You can\u2019t jump in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn<\/em>, the upcoming third-person shooter set in James S.A. Corey\u2019s expansive universe of interplanetary politics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There\u2019s precedent here: You can\u2019t jump in the original Mass Effect trilogy, the games to which Osiris Reborn<\/em> is frequently (and rightfully) compared. But there\u2019s also a lore implication; most scenes in The Expanse<\/em> are set in spaceships, on space stations, or at lunar ports with variable gravity. Its characters regularly wear magnetized boots so as to stick to the ground. Jumping? Not exactly recommended.<\/p>\n To be clear, this rationale does not come directly from developer Owlcat Games. At Gamescom 2026, I recently played 90 minutes of a mid-game level of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn<\/em>. A producer watching along would not officially confirm or deny series lore as the reason why you can\u2019t jump in the game. But it nevertheless struck me (hi, big fan of the show) as a small detail showing Owlcat is creating what could be one of the most faithful gaming adaptations ever.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Expanse: Osiris Reborn<\/em> takes place concurrently alongside events from seasons 1 through 3 (or Leviathan\u2019s Wake<\/em> and Caliban\u2019s War<\/em>, for the book readers out there). You don\u2019t play as James Holden and the (in)famous crew of the Rocinante<\/em>. Instead, you\u2019re a custom character, joined in your party by your identical twin, named J, and a suitably BioWare-like cast of misfits. Though you\u2019re not a major player in timeline-critical events, you experience many of them from a different perspective. And yes, characters like Holden do appear in the game in various capacities, though none showed up during my preview.<\/p>\n Much ado has been written about how combat in The Expanse: Osiris<\/em> Reborn<\/em> mirrors combat from the first three Mass Effect games: third-person, cover-based shooting where you direct two squad mates to perform various strategic actions. Having played it myself now, yes, everyone was right \u2014 and the combat rules.<\/p>\n It\u2019s punchy and responsive. Fights require both tactical planning and instinctual repositioning to survive. There\u2019s a frenetic tension evocative of the great hits from the golden age of third-person shooters, a technical brilliance here that should appeal even to players who don\u2019t even know what a Beltalowda is. Given the merits of Osiris Reborn<\/em>\u2019s combat, going into my demo, I fully expected the game to primarily be occupied with shooting lots of bad guys. But much like the best action RPGs, I went more than half an hour before experiencing any combat, and got the sense I could\u2019ve spent way longer exploring if I had more time to do.<\/p>\n The mission I played through, \u201cBeetle in the Anthill,\u201d was supposedly around the 10-hour mark and appeared to take place some time after the destruction of Eros Station. (The Expanse: Osiris Reborn<\/em> will last roughly 30 hours, depending on your playstyle.) Your party is contracted with the paramilitary organization Pinkwater. You\u2019re at Ganymede station, tasked with gathering compromising information on Protogen, a different<\/em> paramilitary organization that happens to be responsible for a lot of bad shit that happens in The Expanse-iverse. In other words: You conveniently don\u2019t have to feel bad about shooting these guys.<\/p>\n But \u201cBeetle in the Anthill,\u201d at least for its first part, doesn\u2019t let you just dive into all situations with guns blazing. In this, the devs behind Osiris Reborn<\/em> understand the essence of The Expanse<\/em>, which has always been more concerned with the politics of how humans end up fighting each other rather than the fight itself. Despite how violent the series and books can get, its characters often strive to solve conflicts without violence. And in Osiris Reborn<\/em>, the nonlethal approach results in a Hitman-like level of immersive sim.<\/p>\n For instance, at one point of the mission, I had to access the contents of a storage container, but it was blocked by a Protogen guard who wouldn\u2019t let me pass without permission from the shipping officer. But that guy wouldn\u2019t give me permission unless I could provide him with an invoice. But I realized I didn\u2019t have an invoice or even know what one looked like, so I had to hack a computer to get a template. But I didn\u2019t know the serial number of the shipping container, so I had to find a vantage point where I could scan it.<\/p>\n More complicated than just shooting all these guys in the face? Sure. Also way more satisfying.<\/p>\n These quieter moments allowed me to take in the environment. The extent to which the dockyards of Ganymede have been recreated is impressive. There are, of course, direct references to the source material, but even those seem to manifest with remarkable restraint.<\/p>\n Take the Ganymede agricultural domes, a string of staggeringly large spherical greenhouses that viewers of the show will remember as a central part of a major disaster in season two. One such dome is rendered here in all its grandeur, a bit of meticulous production seemingly ripped straight from a SyFy set, but doesn\u2019t come with any ham-fisted \u201cI got that reference!\u201d dialogue from its characters. For people who watched the show, it\u2019s a sly reference toward things to come, a winking, nodding harbinger of death and famine. For everyone else, it\u2019s just a really cool building.<\/p>\n My demo ended with the Hybrid \u2014 a human that\u2019s transformed into a bullet-proof blue monster by exposure to the genetically modifying Protomolecule \u2014 chasing my crew down a network of tunnels as everything exploded in the background. We ended up in one of the ag domes, and I had to choose one crew member to corral civilian scientists to safety while another hacked a computer to enable our escape. (I did not see the outcome of this choice but gathered that it will have Mass Effect-like consequences down the line.) Just before the \u201cyou\u2019re stuck in a circular room with this thing\u201d boss fight began, the demo ended. Having seen the show, I have a good idea of what happens next. I\u2019m guessing potential players who aren\u2019t familiar with the lore won\u2019t, though.<\/p>\n Therein lies the biggest challenge facing The Expanse: Osiris Reborn<\/em>: Despite its mechanical excellence, it\u2019s still a licensed game at the end of the day. Yes, The Expanse<\/em> was an enormous cultural phenomenon \u2014 popular enough to famously get un-canceled. But by the time Osiris Reborn<\/em> comes out, it will have been five years since the TV show ended (despite its finale wrapping on a frustrating cliffhanger with several books left unadapted). I don\u2019t think anyone would claim that Telltale spinoff left an Eros-sized impact, even though the best actor from the show reprised her role as its best character.<\/p>\n This is not to say that a licensed game can\u2019t succeed. (See: 007 First Light<\/em>.) But it is an uphill climb. I also don\u2019t think Osiris Reborn<\/em> could conceivably be anything other than an Expanse game: everything from the set design to narrative to the armor your character wears is so interwoven . But if Osiris Reborn<\/em> maintains its careful balance throughout, it could pull off the same trick pulled years ago other widely hailed game series based on books, like The Witcher and Metro: give longtime fans the Disney Land they\u2019ve been waiting for, while showing a new crop of players why it became so beloved in the first place.<\/p>\n The Expanse: Osiris Reborn<\/em> will be released in spring 2027 for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.<\/p>\n\n The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a brand-new story in Expanse lore
\n <\/h2>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ganymede_-4.png?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Owlcat Games<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n