The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Impression

It’s only a small sample, but what I’ve seen from The Expanse: Osiris Reborn‘s closed beta is impressive, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the full game.

Owlcat Games has established itself in the cRPG sphere with its work with the Pathfinder and Warhammer 40,000 franchises. For perhaps its most ambitious offering yet, the developer is entering the third-person sci-fi RPG universe with The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. Due to the vast differences in the setting and narrative elements, one hesitates to make the obvious comparisons between The Expanse: Osiris Reborn and the Mass Effect series, but the game certainly appears to have many of the elements that made the latter so beloved. RPGamer was able to try out the recently-released closed beta of the game and get a first of what awaits players.

The closed beta begins after the game’s opening, with the unnamed player character and their twin J arriving on the Pinkwater 4 station after managing to escape the incident of Eros, where the rest of their team was killed. While the game will feature full customisation, the beta gives players a few preset options to choose from. After making an initial report, the pair find they are being hunted down by Protogen — a private security company looking to keep the incident under wraps — with the closed beta covering an hour of content as they try to escape once again on their newly-acquired ship.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a step up in ambition for Owlcat Games

The content is divided into two sections, the opening parts give players the opportunity to explore a small part of the station and briefly interact with a few characters. The conversation system is pretty straightforward, with players selecting from an assortment of options to acquire more information, including a quick example of the basic skill system. There are various compartments scattered around that players can open for crafting materials, as well as a few terminals that can provide flavour text or unlock potential quests and are also later used to unlock doors. It should be noted that I went in with no familiarity of the series (book or TV), but it seems likely that it won’t be needed for players to enjoy what’s going on, as all the contextual clues and information needed to get a basic understanding of the situation. The characters that appear during it are all distinctive, and it sets up the forthcoming adventure quite nicely.

Combat is where the comparisons to Mass Effect — particularly 2 and 3 — are the most apt. It has the same basic structure and flow, with players needing to hide behind cover and shoot enemies while using special abilities and giving basic tactical instructions to up to two companions. Combat and general gameplay have a very nice feel to them, although interacting with some things requires a bit more of an exacting placement than might be ideal. There are lots of appreciable touches, including destructible cover and environments, as well as the section where players are fighting outside of the space station, with adjustments to movement as characters are kept grounded magnetically.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn operates with a class and origin system for characters, with players able to try out two of them in the closed beta. Characters have four combat skill trees, two exploration skill trees, and an origin trait, with each level up granting a point to spend on those trees. Players also have the option to pick up various different weapons and customise them through a crafting system, as well as equip different gadgets and subsystems that give access to special abilities such as grenades, electric rounds, and a tactical scanner.

While the setting and narrative is quite different, combat understandably draws immediate Mass Effect comparisons, in a positive way.

While character models may have the full photorealism or fidelity of the biggest budget games, there’s easily enough about them not to draw players out of the moment and it avoids the uncanny valley. Meanwhile, the environment of the station works well with lots of appreciable detail — especially once players head outside into space — and the visual effects are also very effective. There’s not really enough of a sample to get a full draw on how the UI and controls work yet, but it’s easy enough to get to grips with what’s there in the closed beta.

It’s only a small sample, but what I’ve seen from The Expanse: Osiris Reborn‘s closed beta is impressive, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the full game. The closed beta is currently available for those who have purchased the game’s Collector’s Edition or Miller’s Pack, with its full release planned for spring 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Disclosure: This article is based on free access to the closed beta provided by the publisher.