I think that GBX was well-intentioned and that, to some extent, we should feel fortunate that we got a game at all.
While I don't think that GBX had a strict deadline to meet since the game was pushed back countless times since its announcement, I do think that, much like Alien3, they scrapped some pretty interesting ideas for the sake of familiarity and, separately, for what they believed "the fans would want."
The game appears to play it safe on one hand while pushing the boundaries of the universe on another. I'd be more willing to accept the new xeno varieties if they emerged out of other settings on different planets inhabited by different creatures (earth-based or not). But the fact that they are using places we already know and manipulating things with hap-hazard rationales for all the new stuff suggests a half-assed approach to the whole game rather than the dedicated assurances we've got over and over again from GBX about "authenticity."
I still don't see how this game is suppose to make Alien3 better, either.
Who knows, they might've caved in from pressure from FOX or just got too caught up with other projects to see their original vision of A:CM all the way through.