We Saw The Expanse: Osiris Reborn – Owlcat’s Tactical Take on a Third‑Person Space RPG

Why This Caught My Eye

Owlcat Games making a third‑person action RPG in The Expanse universe is the kind of swing that gets my attention. This is the studio behind Pathfinder and Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader-CRPGs known for consequence-heavy storytelling and dense systems, not over-the-shoulder firefights. We watched a full hour of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn at Gamescom with creative director Alexander Mishulin driving, and the pitch is clear: a 20-30 hour, choice-led story with tactical squad commands, reactive environments, and a surprisingly faithful take on space physics. It nods to Mass Effect, sure, but aims for a grittier, more grounded vibe fitting James S.A. Corey’s books and the TV series.

Key Takeaways

• Branching narrative with no “good/bad” labels; choices ripple across missions and NPC survival.
• Squad tactics and environmental weak points matter more than pure gun skill-for now.
• Authentic Expanse flavor: muffled sound in vacuum, mag boots, thruster grenades, faction politics.
• Not a true open world; expect a focused, 20-30 hour campaign across curated hubs.

Breaking Down the Demo

The slice took place early on. You play a lightly customizable mercenary for Pinkwater Security, fresh off Eros when things go sideways. Character creation includes choosing your origin-Earth (UN), Mars (MCR), or Belter—which influences how people treat you and how some story beats play out. You captain the Gemini, bring two active companions into missions, and build trust with the wider crew through dialogue, choices, and how you handle pressure. It’s very Owlcat: party dynamics and loyalty are the spine of the experience.

When Protogen hit the station, the first major fork hit back: surrender or resist. The demo pushed “resist,” and the fallout was immediate and harsh—locals who helped you paid with their lives. There’s no morality meter, no color-coded outcomes, and no timed prompts pushing snap judgments. That last bit is important. Where Telltale’s Expanse leaned on quick answers and a tight character focus, Osiris Reborn wants you to think through consequences and live with them across a broader arc.

Combat is deliberate and systems-forward. You issue orders, tag environmental weak points, and use the level itself as a weapon—cover shreds, conduits vent, and enemies flush out when a panel blows. That’s the good news. The caveat: the raw gunfeel isn’t there yet. Bullet impact feedback and player survivability felt off-balance in this build, blunting the satisfaction of otherwise smart tactical setups. It’s pre-release, so they’ve got time, but if you crave punchy third-person shooting, calibrate expectations.

The Expanse Details That Actually Matter

What sold me on the license fit were the small, nerdy touches. Outside the station you get muffled, reflected audio because, well, vacuum—no Hollywood pew-pew bleeding into the void. Movement flips to mag boots and micro-thrusters, so animations and cadence change. Grenades? They’ve got tiny thrusters so they don’t just float off into nowhere. These sound like gimmicks, but they give the game a tactile Expanse identity instead of “Mass Effect with a paint job.” The team also leans into the political triad—Earth’s UN, a militarized Mars, and a restless Belt—anchored around the timelines of the first two books/seasons, with original characters threading between familiar events.

Importantly, this isn’t a sprawling open world. Think curated hubs and mission chains you can approach in different orders, with outcomes echoing between locations. If you’re coming from Owlcat’s 80‑hour epics, that 20-30 hour scope might sound lean, but for a licensed action RPG that’s probably the right size—big enough for meaningful cause-and-effect, short enough to stay focused.

Owlcat’s Pivot, Compared

Fans will inevitably drop the Mass Effect comparison, and on the surface it fits: third-person, squadmates, dialogue choices. But Osiris Reborn is less about slick cover shooting and more about reading a battlefield, using orders, and letting the environment do dirty work. In that sense it has more in common with Republic Commando or the tactical layer in Owlcat’s own Rogue Trader than with Shepard’s power combos. The trade-off is that any wobble in gunfeel stands out more. Owlcat’s strengths—branching quests, faction reactivity, party banter—are all present. Their historic weak spot? Launch polish. Pathfinder and Rogue Trader both needed patches post-release. If they nail controller handling, hit feedback, and performance this time, this pivot could land.

What Gamers Need to Know

If you love The Expanse for its gritty science and political jockeying, the authenticity is promising. If you want a big, open-ended space sim, this isn’t it. If you want a tight, story-first campaign where a bad call might get bystanders killed and companions judge you for it, you’re the target audience. Squad commands and destructible spaces give combat brains, but the shooting needs a tune-up. The soundtrack is original yet riffs on motifs fans will recognize, and visuals looked strong in the vertical slice, especially lighting outside the station.

Platforms are PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. No date yet. Telltale’s 2023 adaptation scratched a different itch; this one aims to be the “play in the universe, steer the outcome” game many Expanse readers wanted. The big question is whether Owlcat can retain their narrative depth while delivering responsive third-person action. Based on the hour we saw: the story bones are there, the physics flavor is on point, and the combat framework is smart—now it’s all about feel.

TL;DR

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is shaping up as a focused, choice-driven sci‑fi RPG with tactical squad play and legit space realism. Narrative and systems look strong; gunfeel and balance need work. If Owlcat sticks the landing, Expanse fans might finally get the grounded, consequence-heavy adventure the setting deserves.