Hands-On Preview: The Expanse: Osiris Reborn

5 days ago 3

Published Apr 22, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT

Shane Limbaugh (He/Him) is a Contributor from the US. While he hasn't been writing about games for very long he has certainly been playing them. His degree in Game Design and Criticism let him better understand the fundamentals of the industry and the games themselves. There aren't many games he hasn't at least put hands on thanks to his time working at GameStop.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn closed beta test is here, and with it, players will get their first opportunity to go hands-on with this action-adventure RPG. It's an interesting game, drawing some very obvious inspiration from the Mass Effect series, but basing itself in the world of The Expanse.

I put a little time into the game and played as a few characters, running through the short introduction and experiencing some combat, story, and dialogue. Even without knowing anything about The Expanse, you should be able to get a good sense of what's going on, which was a nice bonus.

That said, the closed beta seemed pretty short, sitting at around an hour long. It wasn't really enough time to formulate a meaningful opinion of the game, but it was enough to see some of the best and worst aspects. I'll cover all of that down below, but keep in mind that things may change closer to the release.

What is The Expanse: Osiris Reborn?

This action-adventure RPG is incredibly similar to Mass Effect. You'll choose a class to play as, but it works more like Elden Ring in that it simply provides you with some starting equipment and skill points to give you an idea of how to play the game. This choice also marks you as either an Earther or a Belter, which changes how the world sees you, for the most part.

Once your choice is made, you'll be thrust into the world of The Expanse on the run from some very hostile group presumably called Protogen. You'll need to make your way off the Pinkwater 4 space station in the hopes of escaping these people and figuring out what exactly seems to be going on.

Moving through the station gives you an opportunity to see what life is like for most people while also getting a chance to get to know some of the individuals around the station. It isn't long before you enter combat and move from cover to cover as you use various abilities to take out enemies.

There's a mechanic for slowing time and making companions target specific enemies with different abilities. Your companions can also interact with the environment, and it seems to be very explosion-oriented. This seems to be a pretty integral part of the game, as later on, you can have another person fire some very destructive rounds that cause some crazy explosions.

A Tense but Stunning World

While I didn't have much time with the game, there is one thing I took away from it: Osiris Reborn is willing to go the extra mile to make things more interesting. Visually, the game looks great and has plenty of detail to drive home the feeling the game is looking to evoke, but where it really shines is when you're doing your space walk.

Not only is the game a treat for the eyes even in the vast darkness of space, but it captures that sort of feeling of being small compared to the universe in a great way. This culminates in a scene where you could potentially end up being blasted out into space, which would be a terrible way to go; luckily, at the last moment, you manage to save yourself.

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Whether it's accurate or not to real-life space, I couldn't say, but from a player's perspective, it was very intense. You know things will work out because, well, you literally just started, so you can't die yet, but that ominous feeling still looms even during the cutscene where you manage to save yourself.

That's probably in part due to the help the team got from the show writers, but regardless, it felt very cinematic, which is something a lot of games seem to be missing these days. I'm hoping for a lot more moments like this during the game because it was truly a treat to enjoy.

Improved Combat Mechanically and Visually

There's just no denying that, for the most part, the game looks fantastic, and combat is no exception. Explosions look and feel real as they go boom, and other abilities, although less realistic, still look satisfying. I used the Gremlin Drone Swarm a lot, and every time I fired it off, I laughed a bit as they slowly but surely dismantled my enemies.

While it is reminiscent of Mass Effect, there are some notable improvements to the formula, like being able to target any enemy that's visible, whether they're behind cover or not. As I said earlier, your companions can also interact with the environment, causing explosions or changing the battlefield.

The game looks great and has plenty of detail to drive home the feeling the game is looking to evoke, but where it really shines is when you're doing your space walk.

There will probably be much more to it when the game fully comes out, but combat here felt much more engaging than in other similar games. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the older games, but with a fresh new spin. All the pieces are there, from the visual aspect to how the screen shakes when enemies attack with explosives.

Combat was also difficult, but not in the way games like this usually handle it. Stronger enemies are usually a threat because they have more health and damage, but here they seem to focus on forcing you in and out of cover. You can't simply stay in one place and hope for the best anymore, so you'll have to push forward and start putting people down to make any real headway.

Some Issues with Inspiration

This might sound a little nitpicky, and that's because it sort of is, but I did not love the voice acting for the main character as an Earther Hacker. That might be different with some other setups, but this just felt a little off, and I'll try to explain exactly why. The game clearly has inspiration from Mass Effect, so much so that it seems they want their player character to almost be Shepard.

That's not a bad thing to aspire to, but it almost felt like it made the voice actor's speech a little too unemotional. It isn't bad, but it struck me as odd that they didn't seem to really show any emotion, even when they got angry. Every line reads almost the same, which affects the writing and how it's received, making humorous lines less so and more emotional lines come off a little wonky.

The only other thing that stuck out was the UI. It definitely does its job and serves its purpose, but it just never sat well with me. It's not like it's ugly or anything like that; it just felt a little minimalist for something that seems so dead set on being sci-fi. That can always change, but I will say that the simplicity of it was great and easy to use.

While The Expanse: Osiris Reborn has some problems overall, it seems like it'll be a pretty solid game that wants to bring new life to a style of game that hasn't seen much action since the old days. I enjoyed what I played and intend on playing more, but I do think there are some improvements that can be made to help the game really shine as its own thing.