Everyone’s favourite xenomorphs are back and this time they’re bringing a ‘survival mode’ with them…

Gosh. A trailer just fell out of a vent in my study and upon inspection it appears to contain footage of yet another multiplayer mode for Gearbox’s Aliens FPS, Colonial Marines. Along with aliens vs marines deathmatch and a co-operative campaign mode, objective-based team combat has also been promised, and Survivor, along with the already announced Escape mode offers just such a thing. One team controls aliens, which now come in different classes, and the other controls marines, who grunt and occasionally panic. And panic they should because they are doomed. Alien players respawn, marine players do not. Or if they do, they probably respawn as aliens.

I quite like the idea. Unlike the Escape mode, it’s not clear why the marines wouldn’t just find a safe spot and stay there forever, but that is the where the magic of level design will make itself known.

Colonial Marines is a canonical part of the Alien timeline, which makes me wonder whether every multiplayer game that takes place becomes part of the lore. Millions of dead marines, who perished cursing the alien queen’s supposed weight problems shortly after swearing at one another and bunny-hopping in a cargo lift.