Mass Effect is in the middle of an attempted comeback, with a fifth game in the series currently in development. It has a long road to go, and not just when considering the length of modern AAA development. ing the relative disaster of Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2017, the series teased another game set in the Milky Way, which remains officially untitled, but is tentatively known as Mass Effect 5. Sporadic teasers haven’t offered much insight into where the fifth installment is heading, but it now has some serious competition from another science fiction RPG.
BioWare’s Mass Effect series – or at least the original trilogy – has long been the pinnacle of space opera in gaming. Andromeda was a bold next step for the franchise, adopting more openly explorable zones, but a number of factors contributed to its bleak reputation. During Mass Effect‘s now eight-year absence, a replacement hasn’t stepped up, and the games starring Commander Shepard even made a triumphant reappearance with Mass Effect Legendary Edition. A new RPG has been revealed that has an exceptionally promising confluence of developer and setting, and it looks like it takes a lot of cues from Mass Effect.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Looks Like Mass Effect In A Different Universe
Third-Person Action RPG In Space
Developer Owlcat Games revealed an upcoming project called The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. It’s based on the novel series The Expanse, and takes a lot of its visual cues from the television show of the same name, also an adaptation of the books. While the lone trailer is mostly cinematic story teasers, there are a handful of gameplay clips, and it’s hard to overlook the obvious Mass Effect comparisons. It’s a third-person shooter that seems to make heavy use of cover systems, and there are a number of gadgets and abilities that are reminiscent of the skills and powers you wield in Mass Effect.
But it’s not just surface-level parallels. The official web page for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn on Owlcat Games’ website reads almost like a description of a new Mass Effect. «The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a third-person sci-fi action RPG,» reads the site, where you will «gather a crew and find your own path through the web of lies to leave your mark on the solar system.» A mention of a «brief sojourn on the asteroid Eros» that «entangles you in a solar system-wide conspiracy» even sounds a lot like Shepard getting dragged into the mysteries of the Reapers after coming into contact with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime in the original Mass Effect.
There is a heavy emphasis on your ship’s crew in The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, and again it seems to in the tradition of Mass Effect where each companion has a personal story in addition to their motivations for joining you on the main quest. Your ship is emphasized as an important hub, and your choices in the game are touted as bearing significant weight in deciding the fate of the solar system.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will unsurprisingly feature a variety of locations to explore, and while it won’t have the entire Milky Way at its disposal, there are plenty of places players will find familiar from the books and TV series. Ganymede, Ceres, Eros, Mars, and the Moon are explicitly mentioned on the official website, and will seemingly all be explorable and filled with NPCs to converse with.
Owlcat Games Is Great At Working In Established Settings
It's Tackled Pathfinder & Warhammer 40K
While the atmosphere of the trailer and its gameplay clips are already promising, the most exciting thing about The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is that it’s coming out of Owlcat Games. The studio has built its reputation on CRPGs, so a third-person action RPG will be interesting new territory, but its strengths carry over well to a game based on The Expanse. Owlcat already has a wealth of experience working in established universes, first making a couple Pathfinder games, then releasing the faithful Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.
Owlcat’s games are known for their massive scripts, which dive deep into their respective franchises’ lore. While Mass Effect was an original setting created by BioWare, its world-building is one of the reasons it’s become so beloved, and Owlcat will thrive with such a rich background like The Expanse. The studio has so far only produced isometric games with turn-based or real-time-with-pause combat, so Osiris Reborn‘s action combat may be something to keep an eye on, but Owlcat’s RPG systems are usually sophisticated enough that character building shouldn’t be of any concern.
Mass Effect Has A Long, Difficult Road Ahead Of It
BioWare Isn't The Same
Calling The Expanse: Osiris Reborn more promising than Mass Effect 5 isn’t to say I think the latter will be bad; in fact, I perhaps have misguided faith in BioWare to deliver, even despite my tepid perception of Andromeda. The game does, however, have a lot working against it, not the least of which is its publisher. Electronic Arts, Mass Effect‘s publisher and BioWare’s parent company, has recently conducted a series of layoffs. Among those layoffs came restructuring at BioWare, which left the studio with a headcount of less than 100.
There’s a relatively small team working on Mass Effect 5 in pre-production, and it would seem EA has lost some faith in the studio after last year’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which was received favorably by critics, but ended up being divisive with audiences. The Mass Effect games aren’t ambitious by today’s standards, but they pushed the envelope at the time, and it remains to be seen if BioWare will have the development power to truly deliver.
While I hope Mass Effect 5 can succeed, there is also some trepidation surrounding its premise. Returning to the Milky Way is all well and good, but it could be resurrecting Commander Shepard as well, which might not satisfyingly continue on from the choices players made as the character in their individual playthroughs. Mass Effect without the Reapers is also a massive deescalation of stakes, and if they’re brought back, it’ll undo all the work of the original trilogy.
I would love to have a new, incredible Mass Effect, but I’m worried the odds are stacked against it. BioWare still has a lot of potential despite the circumstances, and this is likely the game to prove it. No game has really stepped up to challenge Mass Effect in its absence, but The Expanse: Osiris Reborn looks like it’ll give it a shot, albeit in a slightly more tame setting in a single solar system.
Sources: Owlcat Games, Owlcat Games/YouTube
