While the ALIEN movie franchise doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to delivering quality video game experiences based on Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett's legendary sci-fi property, it's worth noting that Alien 3, the Aliens Extermination arcade game, and Sega's Alien: Isolation were all experiences worthy of the iconic brand. Today, FoxNext Games and D3 Go! announced a new chapter in the Alien franchise: Alien: Blackout, a premium survival horror mobile game developed by Rival Games and Theory Interactive that picks up the saga of Amanda Ripley between the films ALIEN and ALIENS.
According to a press release for the upcoming game:
In Alien: Blackout, players assume the role of Amanda Ripley, trapped aboard a crippled Weyland-Yutani space station carrying a blood-thirsty creature. Players will need to survive increasingly challenging, fear-inducing levels by balancing the controls of the space station’s emergency systems to skillfully guide their crew to safety and avoid encounters with the enemy. The unpredictability of both the mysterious alien and the ultimate fate of the crew will force players to make life or death decisions that permanently alter the outcome of the game.
You can check out the first trailer for Alien: Blackout below:
While the trailer doesn't reveal much in the way of gameplay, it certainly does a fine job of giving players a taste of the tense and close-quarters gameplay that awaits. I'm not entirely certain how intense that experience will be on a mobile device, but with the right set of headphones, I've no doubt that gamers will want to slip into a pair of their brown pants before pressing the START button.
This year, fans of the critically-acclaimed Alien: Isolation video game are invited to embark on new adventures with Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, by watching, playing, and reading her story as she renews her fight against the aliens after the events of Isolation. 20th Century Fox will partner with a wide range of storytellers and innovators to bring this epic chapter in the Alien Universe to life, with even more entries in Amanda Ripley’s story soon to be announced.
The game is coming to mobile platforms later this month, though fans can pre-register for Alien: Blackout on the App Store and Google Play. The game will also be made available via the Amazon Appstore at launch.
Will you be able to outsmart the alien, and command your crew to safety before the power goes out? I suppose you'll find out when the game hits mobile devices before the month is out.