It’s been over 14 years since Mass Effect 3 came out, and no game has yet matched the experience of BioWare’s original trilogy. Even BioWare itself has found it difficult to recapture that success, as seen with Mass Effect: Andromeda and other titles like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. While many games have borrowed elements from Mass Effect, the original series uniquely combined them into a truly memorable and engaging experience. Now, looking ahead to mid-2026, two upcoming games not developed by BioWare – Exodus and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn – are beginning to show promise in replicating what so many others have tried and failed to achieve.
To truly capture the spirit of the original Mass Effect trilogy, a game needs to excel in four key areas: creating a believable world, writing engaging dialogue, developing memorable companions, and offering satisfying combat. While it’s too early to say if Exodus and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will fully achieve this, they currently appear to be the closest contenders yet. With Exodus being developed by former BioWare staff and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn directly inspired by Mass Effect, 2027 looks promising for fans of the iconic sci-fi RPG series.
Exodus Is Trying to Carry the Torch Forward
Whether Exodus will feel more like Mass Effect compared to The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is an open question, but the development team makes it a strong possibility. With veterans from the original Mass Effect trilogy – including Drew Karpyshyn, Chad Robertson, and James Ohlen – leading the project, it seems more likely to capture the spirit of those games. However, this could also be a drawback. The team might feel pressured to drastically change the formula to avoid being seen as simply repeating their past work. The ideal outcome would be for Exodus to feel inspired by Mass Effect without being a copy.
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Set about 40,000 years in the future, Exodus tells the story of humanity’s struggle for survival after Earth is gone. Players become Travelers, venturing across the Omega Centauri star cluster to find powerful artifacts and fight evolved humans called Celestials. Along the way, they’ll face difficult choices and navigate conflicts between different groups, all of which will impact the future of the galaxy. A key element of the game is time dilation – traveling through space causes years or even decades to pass for those who remain, so every decision has lasting consequences that affect generations to come.
Exodus’ Core Features
- STORY-DRIVEN SCI-FI RPG – Single-player, narrative-focused experience set 40,000 years in the future.
- TIME DILATION CONSEQUENCES – Choices ripple across time, affecting future generations and outcomes.
- THIRD-PERSON COVER COMBAT – Cover-based gunplay mixed with melee, abilities, and positioning.
- SQUAD-BASED COMPANIONS – Recruit allies whose relationships unlock storylines, quests, and lore.
- COMPANION-BASED ABILITIES – Team synergy and cooperative skills play a role in combat encounters.
- STEALTH OR OPEN APPROACH – Missions support multiple playstyles with equal viability.
- EXPLORATION-DRIVEN WORLDS – Travel across planets and star systems with large-scale sci-fi environments.
- MORAL CHOICE SYSTEMS – Branching decisions shape factions, characters, and overall narrative outcomes.
- ADVANCED TRAVERSAL TOOLS – Mechanics like grappling “railclaw” enable vertical movement and exploration.
- PROGRESSION AND BUILD SYSTEMS – Skills, gear, and abilities evolve alongside player choices and playstyle.
It looks like Exodus is on the right track. The game already features key elements like a strong story, a team of companions each with their own arcs, cover-based shooting with special powers, meaningful choices that impact the game, and a large world to explore. While it seems like a strong competitor to Mass Effect, Exodus has a unique time-bending mechanic that could really set it apart from other games like The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
Exodus’ Time Dilation Mechanics Are Its Bread and Butter
In Exodus, your decisions have a unique impact thanks to a clever take on time and consequence. Unlike many role-playing games where you see results right away, the effects of your choices unfold while you’re traveling in space. Because you’re moving at nearly the speed of light, time passes differently for you than for those you left behind. A mission that feels like days or weeks to you could mean years, decades, or even longer have passed for everyone else in the galaxy.
When players return to the game after being away, they might discover that characters have aged, relationships have evolved, and circumstances have changed dramatically. The world doesn’t stop while they’re gone—people and places continue to grow, change, and sometimes even fall apart. This is a unique take on the choice-driven gameplay seen in games like Mass Effect, surprisingly incorporating a bit of the time-bending concept from the movie Interstellar. Adding to this, Matthew McConaughey, the star of Interstellar, lends his voice to the character C.C. Orlev in Exodus.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Is Rebuilding the Formula in Its Own Image
While Exodus might feel similar to Mass Effect because of the people making it, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn could stand out by offering a fresh take on the formula instead of simply copying it. The strong political backdrop of The Expanse could give it a more distinct identity, unlike Exodus which will likely be constantly compared to Mass Effect. Plus, Osiris Reborn already looks more like the original Mass Effect games, potentially appealing to fans who miss that older style.
Because of the development team behind it, Exodus might feel more similar to the Mass Effect games compared to The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
In The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, you play as a mercenary caught in a dangerous conspiracy when a lockdown traps you on the asteroid Eros. Set in the world of The Expanse, the game unfolds a new story as tensions rise between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. You’ll create your own captain, build a crew, and command a ship, making critical decisions that impact your crew’s loyalty and your role in a politically charged and unstable solar system, all while facing the threat of the protomolecule. Every choice you make matters as you navigate survival and intrigue.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn’s Core Features
- STORY-DRIVEN SCI-FI RPG – Narrative-focused experience set in The Expanse universe.
- CUSTOMIZABLE CAPTAIN ORIGINS – Choose backgrounds like Earther, Martian, or Belter.
- SQUAD-BASED COMPANIONS – Recruit and lead a crew with unique roles and character arcs.
- THIRD-PERSON COVER COMBAT – Tactical gunplay with squad coordination and ability-driven encounters.
- CHOICE-DRIVEN NARRATIVE PATHS – Decisions impact relationships, factions, and outcomes.
- SHIP AS CENTRAL HUB – Command a stolen ship that serves as your mobile base.
- SEMI-OPEN SOLAR SYSTEM – Explore locations like Mars, Ceres, and Ganymede.
- ZERO-G GAMEPLAY SECTIONS – Combat and traversal extend into weightless environments.
- POLITICAL FACTION DYNAMICS – Navigate tensions between Earth, Mars, and the Belt.
- CHARACTER-DRIVEN STORYLINES – Companion quests, dialogue, and relationships shape the story.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn feels a lot like a Mass Effect game at first. It’s a story-focused sci-fi RPG where you can explore parts of space, create unique characters with personal histories that influence conversations, and build relationships – even romances – with your crew. Your spaceship is your home base, and it expands as you progress through the story. The combat is similar to Mass Effect, with cover-based shooting and special abilities, and you can pause to strategically plan your attacks. Political groups are also important, and your choices regarding them can change the story and ultimately affect the game’s ending.
While building on a familiar formula, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn really leans into what makes The Expanse unique: intense political maneuvering, morally gray choices, and conflicts driven by its characters. Unlike Exodus, which focuses on the long-term effects of time travel, Osiris Reborn emphasizes the immediate consequences of your decisions – how they affect your crew, relationships with different groups, and simply surviving in a dangerous solar system. This focus is key, because it means Osiris Reborn isn’t just copying Mass Effect; it’s taking what made that game successful and adapting it to a setting that already fits those themes perfectly.
Mass Effect Fans Have a Lot to Be Excited About in 2027
No matter which game is more popular in 2027, fans of Mass Effect have a lot to be excited about. Both Exodus and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn look like fantastic games inspired by Mass Effect, and ideally, they’ll both be successful, each offering something different. If either game can live up to its potential, it could show that the feeling of Mass Effect can be recaptured – it just needed the right team to try.
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2026-04-03 17:06