In a fantastic new interview with '360 Gamer' magazine about the upcoming 'Aliens: Colonial Marines', CEO and President of Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford, has responded to queries about the game's story, and how it will offer originality without moving too far away from the film series' mythology.
If you love the films, you need the fan service," explained Pitchford. "But, if that’s all it is, it ends up feeling a little shallow and light. Where we invent and we’ve done a lot of inventing, we also have to be careful.”
As for the game's story, Pitchford iterated the game's inspiration, distancing its narrative from the events of Alien Resurrection, and the recent Aliens vs Predator film.
“The relevant canon is Alien, Aliens and Alien 3. Alien Resurrection isn’t being contradicted by Colonial Marines, but that film took place so much later than Alien 3, so it isn’t really relevant to the timeline of our game."
As for other Alien entries:
"We have taken a lot of inspiration from other Alien franchise sources, but have not considered the comic books, novels, or games.”
Aliens is a very intricate and complex story line, with a dedicated fan service of fiction. The upcoming Ridley Scott film 'Prometheus' focuses on the very first discovery of the derelict spaceship from the first film, which has been the subject of detailed fan conjecture. It seems as though Gearbox is taking the safe route with the game, focusing on the most commonly known aspects of the Alien franchise.