The Expanse continues to amaze, and I can't wait to see more of it.
At Gamescom two weeks ago, I got the amazing opportunity to give The Expanse: Osiris Reborn another try, having previewed the game some months ago for the first time. It’s Owlcat’s first third-person, fully voice-acted RPG adapting the eponymous book series as well as elements of the popular TV show of the same name (well, except for the Osiris Reborn part).
The preview, which lasted over an hour, let me deeply engage with the game’s level design by dropping me into a massive station on Ganymede. There were so many things to do in the place, from going for mandatory quests and objectives to collectibles hiding around every corner, as well as optional content to explore, people to talk to, and things to read to expand my knowledge of The Expanse and its wonderful universe.
The level design was very consistent, and the NPCs placed within this sprawling station added tremendous atmosphere and a sense of a living, breathing community to the game, which, on top of talking to so many of these characters, created a strong sense of realism.
But the developers did not focus on just providing a huge sandbox environment for you to play in. The station has many levels and is as big vertically as it is horizontally, meaning that there are places in the station that have been long abandoned by its denizens and are instead used for… nefarious purposes like smuggling.
You are allowed to explore these parts during one segment of the main quest, all the while being pursued by a strange monstrosity, which shifts the game from a traditional sci-fi RPG in the vein of Star Trek to a Dead Space-like horror game.
This variety in environments within a single comprehensive level urges the player to explore and actually want to experience everything each part of the game has to offer, and with those mentioned collectibles distracting you with their magnetizing shiny lights, you rarely tend to stay on the beaten path. The art style and sound design only add to the overall space vibes, and that is especially true whenever the game kicks things up to 11.
And that’s where we get to the core part of this article, to which the headline is tied: The Expanse: Osiris Reborn has absolutely incredible combat.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.destructoid.com/the-expanse-osiris-reborn-fixes-the-issue-mass-effect-never-could/
