By Nick Venable | 6 years ago

While I’m sick of all these anniversary celebrations popping up for even film ever released, the 35th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s seminal classic Alien has made 2014 quite an exciting year. I seriously thought the recent glut of toy announcements was going to end up being the niftiest way to honor the sci-fi classic, but I was wrong. Sega and The Creative Assembly have gone the whole nine completely unpredictable yards by bringing the original cast back together again to reprise their roles for pre-order DLC for the upcoming video game Alien: Isolation.

If there were any lingering doubts that this game wasn’t going to be superior to the disastrous Aliens: Colonial Marines in every single way, this news just blew them out of the escape hatch.

Sigourney Weaver will return to the iconic role of Ellen Ripley for the first time in 17 years. She was last seen as a clone/hybrid thing in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection. Joining her in two exclusive missions are Tom Skerritt as Dallas, Harry Dean Stanton as Brett, Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, and Yaphet Kotto as Parker. The only person not returning is Ian Holm’s Ash, but the character will still be seen in the game, with or without his body.

Creative Director Alistair Hope talked with IGN, shared the images above and below, and said that getting the cast involved was the catalyst for making these DLC missions a reality. As he put it, “When Parker says, ‘This plan is suicide’ – it actually has weight to it, and that comes from having Yaphet Kotto delivering the lines.” It would have admittedly been cool to include these missions with different voice actors, regardless of how much shit talking it would have started, but getting everyone back together again 35 years later is worthy of endless awards and eternal praise.

Every pre-order of the game comes with the first DLC mission, titled “Crew Expendable,” which drops players into the moments just after Brett’s death. You can play as Ripley, Dallas, or Parker, and your goal is to get the alien beast out of the air vents and into the Nostromo’s airlock. The game, which is already set up to be a unique experience each time you play, gives you different resources and perspectives, depending on which character you pick.

The second mission is called “Last Survivor,” and its availability is tied into which retailer or territory the game is sold in. This quest takes place during the film’s climax, as Ripley has to survive long enough to start the Nostromo’s self-destruct sequence and make it to the Narcissus escape shuttle.

The game already looks freaky and claustrophobic, as players take on the role of Ellen’s daughter Amanda Ripley, trapped in a ship with few weapons and a deadly alien. However, I can’t imagine a better addition than getting to play Weaver’s version of Ripley in a video game. This is what being an adult is all about, no? Check out this Alien: Isolation gameplay trailer to get a better idea of how atmospheric this experience will be.

Since this is Ripley from the first film, there’s no reason to go out and shave your head just to feel more like her. However, no one would look at you funny if you dressed up like a Facehugger when the game hits stores on October 7.