The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Will Take Cues From Mass Effect, Souls Games and More

For a certain type of science fiction fan, the new surprise of a video game Located in one of the most popular television series and books, The extentStrike like a train of media threshing goods. The expander: Osiris Reborn is an RPG of action currently in development of Owlcat Games without yet the release date, but that did not stop the creative director of the studio, Alexander Mishulin, to give me some early details on the game.

There are many reasons why the extent has been so successful, the greatest of which is its skillful mixture of well -written characters intertwined with political intrigues affecting great theaters. Unlike Star Wars and other popular space fictions, The Expande – James SA Corey and The Syfy / Amazon Prime Show books – is “hard” science fiction with realistic physics and scenarios. By talking to Mishulin, the Owlcat games based in Cyprus ensures that all this makes it their game.

Osiris Reborn’s announcement trailer, published during Summer game festival Earlier this month, shows a lot of characteristics of the television program: the fight of Zero-G ships, sealed flight combinations, a tactical pistol game and the protomolecule. But the end showed something more promising: the first images of gameplay which, despite being pre -alpha and not representative of the appearance of the end game, represents third -person exploration that OWLCAT games are aimed at using.

Finally, it seems a very mass effect. Many of Mishulin teammates are fans of the legendary RPG of Bioware’s science fiction action, and he recognized that he inspired Osiris Reborn. But he pointed out that the team was also based on RPGs as Baldur’s Gate 3 For its cinematic history by focusing on the companions, while the Japanese RPGs have served as models for a great characterization which keeps you attached to the characters through the long history of a game.

“I am not saying that we take something, say, persona 5, but the approach, the idea that the characters are at the front and at the center of the story and how they evolve throughout the story until the end is a bit similar,” said Mishulin.

Osiris Reborn takes place in the same area near the earth as his source equipment, in particular during the events of the first and second seasons of the show (or the first two books). There will be entirely new characters for the player to meet and add to his party, which has been done to give OWLCAT games more creative to tell stories rather than strictly adapting books or the show, although they can meet heroes and better known.

“You will see with your own eyes the repercussions of Holden’s actions, all situations like the Canterbury, and how it affects people in the belt, the people of the interior planets,” said Mishulin. “You will have your own adventure with your own objectives, choice, consequences in the same universe [with] All major events take place in this universe next to your story. “”

What the players will recognize more are the planets, the moons and the places they will visit in Osiris Reborn – in fact, the game begins on the Eros station. Fans of entertainment and book will remember what was going on there at this stage of the chronology, and yes, the extrasolar protomolecule altering man will make an appearance in the game, evoking a similar horror in the show. Likewise, the subsidiary of the company which studies the extraterrestrial molecule will also appear, said Mishulin, suggesting that its most sinister project, the hybrid hybrid of human protomolecule, will also appear.

From the trailer and the descriptions of Mishulin, Osiris Reborn sounds as if it will be very different from other adaptations of the franchise, such as the extended game of Telltale, focused on the story. And for fans of Mass Effect, it seems that OWLCAT’s game will have RPG systems and fights that have elements similar to Bioware classics, but give players more capacity to build characters and play as they wish. Mix strong characters with comparisons with other popular RPGs and Osiris Reborn sounds like many of what fans want in a game adapting the franchise.

RPG Fight from space in the third modern person

Osiris Reborn’s fight will allow a variety of approaches, said Mishulin, allowing players to mix and match their dependence on fire and various capacities. In the announcement trailer, the hero’s trio presented three different approaches to fights: traditional firearms, support from distance drones and a defensive ballistic shield (as well as a weapon mounted on the shoulders), which worked in tandem to strike enemies on all sides.

“The RPG system is very open, allowing you to build the character you like. It is part of our vision of the game to allow you to experience and find things you love,” said Mishulin.

The characters are not based on the lessons, and the players can try weapons and devices they find along the way. The weapons you collect will have different parameters, such as damage, precision or decline, it is therefore up to the player to know which firearms best adapt to their construction. In this way, Mishulin vaguely compared Osiris Reborn to a Souls game – not in his difficulty, but to discover weapons during the game and strengthen your style of play around him. The team wants the players to shine with their abilities and their weapons to find what suits them best, especially by finding unique synergies.

Mishulin has given an example: a visor that highlights enemies through smoke and cover (which “allows you to start feeling a bit like a character in many films from the 80s or 90s”, said Mishulin) who will help players from enemies through the walls. It works better with slow and impactful weapons than with a quick machine gunner, he noted, so it is only useful with certain play styles.

In Osiris Reborn, players will also have two companions to put in combat, although the rest of your cloth team will not only stay on the ship, killing time, noted Mishulin. They will help you achieve the objectives as the missions progress – sometimes even by forming teams to manage situations elsewhere.

As we can see in the trailer, the players will have their own little ship (similar to the Rocinante in the books and show expand) that the main characters call at home and use to embark on missions. And although the fight of ship ships is not in Osiris Reborn – at least not controlling it like the other games of combating dogs – players will be able to move and customize their ship slightly.

And although this does not necessarily relate to combat, players will create their main character and establish their background frame as being of the earth, March or the belt (the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter). The characters of the players will be confronted with hostility because of their origins and other choices or consequences, but later in the game, they will be able to move their allegiances as they wish – perhaps they will be born a Belter but will move slowly towards the ideology of March, suggested Minshulin or choose to be a double agent. In the end, there will be a lot of paths and choices so that players choose their own experience, a defined by choices.

Adapt the extent after working on Warhammer 40K and other franchises

Owlcat Games is best known for its titles in the worlds of popular cheesy properties like Warhammer 40K and Pathfinder (a table game similar to Dungeons & Dragons). Games like Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader have shown how Owlcat developers can bring a specific story and history in the world of intellectual property through close involvement with those who hold rights.

“Our previous games have taught us to communicate this approach, to communicate our vision and our passion for this particular universe to an IP holder,” said Mishulin.

Fans of the extent among the developers of Owlcat Games have set up a field for an adaptation and approached Alcon Entertainment. The expanding universe was a good choice for the type of narrative of the studio, Mishulin said: Science-fi-fiction finished and grainy with many political power and intrigue networks. More importantly for Owlcat, the universe has many opportunities to present a players’ agency in the choices, the consequences and the major decisions – which is quite obvious in books and the show.

Owlcat began to develop Osiris Reborn in 2021 and spent almost a year prototyper the game, because it went from the unity engine used for its previous games to Unreal Engine 5 to better adapt its vision. While his previous games were Isometric tactical games controlling several characters from above, Osiris Reborn positions the camera on the main character’s shoulder for a more intense experience that suits gameplay and cinematographic approach.

OWLCAT’s game aims to preserve the realistic approach of Epane science fiction, said Minkulin, including the way it treats the deadly emptiness of space.

“A large part of our extent experience is [conveying] This space is a very dangerous and unwelcoming place, “said Minshulin.

From decompression to navigation on zero-g environments to the “click” of magnetizing boots on the surfaces, the players should see authentic visual and audio touches of the show and the books. The only exception they make: the shots will make sounds in space, but should respect the “feeling of physics and how it should be” in their game, “said Minshulin. The studio will have an approach similar to the phenomena of physics to travel in space or to be on a space station, especially when it looks cool and plunges the player.

Unfortunately, Minshulin could not give me an example of one of these physics phenomena – because it would spoil the content that will be demonstrated in the demonstration of the Owlcat game would appear in August during the Gamescom Convention this year in Cologne, Germany. Although Owlcat has not yet set out a release date for the game, expanders fans will soon be able to see more of what Owlcat has in reserve for what looks like the greatest adaptation of the science fiction franchise so far.