). Characters walk around the station, going about their day, conversing with each other about what happened. Vendors man shops selling wares, from equipment to food. One character we meet, a belter named Larry, gives us our first side quest – delivering a painting to his mother.
During the conversation with our CO, Protogen turn up and demand their ship back. The game gives us our first choice – call the stations population to arms to fight back against the aggressors, or – stand down, valuing human life over our protagonist and his brother. For my demo, I chose the latter, thinking it would make things much harder for the guy playing the demo. (I’m a jerk like that)
Combat Scenario
What follows is a pitched escape attempt, as J and our protagonist seek to make it back to the Protogen ship we stole and leave Pinkwater Station. It takes us from industrial corridors as we try to take a mostly direct route across the station to where our ship is docked, to the outside of Pinkwater Station itself. The zero-g battle that took place across the environment was nothing short of stunning.
With Jupiter above us, we our mag-boots engage and cling to the hull. Protogen forces descend on us, and the entire time the station is spinning on its axis. Audio is muffled, the sounds we do hear being translated through the vibrations of the contact we have to the hull. Debris as we exchange fire goes flying off in all directions, mixed with the blood of our enemies all floating in zero-g. We can equip armour piercing rounds to shoot through the cover our enemies have taken, and mind-bendingly, thanks to the nature of our environment and our mag-boots, walk up what is the ‘wall’ from our perspective to get a better vantage on our opponents.
Different companions have different abilities – J is able to target environmental weakpoints, causing explosions or falling debris to take out large groups at once, though other companions will have different skills. As we play through the demo, our choice to ask the population of Pinkwater to stand down is evident throughout. Where there would be groups of civilians murdered, their bodies littering the station if we’d asked them to resist the Protogen forces, instead the armoury is still stocked, enabling us to obtain much needed supplies.
With regards to the ship we’re trying to get to, I asked the developers if there are plans for us to be able to actually fly it, like Starfield, or if it’s more like the Normandy in Mass Effect. It’s the latter, but you’ll be travelling across the solar system with your companions. However, they teased there will be scenes of space battles with some interactivity to them, but we won’t be directly piloting our ship. The developers did advise that while we’ll be exploring plenty more besides various space stations, they also hinted at more expansive environments and something else vehicular, though they wouldn’t expand on exactly what that meant. I think we’ll leave that tease there.
As for when we’ll see more of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, the developers weren’t at liberty to say. Will I be there when they’re ready to share more? Absolutely. For those gamers that miss something in the style of the original Mass Effect Trilogy, it looks like Owlcat Gamers are bringing the goods, and I can’t wait to see more.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is heading to PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 at some point in the future.
