Today’s Future Games Show event opened with a first look at a brand-new game from Owlcat Games. The studio previously known for CRPGs like Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is clearly amping up the scope of its ambitions. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn looks stellar in this initial showing, exhibiting vibes that recall the Mass Effect series, albeit in the hard sci-fi fictional backdrop of the celebrated The Expanse TV show. 

The cinematic trailer looks beautiful, but it also teases some of the likely futuristic weaponry and other tools players will likely play with in the game. Right from the end of that cinematic sequence, fans of this fiction will be happy to know that the story clearly deals with the protomolecule featured prominently in The Expanse show. 

Check it out in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn reveal trailer for yourself below: 

While the subsequent third-person action gameplay (apparently powered by Unreal Engine 5) was relatively brief, it’s here that the game is likely to draw the most solid comparisons to Mass Effect. We see armored characters moving through futuristic hallways and rooms, triggering tactical abilities, hiding behind cover, and shooting guns over the shoulder. And in the key art from the trailer’s conclusion, it’s hard not to guess that we’re looking at an eclectic mix of party members you might be able to talk with and romance (conjecture on that final point, of course). 

The Expanse is one of the best recent sci-fi shows based on one of the best recent sci-fi novel series. If Owlcat Games manages to capture the unique vibe of that fiction and marry it to the fun of Mass Effect-style gameplay, this one could be one to watch very closely. 

We have no release date announcement, but The Expanse: Oriris Reborn is announced for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.