Some may find appeal in the boundlessness of space – a sandbox of potentially infinite possibilities, depending on how you want to make your own fun. But there’s a reason that games like Mass Effect have remained so beloved for so long. Space isn’t just a place of freedom, but another frontier for storytelling, carried by memorable companions, and defined by your choices and consequences. Call them limits, if you will, but living that life and forming a core part of the narrative backbone is something that sci-fi RPG fans continue to crave.
Thus, we come to The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. It’s uncharted territory for Owlcat Games, a studio best known for CRPGs like Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous, not to mention Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. Going from tactical real-time-with-pause and turn-based combat into a real-time, cover-based shooter is one thing. Add on the established universe and lore of The Expanse, which has its own dedicated following in sci-fi circles, and the potential risk feels doubled.
And yet, I received a different impression from the closed beta. That of a team that’s confident in what it wants and how it wants to tell its story. A comfort in immersing you within this universe, and rewarding those who take the time to explore it. Granted, the beta only offers one mission and no character creator – only two class options (Hacker and Officer) and two backgrounds (Earther and Belter). However, the attention to detail in your choices, both in shaping your characters and their actions, is already abundantly clear.
Don’t worry if you’re not intimately familiar with The Expanse. All you need to know right now is that your character and their sibling, J, are Pinkwater mercenaries who just escaped from Eros, where a brutal bioweapon was unleashed. We’ve already seen these events play out in the official announcement trailer; what we didn’t see is the aftermath. After narrowly escaping the station aboard a stolen ship, they return to Pinkwater 4 to relay what happened to their boss, Oscar O’Connell.
While it carries that distinct sci-fi feel, the grounded nature of The Expanse’s technology is on full display. Entering Pinkwater 4 requires manually triggering an airlock switch. Boxes and crates are piled up everywhere. Belter Today plays on a large display, detailing the destruction of an ice hauler and the water crisis caused on Ceres. Dispatch is handled by a game named Larry, who’s been working way too hard and hasn’t had nearly enough vacation time. The result is that it feels alive – like a far future space station that doesn’t feel all that far-fetched, yet still distinctly sci-fi. A bit cosy but not too homely, which is probably the intended effect.
Before I can say, “Don’t you dare badmouth, Larry, he’s already one of my favorites,” we get to Luciana, the vendor/gossipmonger of the station. She shares details on what Zafar, an engineer who checks out your stolen ship’s transponder, and O’Connell had ordered. If you ask nicely (read: Have high enough Persuasion), she’ll share some even juicier gossip. Of course, the twins could also inquire about their reputations, which change depending on whether you’re Belters or Earthers. The former seemingly involves drinking juice with tea to deal with High-G burns, and also how you somehow took down a pirate ship at the age of 13.
On the Earther side, J allegedly punched the UN Deputy Secretary General’s son in the face, and that’s why we left Earth (which isn’t all that far from the actual truth). Also, that we were apparently models, and not soldiers, to begin with. While I couldn’t interact with everyone in this section, it was still nice to pass by different NPCs, going about their duties, or just fixing a broken door to help one trapped individual out (because someone happened to send Zafar away on more important business).
It doesn’t take long for all this levity to drain away, however. O’Connell receives the report about what happened to our original ship, the Piranha, and the outbreak on Eros. Things go from bad to worse when Protogen shows up. Apparently, the stolen ship is their property, and their unnamed squad leader, who calls us criminals, insists on boarding the station. Depending on your Persuasion, O’Connell can either tell Pinkwater 4 to take up arms or stand down to ensure the well-being of his people. That doesn’t stop you from escaping through the ducts, however, and trying to get back to the ship with Zafar’s help.
Depending on the choice, you can spot some fellow Pinkwater allies being gunned down in the middle of a firefight against Protogen or simply emerge from the vents with a tactical advantage (with someone wondering why you’re crawling around in there in the first place). This is where Osiris Reborn’s combat is front and center, and any concerns that Owlcat couldn’t emulate Mass Effect’s feel were immediately diminished.
The cover-based mechanics and shooting feel responsive and on-point. I was initially a little miffed at not being able to roll away from cover or clamber up guard-rails, The Division-style, but quickly got over it. Instructing my twin to focus fire on an enemy or exploit something in the environment also felt incredibly satisfying – a feeling that’s only amplified when Zafar can provide fire support from our new ship, laying down a hail of bullets to shred squads and entire structures. Now that’s what I call backup.
Abilities are tied to gadgets, whether it’s activating a clip of incendiary ammo or activating a scanner to pick up nearby enemies. You can swap these out whenever, but gather enough materials, and they can be equipped with various mods for more advantages. For example, I can make it so that activating any ammo abilities – like incendiary rounds – will confer the same effect to my allies, while reducing their ability recharge rate and increasing their critical damage modifier. That’s not even getting into the different equipment, which further influences your build. The Warlock Fire-Control System, for example, increases the uses of my Armor-Piercing Wrist Cannon to four while reducing the cooldown significantly. And of course, these can also be modified, alongside your weapons.
That’s not even getting into the skills, which range from small passive bonuses to accuracy and cooldowns to increased damage when a duration-based ability is active. Also, if it wasn’t obvious enough, the Officer and the Hacker offer vastly different playstyles, the former serving as more of a frontliner while the latter can disrupt enemies with electrical stuns. There’s even an element of risk vs. reward, as holding down the ability can increase its power, but too long and you’ll weaken the effect. Plus, you’ve just exposed yourself to the enemy, which absolutely takes no prisoners on Hard mode.
Again, this is only the first mission, but I’m already excited about the sheer range of build options. As for the actual objectives, they can feel straightforward at times, although tracing the wires of a broken terminal, looping around the outside of the station, can be fun, just from the sheer gravity-defying traversal. That same effect comes into play during combat with muffled gunshots and enemies floating away after being slain.
That said, this is a beta, and there are some optimization issues. There are a few bugs here and there, and some places where the animation and writing could use a bit of clean-up. But regardless, I’m very impressed with The Expanse: Osiris Reborn at this stage.
When all is said and done, and the wider universe opens up, it’s not just capturing the gameplay essentials of Mass Effect so much as putting its own twist on things while sticking true to the universe’s lore and language. Owlcat Games still has its work cut out for it on the full game, but for now, Osiris Reborn could very well be that game.
