The original cast of the 1979 film Alien have been reunited for Alien: Isolation’s pre-order DLC.

Sigourney Weaver will reprise her iconic role as Ellen Ripley for the first time in 17 years. She will be joined by Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Veronic Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), and Yaphet Kotto (Parker).

The DLC contains two missions, both allowing players to relive classic scenes from the original movie.

Everyone who pre-orders the game will get a free upgrade to the ‘Nostromo Edition’, which includes the first of the two DLC missions, entitled “Crew Expendable”. Taking place moments after the death of Brett, it sees players assuming the role of Ripley, Dallas or Parker, as the crew of the Nostromo attempt to flush the alien from the air vents and into the ship's airlock. Depending on which character you choose, you'll have a slightly different perspective on events and will begin with different resources.

The second pre-order mission – “Last Survivor” – will be available through select retailers depending on territory. Set during the film's dramatic finale, you play as Ripley and must activate the Nostromo's self-destruct sequence and reach the Narcissus shuttle in order to escape.

The pre-order missions have been devised as ‘What If’ scenarios according to the game’s creative director Alistair Hope. Speaking to IGN, Hope says, “There’s no point in us trying to match beat-for-beat what occurs in the film. The film is much better at doing that than a game.

“We came with the approach these guys had a plan to try and take on the alien, to flush it out of an airlock. What else could have happened?”

And even though players will be able to freely explore areas of the doomed Nostromo, from the habitation deck down to engineering, Hope is keen to stress these aren’t interactive dioramas: “We’ve used those moments to give us some kind of structure; as to what occurs is very much down to the player.”

Alien Isolation Pre-Order Movie DLC 3 IMAGES

That said, the DLC is built on the same foundations as Alien: Isolation itself. “At its heart, it’s the same,” says Hope. “You’re still confronting the alien, which is dynamic and reactive. It’s not scripted, which I think fits perfectly with these characters trying to confront it and surprise it. Every time you play it’s different.”

“ What if we could get the original cast back together? What if we could put them back on the Nostromo to face the creature?"

In fact, the entire idea for the DLC started life as one big ‘What if’. “What if we could get the original cast back together? What if we could put them back on the Nostromo to face the creature? It just started from there,” Hope tells me.

And having the original cast involved – only Ian Holm (Ash) doesn’t return, though his character will feature – was crucial to making the DLC missions possible. “I suppose we could’ve generated something that was along those lines,” admits Hope. “But it was absolutely critical to have those characters reprising their roles for this to work. When Parker says, 'This plan is suicide' – it actually has weight to it, and that comes from having Yaphet Kotto delivering the lines.

“It was unforgettable when Sigourney came in and started being Ellen Ripley again. It was quite special. The real joy was having Sigourney say, ‘Ellen would say this.’ We’d all look at each other, and say, ‘yes, of course that’s what she would say’. That’s an insight we couldn’t possibly have without working closely with those guys.”

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Alien: Isolation will be available from October 7th on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Daniel is IGN's Games Editor over in London. He sometimes writes about movies, too. You can be part of the world's most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter