Next Tuesday, after having been in development in numerous capacities for over a decade, Aliens: Colonial Marines arrives, bringing with it a wealth of hype and expectation, given that it stands as a rare video game adaptation of a movie that is acknowledged by the studio to be a canonical addition to the franchise.
Set shortly after the events of Aliens – perhaps best thought of as Alien 2.5 – we are placed in the shoes of a Marine who is, with his squad, searching for Ellen Ripley and any other possible survivors. Confirmed locations for the game include the Sulaco, LV-426, and also the Derelict from Alien.
The game’s potential to add to the mythology while also tipping its hat to classic franchise moments is unmistakable; there are so many brilliant scenes which could be alluded to while fashioning new, tension-dripping set-pieces. Simply, if references to these classic moments aren’t included, then something clearly went wrong.
Here are 10 classic moments Aliens: Colonial Marines needs to make sure to nod to…
10. The Dog Alien (Alien 3)
David Fincher’s attempt at the Alien franchise may have been a spectacular mess, but it did have a few nice ideas, the most memorable of which is surely the scene in which a dog (or an ox, if you’re watching the superior Assembly Cut) is impregnated by a facehugger, and ends up giving birth to a dog-alien hybrid, its canine DNA making it a more efficient hunter, capable of moving faster with its adapted tail and legs. Though it appears mostly in the form of garish visual effects, it’s a novel idea and one which needs to be explored further in the franchise.
It would take some work to tie this into Aliens, but given that LV-426 was colonised at the start of Aliens (before the population started getting wiped out), it’s plausible that this colony included at least a few animals, many of which may have been impregnated by a facehugger. Why not have us perform a sweep of the colonised houses, only for a cat-xenomorph or another dog one (if they’re not feeling too adventurous) to jump out of the darkness and attack?
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4 Comments
The motion tracker has to be in there, even the Alien Trilogy for the PS1 had this.
I’d love to see the bodies of some of the marines from the movie. As far as I know they go back to the Sulaco so seeing some of Bishop’s android blood would be pretty sweet, a reference to what happened to Burke would be awesome too.
I just hope this game doesn’t end up as bad as Duke Nukem
I’ve pre-ordered this game, the very first time I’ve done so (and I’m 33!) When I saw the trailer for it I was shot back 20 years to my obsession with the first two films. From what I gather, reading about it, the motion tracker is definitely in there, as is the ability to play as Hicks, Hudson and Apone etc (in the pre-ordered versions anyway). Cannot wait to play it!
If you play the Wii U version, the Wii U’s controller has the motion tracker on it’s iPad-like screen.
I preordered the Xbox 360 version at Gamestop.
At first I have the writer benefit of the doubt but come on. Motion trackers and face huggers where confirmed day one and anything from resurrection is impossible (seeing as it takes place long after alien 3) I don’t mean to be mean but I wish the writer knew more about the game and franchise.