Aliens: Fireteam is receiving a prequel novel ahead of the game's launch later on this year. The book will help to establish Aliens: 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: Fireteam was surprise-announced with a gameplay trailer at 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.
The prequel novel, titled Aliens Infiltrator, is being written by Weston Ochse. Ochse has already written books for both the Alien and Predator franchises, in addition to over a dozen military fiction stories that often blend sci-fi and horror elements. A brief synopsis of Aliens Infiltrator describes 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 of Aliens Infiltrator takes place, Cold Iron Studios confirmed Aliens: Fireteam is set 23 years after the events of the original three Alien films (all of which are being 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: Fireteam will 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's God of War franchise released God of War: Fallen God, which fills the gap between God of War 3 and the 2018 reboot. Sony also used a similar tactic ahead of Spider-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 up Aliens Infiltrator can 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 entry Alien: Isolation for free on the Epic Games Store.
Aliens: Fireteam is scheduled to release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X this summer.
Source: Open Critic