Despite being rooted in a renowned sci-fi book series (adapted into an equally acclaimed TV series), The Expanse: Osiris Reborn has drawn plenty of comparisons to Mass Effect. And for good reason, with the cover-based shooter gameplay, accompanying companions, an emphasis on choices and even a twin sibling. Developer Owlcat Games isn’t denying it – in fact, creative director Alexander Mishulin told Polygon that it’s “humbled” by the same.
“First of all, [we feel] humbled [by the comparisons]. Mass Effect is a great inspiration for us because it’s an iconic game for [the] Xbox 360 generation, and a lot of [Owlcat] team members played it in their youth. We’re inspired by it. Some [people] get into the industry of making games because they saw [Mass Effect] and were inspired and decided for themselves they want to do something similar, or just make games, as a living. So it would be impossible to deny that Mass Effect has [had] a lot of impact on us as game developers.”
However, just like The Expanse isn’t your typical sci-fi show, Osiris Reborn isn’t simply cribbing from BioWare’s greatest hits. “It’s an Owlcat Games game, and it’s different [from Mass Effect] in many ways. First of all, we make our story a little bit differently. We’re making more choices and consequences, and we want to make sure that this game still has a lot of them provided with a lot of agency.”
Perhaps the biggest difference is the lack of straightforward Paragon and Renegade choices. Instead, your character will have more nuanced decisions with their origin planet determining how everyone reacts to them (and even the available side quests).
“If you happen to be playing a character of Mars origin or Earth origin — and you will be able to select your origin from the start — you will not be very welcomed on Ceres because of those events. But if you will be playing [a character of] Belter origin, you will be much more welcomed, and you will have more opportunities, more places to visit, probably some new side quests and everything. But on the other hand, if you [are] of another origin, there will be other opportunities and other places for you [to explore].”
Owlcat essentially isn’t looking to modernize Mass Effect as much as creating a “game in the same genre but with all the modern trappings.”
“Mass Effect is a game that was released quite a long [time] ago, and the games industry now is a little bit different. Other systems were introduced, players [are] now accustomed to a lot more convenient user interfaces, convenient approaches to the gameplay, and we are doing that and not, like, modernizing Mass Effect, but just making a game in the same genre but with all the modern trappings.” It’s even taking some cues from Persona 5’s character approach.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn doesn’t have a release date, but it’s coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Pre-orders are currently available with the Standard Edition retailing for $49.99. Those who purchase Miller’s Pack can receive access to the upcoming beta.
