Playing a Newt-like role in a video game seems perfect, too. It's survival-horror in the most true sense if you're playing a defenseless character that has to sneak into harder-to-fit spots than even the Xenomorphs can access.
I don't see a problem with trying to make a shooty-Aliens game, though. I can understand wanting to play the role of the space marine. But every time people do, they imitate it in the way a 10 year old that doesn't understand why story-telling works would imitate a film. For example, Aliens: Colonial Marines has interpersonal drama between the Marines! Okay...so...what caused that sort of tension in the film? A group of "bad asses" facing a threat that just wiped the floor with them, doing a 180 on all that machismo. What do you get in A:CM? Debate over whether they leave no man behind or not.
My first assessment of A:CM was that it was an Aliens game made for the Call of Duty player. I still stand by that in some respects, but it could have easily been so much more.
But before that, I really, REALLY want people to stop being so tied to Weyland-Yutani, Colonial Marines (did they ever say United States Colonial Marines in the film? I never got the impression they were tied to a specific nationality and were more like the National Guard. I mean, COLONIAL Marines. Marines for/from the Colonies.)
There's also the fact that in the briefing they mention "Another bug hunt", indicating that there are other alien creatures encountered on other worlds, just none so vicious.
I dunno. It just feels like there is room to expand the franchise. If there are Colonial Marines, what about mercenaries? How about space pirates? Alien 3 making a prison planet was an interesting setting (I'm all on board with Jim Sterling's defense for Alien 3), so why not look for other locations?
The Aliens make for a perfect monster wherever they are. But this silly idea that Aliens was the best film just causes people to be tied to the most superficial aspects of it, and to me only points out how wrong people are when they claim it is the best one (but that's an argument for another day).
As for story-telling, everyone loves the tram car in Half-Life 1. Y'know why the opening of Half-Life works? Because you get a chance to see Black Mesa in a state of normalcy. You get a sense of what life is like there. You get to walk around and see the facility. Then you see it destroyed and watch as scientists who greeted you on your way in are getting killed. Doom 3 almost had this as well, only once all Hell literally broke loose you pretty much didn't see a single living human for a while.
Xenoblade: Chronicles managed to teach the player basic combat mechanics before the game's story even really started as well, but I'm still of the opinion that Japan is so far beyond the West in terms of story-telling in games that it's almost unfair to make the comparison (not saying their stories are better, just that they have a better understanding of how to make use of the medium in terms of narrative. With the exception of some games (Metal Gear), you eventually stop caring about the number or length of cut-scenes because you're actually invested in the characters. Xenoblade's opening is pretty damn fantastic, and I wish more devs would learn that you CAN take your time telling a story, and players don't need to be shoved into high octane combat within the first few minutes).