As part of Alien Day I was able to ask author Mike Diver some questions about his pending book Aliens: The Video Games.
How did you get into being an author and how did the idea for an Alien themed book arise?
I studied journalism at university and have been writing for magazines and websites ever since I graduated in the early ‘00s. In 2015, while running the video gaming coverage at VICE, I was approached to write a book about indie games – and that book, Indie Games: The Complete Guide to Indie Gaming, came out in 2016. It’s rather out of date now. Further book opportunities followed, either through being approached by publishers or by actively pitching ideas, but these were never a full-time thing – and still aren’t. Over the years I’d written about Alien-series games several times, in the form of listicles and retrospectives, or coverage of new releases. I wanted to put together a deeper dive into the games of Alien 3 for an article, speaking to some of the developers who worked on the four very different official releases (rather loosely) based on that movie. I thought that’d be a neat piece for an upcoming Alien Day (every 26th of April). But the idea grew and I thought: why not pitch a whole book on Alien games? Which I did, and White Owl – who I’d worked with on a previous book of mine, The Console – immediately picked it up.
How long did it take you to research and write and what are some things you discovered along the way?
I began working on the book in early 2024 and had everything written and fairly finalised in August 2025. After that there were a few edits and additions made, but it was essentially a year-and-a-half from start to finish. Research wise, because of my background in the gaming media, I already had a lot of knowledge around the better-known titles, and some contacts I could speak to for interviews, but I reached out to a lot more along the way. When it comes to discoveries about the games, and the wider series – I include Alien/s vs Predator games in the book, too – I hope there’s plenty in there that readers will be reading about for the first time. I don’t want to spoil too much but I’d not previously known about how Fox panickily requested that Rebellion remove the Predalien from their PSP tie-in game for Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem; how the “game over, man” sample in Alien 3 for the SNES really shouldn’t have been there; and I’d never heard of a project called The Dream Monitor before, which would have been developed to promote Alien: Covenant.
What was the first Alien game you played and what is your favorite?
My first experience with an Alien game was Alien 3 for the Mega Drive – or Genesis, if you prefer – which I spent many an evening trying to learn the maze-like levels of. In the end I’m pretty sure I needed a guide to finish it. It’s a really intense game where it’s very easy to lose your bearings and run out of time on a stage – and when you do, the prisoners you’re meant to save from a grisly end duly have their chests exploded outwards. It remains one of my favourite Alien games to this day. But as for an actual favourite, it’s hard to pick just one. I love the Capcom Alien vs. Predator arcade game for blasting through with one of my kids in local co-op; I love Aliens: Infestation for how it manages to capture the spirit and atmosphere of Aliens in this 2D Metroidvania structure (and the end-credits music is a must-hear); and I love how Isolation made the alien scary again, in video games.
While the recent games have been significantly better; why do you think there have been so many misfires between the successes?
I don’t know about so many, but certainly Aliens: Colonial Marines was a disappointment for a lot of fans. Personally, I don’t think it’s without some merit, and it’s a fun multiplayer experience. But it fell well short of some impossible expectations – mostly because of how badly managed the project was, from the top. A lot of very talented developers worked incredibly hard to get that game out, and they received a lot of wholly unjustified abuse. Elsewhere, some of the movie tie-ins haven’t been amazing, but there’s still something novel about them – like how the Game Boy version of Alien 3 has this really unique puzzle aspect to how it unfolds, and a very singular way of putting the player in Ripley’s shoes; or how the PSP Requiem uses a branching mission structure to encourage replays and stretch its story beyond what we see in the film. (Assuming you could see anything – that’s one dark movie.)
Discounting the Sega release, why do you think we never got a proper AvP 3?
Well, the SEGA release – as in 2010’s AvP that Rebellion worked on – is really good, so it’s not like we got a booby prize there. As for why there wasn’t a third title sooner, after Monolith’s game, as far as I know it was never on the cards.
considering the canceled games and concepts, which were you most excited for?
Obsidian’s Alien: Crucible definitely had potential. It was being developed as an RPG set in the Aliens universe, and would have had some gameplay similar to Mass Effect (or, I suppose, Aliens: Fireteam Elite), with the player character accompanied by two AI companions on missions. It was also said to have a base-building feature, where you’d manage resources and defend against alien attacks. It was fairly close to completion before the publisher, SEGA, pulled the plug – they preferred another game that Obsidian was developing, Alpha Protocol, and poured their resources into that instead.
What do you think are the biggest challenge to making an Alien game and do you think the new corporate ownership has helped or hampered this?
The challenges now are all about what you can and can’t do as a studio with the license. Unlike the 1980s and ‘90s, where developers had a lot more freedom with the IP, and Fox made very few demands, the Alien brand is probably bigger than it’s ever been today, and that means a lot more control from Disney. But I do think that games can stay true to the spirit of the franchise and deliver something original – we don’t have to have endless retreads of the same old stories with the same quotable callbacks.
What would you like to see in an upcoming Alien game?
I know what I’d love to see in the forthcoming Creative Assembly game, the one that’s ostensibly the sequel to Alien: Isolation – I want to see, like a lot of us do, is what that studio’s take on Aliens (the movie) is like. If Isolation is Alien, the game, what’s CA’s own Aliens? I’d also love to see the game that Crucible might have been – an action-RPG set in the Alien universe. I really enjoyed the Mass Effect games and the idea of having similar gameplay and social interactions with an Alien theme and narrative running across it all is very much to my liking.
Will you be attending any upcoming conventions for the book?
I have no plans. It’s really expensive to do that sort of thing, unless an organiser or some other participant covers costs – and as I mentioned earlier, this isn’t a full-time thing. I’m not the sort of person who could go to a convention and be guaranteed sales. There’s a very real chance I’d come away with a loss, and I can’t risk that given my (to date) very modest book sales.
What are your hopes for the future of the franchise?
In general? That we get a great follow-up to Romulus, which I did really enjoy parts of but hated how it heavy it was with needless easter eggs. I get it from a casual perspective – that guy, he said the line! – but I think fans of all things Alien would love a new movie that actually stood by itself and told a fresh story without too much baggage attached. Games wise, I’m looking forward to the Creative Assembly title but the pressure on them to deliver is now huge, given the reputation that Isolation has developed. I hope that people are respectful of their work, and don’t start piling onto them when their next game isn’t exactly the thing that they might have been imagining. I’m sure it’ll be great. Oh, and I’d love it if WayForward or SEGA, whoever takes the initiative, finds a way to free Infestation from its DS prison. We’ve seen so many Wii U games release on Switch – surely there’s a way to adapt that awesome game’s dual-screen presentation for single-screen devices. I can’t sincerely see it happening – but never say never.
You can find the book at the publisher link and Amazon below.
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Aliens-The-Video-Games-Hardback/p/58218
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aliens-Video-Games-Unofficial-Guide/dp/1036127710/
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