With The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, developer Owlcat is taking its first leap out of the isometric RPG genre it’s claimed a foothold in with games like Pathfinder: Kingmaker and into something more inspired by the glory days of Mass Effect. Heading into a hands-on preview of the game, my big question is: can the studio really pull that off?
The mission I get to play feels like a direct answer to that question—an hour of third-person combat and visual spectacle, the perfect taster of whether Owlcat has the technical know-how and design expertise for such a major genre shift. The result? I’m feeling much more confident in what the studio has cooking, even if I don’t get to see much of the RPG part of this action-RPG.
Taking place early in the game, the demo sees me trying to escape a space station besieged by hi-tech mercenaries. To be frank, I’m missing a lot of context—the game clearly has an explosive intro in which me (a customisable main character) and my companion J (my identical twin) are thrust into some kind of conspiracy, but somehow get out with a new ship and dock at a friendly port. But now the bad guys are here too, intent on apprehending me, and I need to survive long enough to escape and fly off into the great unknown.
Considering my level of confusion, it’s probably a good thing that conversation is kept to a minimum. A chat with the guy who seems to be in charge of the station lasts just long enough for me to make a persuasion check that enables a slightly morally grey choice—convincing him to order his people to cover our escape with their lives.
From there, I’m off through a gauntlet of corridors and waist-high cover, fighting armoured thugs as I go. The core combat I would describe as agreeably solid rather than inspiring. Ducking behind barricades and shooting enemies as they pop out of cover feels a bit lightweight, but so did Mass Effect—and as in BioWare’s classic series, it’s spiced up with special abilities that add to your options.
These come in the form of gadgets, which are equipable items rather than picks on a skill tree, allowing a lot of freedom to mix things up between fights. Mine include a shock tether that can stun enemies in place for easy headshots, a swarm of nano-insects to chase foes out of cover, and later a wrist rocket that’s great for chunking through armour. None of it’s revolutionary, but it’s enough to add some tactical nuance and flashy moments to the gunfights.
I can also boss my companion around, telling them to focus on a target and draw fire so I can get some breathing room. I can even pause the combat to survey the battlefield and issue orders—yes, this is technically a real-time-with-pause game—though it’s deliberately simplistic stuff with only limited actions available, and easily ignored if you just want to stick to real-time blasting.
Primitive creature that I am, I quickly forget most of that in favour of a button that makes things go boom. Every companion in the game has an Exploit—an ability that allows them to interact with the environment in combat in some way. In J’s case, it’s agreeably straightforward: when I hover my reticle over anything even mildly explosive, a big prompt appears for her to blow it up, with dramatic results. With the right timing it can be a godsend in tricky encounters, sending grouped up foes scrambling as fuel tanks erupt into flame over their heads.
I don’t know if making things explode can ever truly lose its lustre, but Osiris Reborn certainly doesn’t want to find out. As soon as I hit the point where these shoot-outs might start to wear out their welcome, the game shakes things up by sending me out onto the surface of the station.
With mag boots sticking me to the hull and open space all around me, there’s no real up or down, allowing for some mind-bending visuals as the ‘floor’ curves away from me or turns into wall or ceiling depending on my orientation. The noises of combat are muffled, as if I’m only sensing the vibrations, but comms chatter comes through clear, creating a disorientating soundscape. Most importantly, my explosions now make enemies fly off into space.
Mechanically, it’s not that different—I’m still just crouching behind cover and shooting people, and all my abilities work the same—but the devil is in the details. It’s atmospheric and visually creative enough to add a new injection of drama to my desperate escape.
Along the way, Osiris Reborn is keen to keep reminding me that, in the midst of all this action, this is still a choice-driven RPG. Tactical decisions lead to branching points in the level—at one point I figure that taking a detour through a damaged part of the ship would be the safer bet over braving a stretch open to enemy heavy weapons fire, and end up having to navigate a series of tight corridors beset by hazardous coolant leaks.
Similarly, during quieter moments exploring and hunting for supplies, character stats open up some extra options—such as using J’s Athletics score to move some heavy debris out of the way, allowing access to a new section.
It’s a light touch, and I doubt getting a few cold burns or moving some boxes will have a lasting impact on the plot, but it’s enough to make it feel like I’m embodying a character rather than just making my way through a shooting gallery.
I’m certainly hoping for more conversation and exploration in the full game, but this mission has little time for that, throwing me from fight to fight as if to say “See, we can do more than just isometric combat!”.
A few more zero-G bullet exchanges later, I’m finally back inside the station for the last stretch, and rewarded with the best ‘blow stuff up’ button yet: I’m now close enough to my ship to order one of my allies to fire its enormous turrets down into the fight. Shooting big holes in the windows of a space station might be considered a bit reckless, but with my helmet still firmly on I reckon it’s worth it.
Sniper pinning me down in cover from an unassailable position? An overwhelming squad of mercs all bearing down from the flank? Turns out there aren’t many problems that can’t be solved with the application of a hail of bullets big enough to punch through spaceship armour.
It makes for a perfect dramatic exit as me and J flee through the airlock and hop aboard our ship, blasting off as free agents ready for more adventures.
It’s a tantalising start, even if I remain rather confused about why all those guys wanted to kill me in the first place. The action in itself isn’t mind-blowing—if this was the new Gears of War, you’d be disappointed. But a good cinematic RPG is more than the sum of its parts, finding magic in the combination of third-person combat, deep character interactions, world-building, and storytelling. It’s reassuring to discover that Owlcat has a good grasp on the part of that formula it seemed most likely to struggle with.
I’m still keen to see more of how the other parts come together, of course. Peppered throughout this demo are just enough little moments of character development and decision-making to intrigue me—I particularly enjoy an ongoing conversation about what to name the new ship—but too few to get a good sense of the texture of the wider adventure to come.
So, too soon to declare the second coming of Mass Effect just yet, but Osiris Reborn is definitely promising: a confident leap forward for a studio that seems determined to make its mark on RPG history. We still have a while to wait to see the finished product, however—the full release is now scheduled for spring 2027.
