Aliens: Fireteamis receiving a prequel novel ahead of the game’s launch later on this year. The book will help to establishAliens: Fireteam’s premise, and according to the development team’s founder will introduce “some great new characters and new nightmares.”
Created by Cold Iron Studios,Aliens: Fireteamwas surprise-announced with a gameplay trailerat the beginning of March. The third-person co-op shooter has players assembling squads of three Colonial Marines aboard a Weyland-Yutani ship, the USS Endeavor. The squad of Marines will be made up of five classes: Gunner, Demolisher, Technician, Doc, and Recon, each with their own unique abilities and modifications to combat numerous threats.
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The prequel novel, titledAliens Infiltrator, is being written by Weston Ochse. Ochse has already written books for both theAlienandPredatorfranchises, in addition to over a dozen military fiction stories that often blend sci-fi and horror elements. A brief synopsis ofAliens Infiltratordescribes the book taking place on Pala Station, a Weyland-Yutani facility. Dr. Timothy Hoenikker is lured to the station by the promise of alien artifacts, but instead finds a warped bureaucracy and staff testing the effects of Xenomorph bio-materials on living creatures. When the experiments spiral out of control after a delivery of alien eggs, Victor Rawlings, a former marine, gathers other veterans in hopes of survival.
While it’s unclear exactly when the events ofAliens Infiltratortakes place, Cold Iron Studios confirmedAliens: Fireteamis set 23 years after the events of the original threeAlienfilms (all of which arebeing remastered for Disney Plus). While plenty of the films' recognizable Xenomorphs will be present, it’s not the only threat the protagonists will face.Aliens: Fireteamwill feature over 20 enemy types, including 11 different Xenomorphs, Synthetics, and other untold horrors lurking in deep space.
While a prequel book for a video game is still a fairly uncommon practice, it has been done before. Earlier this year, Sony’sGod of Warfranchise releasedGod of War: Fallen God,which fills the gap betweenGod of War 3and the 2018 reboot. Sony also used a similar tactic ahead ofSpider-Man: Miles Morales' launch, releasing a comic book with a plot that led directly into the start of the PlayStation-exclusive title.
Those interested in picking upAliens Infiltratorcan do so now, as the novel officially launches today. While the game it precedes,Aliens: Fireteam, has yet to receive a release date beyond “summer 2021,” fans of the franchise can grab acclaimed survival-horror entryAlien: Isolationfor free on the Epic Games Store.
Aliens: Fireteamis scheduled to release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X this summer.
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