Aliens: Infiltrator - Weston Osche

Started by Corporal Hicks, Oct 16, 2019, 07:40:23 AM

Author
Aliens: Infiltrator - Weston Osche (Read 64,336 times)

Delta Echo Alpha Delta

Quote from: Xenomrph on May 08, 2021, 04:58:45 PM
Quote from: muthur9000 on May 07, 2021, 07:31:43 AM
Quote from: SM on May 06, 2021, 01:12:27 PM
QuoteI am always told bluray menus don't count as canon

Told by whom?

I wasn't a fan of LV-223 being in Z2R personally.  Iota Persei was a better choice based on the distance stated in the film.  However CdL does that stuff and works closely with Ridley and was involved in the film's production, plus it's been pretty locked in ever since so I just go with it.

Easter Eggs and Blu-ray menus don't count as canon otherwise the whole thing about Eldon Tyrell would be canon, and we both know Alien and Blade Runner aren't in the same universe.
It could be a different, but functionally similar, Eldon Tyrell. Weyland could know a Tyrell who is a contemporaneous robotics pioneer, but isn't literally the same Eldon Tyrell from Blade Runner in 2019 and the events of Blade Runner still didn't take place in the Alien universe. Retrofitting the BR character into the Alien universe, basically. The Alien RPG does a lot of that stuff with its references to the old EU and other non-Alien stuff like the Alien3 scripts, Outland, etc.

But Disney doesn't own the Bladerunner IP

Nukiemorph

From what I understand, those Blade Runner references were thrown in for fun by the author of the blu-ray with no oversight or consultation. Not really the person you want making big canon decisions.

(The Prometheus blu-ray also establishes that the derelict beacon is already transmitting during the Prometheus mission. I think it's still up in the air as to whether or not that's true, but I don't want the guy who put the blu ray together making that decision.)

Corporal Hicks

Also what's up how easily they just somehow
Spoiler
created another Leon.
[close]

Xenomrph

Xenomrph

#258
Quote from: Delta Echo Alpha Delta on May 09, 2021, 11:43:45 AM
Quote from: Xenomrph on May 08, 2021, 04:58:45 PM
Quote from: muthur9000 on May 07, 2021, 07:31:43 AM
Quote from: SM on May 06, 2021, 01:12:27 PM
QuoteI am always told bluray menus don't count as canon

Told by whom?

I wasn't a fan of LV-223 being in Z2R personally.  Iota Persei was a better choice based on the distance stated in the film.  However CdL does that stuff and works closely with Ridley and was involved in the film's production, plus it's been pretty locked in ever since so I just go with it.

Easter Eggs and Blu-ray menus don't count as canon otherwise the whole thing about Eldon Tyrell would be canon, and we both know Alien and Blade Runner aren't in the same universe.
It could be a different, but functionally similar, Eldon Tyrell. Weyland could know a Tyrell who is a contemporaneous robotics pioneer, but isn't literally the same Eldon Tyrell from Blade Runner in 2019 and the events of Blade Runner still didn't take place in the Alien universe. Retrofitting the BR character into the Alien universe, basically. The Alien RPG does a lot of that stuff with its references to the old EU and other non-Alien stuff like the Alien3 scripts, Outland, etc.

But Disney doesn't own the Bladerunner IP
They don't have to - they don't own Outland and that's referenced in the RPG, too.

Quote from: Nukiemorph on May 09, 2021, 05:29:52 PM
From what I understand, those Blade Runner references were thrown in for fun by the author of the blu-ray with no oversight or consultation. Not really the person you want making big canon decisions.

(The Prometheus blu-ray also establishes that the derelict beacon is already transmitting during the Prometheus mission. I think it's still up in the air as to whether or not that's true, but I don't want the guy who put the blu ray together making that decision.)
They wouldn't be making that decision, though. That would be someone like Andrew Gaska retroactively saying "yeah that's canon, and here's how it fits".

-- edit, just asked him, and an Eldon Tyrell reference could work exactly the way I'd proposed it.

SM

SM

#259
Quote from: Delta Echo Alpha Delta on May 07, 2021, 07:31:43 AM
Quote from: SM on May 06, 2021, 01:12:27 PM
QuoteI am always told bluray menus don't count as canon

Told by whom?

I wasn't a fan of LV-223 being in Z2R personally.  Iota Persei was a better choice based on the distance stated in the film.  However CdL does that stuff and works closely with Ridley and was involved in the film's production, plus it's been pretty locked in ever since so I just go with it.

Easter Eggs and Blu-ray menus don't count as canon otherwise the whole thing about Eldon Tyrell would be canon, and we both know Alien and Blade Runner aren't in the same universe.

The Blu-ray doesn't feature the name "Eldon Tyrell".  I don't see it as an either/ or absolute.  Especially when the guy who wrote it said it wasn't to be taken seriously anyway.

Nukiemorph

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on May 09, 2021, 05:36:26 PM
Also what's up how easily they just somehow
Spoiler
created another Leon.
[close]
Spoiler
From what I understand, this was a creature native to LV-895 that he injected with the pathogen, right? If that's the case, I would be completely okay with him snagging another one and injecting it with the same amount of pathogen.

But instead, the book casually mentions that he was able to just fart out a new one with stem cells he collected from the first one - as if that's no big deal...
[close]

Nukiemorph

Nukiemorph

#261
Finally finished.

I'm watching the Studio Yutani interview now that I don't need to avoid spoilers. Westin says the the Leon will show up in the game, so we'll get to see a visualization to clear up the shoddy book description.

Hearing Weston say the end of the book is the very beginning of the game makes it a little more enjoyable.

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#262
Quote from: SM on Apr 28, 2021, 11:27:16 PM
So I'm a couple of chapters in and mercifully a number of character names have been changed from the outline.

But that 223 thing is an absolute howler...

Did the outline you read include

Spoiler
Church?
[close]

I kept trying to figure out which character he was supposed to be originally.

Quote from: SM on Apr 29, 2021, 08:12:04 AM
Every character bar two in the outline was named after a cast or key crew member of Aliens or Alien3. And there was a LOT of characters. So far there's only Fairbank, Matthews and Rawlings. There's a character called Cruz (Ross originally) but I don't think it's a nod to Raymond Cruz.

God, the ones that made it in were distracting enough.


Just finished reading it. In short, I thought it was ok. I enjoyed it just a bit more than Stalking Shadows or Alien: Isolation, but Titan is still suffering the video game novel curse IMHO. Lots of interesting little things in there that didn't really make it into a complete or satisfying story IMHO. None of the characters really clicked with me. Cruz was kinda interesting by the end, but Hoenikker just bored the crap out of me. Then when Cruz called him a fool and idiot, I was like "yep."

I'm trying to decide between a 5 or a 6. But I'll make my mind up when I do a full review.

Nukiemorph

5 or 6 here too.

I was feeling 5 at first, largely because it felt like the book teased a lot of things but never paid them off, like
Spoiler
areas of the base being off limits to all of our characters.
[close]

But hearing him specify in the Studio Yutani interview that he was instructed to tease things that would be paid off in the game, I'll forgive it and go with a 6.

SM

SM

#264
I'm about two thirds through this and surprised that I'm really digging it.

Spoiler
The characters aren't the most engaging and the overuse of "Xenomorph" and "Colonial Marine" is a bit irritating, but there's stack of unexpected twists and turns and a bunch of action to make up for it.
[close]

Gentleman Death

Quote from: SM on May 17, 2021, 09:36:17 PM
I'm about two thirds through this and surprised that I'm really digging it.

Spoiler
The characters aren't the most engaging and the overuse of "Xenomorph" and "Colonial Marine" is a bit irritating, but there's stack of unexpected twists and turns and a bunch of action to make up for it.
[close]

It's definitely not a bad book. I just wish it wasn't a game tied in as a few things were left unsaid or just completely dropped.

SM

SM

#266
Okay so finished it.

Spoiler
  Didn't end as strongly as I'd hoped, but overall I dug it.  A lot of Cruz's dialogue was clunky and clichéd.  Other characters, less so.  There's annoying repetition of the terms 'Colonial Marines' (used 74 times) and Xenomorph (196 times).  By comparison 'alien' is used in reference to the creatures about 20 times, and 'Colonial Marine' is used just twice in the film that spawned it.

So lots of twists and turns that I didn't expect.  I thought Hoenniker's ex-girlfriend showing up was an awful twist, but then Ochse managed to make something interesting out of it.  A lot of characters we'd spent time with in the first third of the booked wiped out 'off screen', which I also liked.

The subplot of Hyperdyne blackmailing Fairbanks to map Pala station as well as the 'secret areas' hinted at earlier and all but confirmed by McCune, are forgotten.  I'm assuming these will pop up in the game as will the hunting lodge.

The cast and crew names from the outline had been dialled down quite a bit, but there were still too many – we spend the last third of the book with Hoenniker, Kash, Rawlings, Cruz, McGann and Buggy – four of the six are named after Aliens and Alien 3 cast or crew.  Cruz and Etienne were also originally named after Aliens cast members.    I'll do up a full list if anyone wants to be really annoyed.  Cruz may now hold the record for 'most used name'.  Clara pointed out to me recently that there's a Cruz in the new comic series, as well and A:CM and the Xenogenesis comic.  And I found Immy Cruz from Steel Egg.

On a personal name-dropping note I liked that they took a couple of my suggestions on board (PDTs were going to be nanites originally, for example).

I really didn't know what to expect from this book, but again, overall I quite liked that it left me guessing, as well as utilising the black goo in a non-specific manner that allowed for different creatures without really ever defining it.
[close]

BlueMarsalis79

Went full Resident Evil Biohazard with it, but with the radiation involved I can kinda accept that, for the purposes of this story.

Nukiemorph

Exactly. I feel like the radiation was an excuse to do whatever the hell he wanted and give us a reason to hand-wave contradictions in the future.

Ridley-proofing!

SM

SM

#269
Spoiler
I thought it was more the goo than radiation.
[close]

AvPGalaxy: About | Contact | Cookie Policy | Manage Cookie Settings | Privacy Policy | Legal Info
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Patreon RSS Feed
Contact: General Queries | Submit News