For years, Owlcat Games has built a reputation as master craftsmen of deep, complex isometric CRPGs like Pathfinder and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. But in the B2B area of Gamescom 2026, the studio’s upcoming project felt like an entirely different beast. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn marks Owlcat’s bold pivot into a third-person, action RPG.
Getting hands-on time with the new demo (featuring the mission titled “Beetle in the Anthill” set on Ganymede’s massive hydroponic farms) revealed a game that wears its Mass Effect inspirations proudly, while staying faithful to the gritty, Newtonian-physics-abiding universe of James S.A. Corey’s books.
Dropping In Behind Enemy Lines
The demo I got to play at Gamescom threw me straight into a high-stakes infiltration. You play as a customisable captain, with backgrounds spanning Earth, Mars, or the Belt (which subtly alters your character’s build and height due to gravity differences), working alongside Pinkwater Security and your twin sibling/executive officer, J.
The mission starts on Ganymede, the breadbasket of the Belt, with a covert objective: sneak into a secretive Protogen research base to retrieve stolen data. Walking through the station hubs, the world-building immediately shines. You weave past dock workers unloading cargo, mercenaries testing gear, and crowded corridors that feel alive and dense. It captures the Expanse flavor where corporate greed, blue-collar survival, and political powder kegs constantly collide.
I was particularly impressed by the organic flow of the mission, where objectives were highlighted by team members supporting you via comms. One instance a new objective popped up so naturally as I was exploring, I thought it was an optional secondary objective, and when I asked the lovely developer sitting with me during my playthrough if it affected a later piece of dialogue in the mission, he explained that it was mandatory, so no.
Snappy Combat and Environmental Chaos
When the stealth inevitably goes sideways and all hell breaks loose, Osiris Reborn transitions smoothly into its third-person shooter mechanics.
If you are coming into this expecting the slow, calculated tactical pauses of Owlcat’s past work, you’ll find something much faster here. The movement feels snappy: sliding into cover is reliable, dodging feels responsive, and gunplay has an aggressive, punchy rhythm. The demo showcased a satisfying lack of artificial bullet-spread restriction; if an enemy got too close, using a sniper rifle like an impromptu shotgun from behind cover yielded devastating results.
Crucially, the environment plays an active role in firefights. Owlcat has leaned heavily into destructible cover and reactive scenery. During intense gunfights against heavily armored mercenaries, shooting out power junctions, blowing up fuel canisters, or having J use explosives to shatter enemy barricades changes the flow of combat on the fly.
That said, combat isn’t a walk in the park. In the build I played, you were set up as a drone specialist, and let me tell you – using your secondary abilities in combat is key to survival. Caught out of cover, the time-to-death is remarkably punishing. I went down twice, by failing to use the cover and my skills correctly, my health melting in seconds, especially when tougher units and elite mercs flooded the room. Your companions are very efficient at getting you back into the action though!
Companions and Chaos
Just like BioWare’s classic formula, you aren’t fighting alone. You manage a squad of distinct crewmates, such as the hardened ex-UN soldier Michael DeGarmo or the sharp-toned combat medic Teo Lee. Real-time tactical commands allow you to direct your squadmates to flush out entrenched enemies or flank more challenging enemies. You don’t need to go into the tactics if you’d prefer not to, your squadmates are very competent without any micromanaging.
The demo’s tension dialled up to eleven in when a third faction upended the entire operation, unleashing a terrifying, highly resilient mutated creature into the base. What started as a corporate data-heist quickly devolved into a desperate, frantic scramble for survival – even including some horror adjacent moments – before you make your final choice that I’m sure won’t have any negative consequences in the future.
Outlook
While there was a few minor graphical issues during my hands-on (the classic companion moving a little weirdly to get out of your way), The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is shaping up to be an incredible game. By blending satisfying, action-heavy combat with tight mission pacing, rich companion dynamics, and a universe dripping with political intrigue, it’s looking to be exactly what fans of third-person, action RPGs having been waiting for.
If Owlcat can maintain this momentum, space-faring RPG fans are in for a serious treat when the game docks on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in Q2 2027.
