Corporal Hicks Returns in Aliens: Colonial Marines

[MikeWehner]

Corporal Hicks Returns in Aliens: Colonial Marines

A classic Aliens character makes an unexpected comeback, complete with voice work by the original actor.

Aliens fans have already seen and heard plenty about the upcoming Gamezone [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/tag/aliens+colonial+marines] might just give diehard Xenomorph hunters a reason to squeal: The beloved Corporal Dwayne Hicks will appear in both the multiplayer and campaign portions of the game, and what's more, actor Michael Biehn is lending his vocal chords to voice the character.

Given the storied history of the franchise, any new piece of media that carries the Alien name automatically has pretty big shoes to fill. Aliens, the second film in the series, is largely considered to be the finest - and most quotable - entry. Bringing back a memorable character and scoring the original actor to voice him should lend a pleasant touch of nostalgia to the shooter.

If you're not familiar with the Alien franchise - or simply need a refresher on how these 20-year-old flicks unfolded - let me fill you in on why the addition of Hicks is interesting from a story perspective: After the marines' botched mission on planet LV-426, Hicks is one of just three people to survive, with the other two being Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and a young civilian girl nicknamed Newt. When we rejoin the story in the sequel, Alien 3, both Newt and Hicks have died in their crashed escape pod, leaving Ripley as the lone survivor.

Colonial Marines takes place after the events of Alien 3, and is considered to be part of the official Alien story canon. So, given that Hicks dies before the game's adventure takes place, we imagine that some crazy sci-fi twists are in store that allow him to return.

Source: Gamezone [http://www.gamezone.com/products/aliens-colonial-marines/news/corporal-hicks-is-somehow-involved-in-the-aliens-colonial-marines-campaign]

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[cerebus23]

so the game is official canon, maybe alien 3 has been retconed out of existence? seems the easiest way to fix that issue.

And the amount of hate a3 gets in general many people would be fine with that.

we already did it with resurrection anyway.

 

[BrotherRool]

It was always so shocking how Aliens ended, completely surprised me that it didn't obey pretty much the golden rule of horror. I was competing with friends to predict the result and it caim right out of left field

 

[Hitchmeister]

I don't care about canonicity, bring back Hudson voiced by Bill Paxton and I'm on board.

 

[Bobic]

If they can

Spoiler: Spoilers for when the alien series went off its rocker.

clone Sigourney Weaver from some remnants they found in molten metal or whatever for Alien Resurrection, I don't see why they can't clone a dead guy whose full body is still lying around in a crashed ship, or something

 

[fix-the-spade]

so the game is official canon, maybe alien 3 has been retconed out of existence? seems the easiest way to fix that issue.

That would be lovely.

Although I expect this version's continuity to be that the Queen won her match with the power loader and Hicks' presence takes place entirely within the form of recorded message or security footage.

That's how I would explain the Sulaco still being in orbit over Hadley's Hope. Alternatively, he's spent six weeks cooped up in a dropship with the Queen prowling around outside, leaving him more than a little bit crazy hobo.

 

[JPArbiter]

or like many fans of the Alien Franchise, Gearbox will just pretend Alien 3 and Ressurection did not happen.

on it's own merits I kinda liked Alien 3, but as a continuation of the franchise it was a pile of crap.

 

[Bindal]

Well, sounds interesting that he somehow makes a comeback. But "pulling some Sci-Fi twists" doesn't have to be. One option would be simply to see a videorecording of him. That way, he's still dead, yet he's also back for the game.

or like many fans of the Alien Franchise, Gearbox will just pretend Alien 3 and Ressurection did not happen.

If you ask me, doing so disqualifies you as fan outright.

 

[Snowblindblitz]

or like many fans of the Alien Franchise, Gearbox will just pretend Alien 3 and Ressurection did not happen.

on it's own merits I kinda liked Alien 3, but as a continuation of the franchise it was a pile of crap.

I agree with this. Someone on these forums made the argument ( I believe it was in the No Right Answer thread of Ripley vs Connor) that A3 is more like the first in being a horror survival. And I agree the more I think about it.

But I do love Aliens, and would have preferred Newt and Hicks ending their own way, while Ripley was dropped off in A3.

 

[JPArbiter]

Well, sounds interesting that he somehow makes a comeback. But "pulling some Sci-Fi twists" doesn't have to be. One option would be simply to see a videorecording of him. That way, he's still dead, yet he's also back for the game.

or like many fans of the Alien Franchise, Gearbox will just pretend Alien 3 and Resurrection did not happen.

If you ask me, doing so disqualifies you as fan outright.

Eh, Tomato/Tomato. most franchises have good entries and bad entries, I do not judge fans who choose to ingore stuff, Vis a Vie the Star Wars prequels.

 

[Rad Party God]

Well, the series already nuked the fridge after Resurrection (3 wasn't that bad... please don't hurt me), so why not bring back the idea of cloning a generic (although lovable) space marine?

The more I hear news about this game, the more I want to play it. Time to wash off that bad taste that AvP left in my mouth.

 

[Bobic]

If they can

Spoiler: Spoilers for when the alien series went off its rocker.

clone Sigourney Weaver from some remnants they found in molten metal or whatever for Alien Resurrection, I don't see why they can't clone a dead guy whose full body is still lying around in a crashed ship, or something

because:

and he was cremated alongside Rebecca Jorden

http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Dwayne_Hicks

Huh, totally forgot about the cremation, guess we will get some ridiculous sci fi nonsense then.

That, or it's Dwayne's twin brother Dwain.

 

[Skeleon]

It takes place after Alien 3? Not a prequel?

Then the only ways within the story that I can think of off the top of my head are to either have him appear only in videos, audiologs and maybe some interactive recordings (like Star Trek "holograms" maybe?) that were recorded before Aliens took place.

Or it's an android-remake of the guy for whatever reason (remember that they decided to make Bishop, the android, into a facsimile of Weyland retroactively, a person who had died hundreds of years earlier; so duplicating people as androids is something the company can do and sometimes does).

Because Hicks, that guy, as cool as he was, is definitely dead.

And, no, if they clone him then I don't think he counts as Hicks. That Ripley-hybrid-abomination from Alien Resurrection was not Ripley, it just had some of her memories. Ripley, too, is definitely dead.

Last but not least: What about Hudson? Game over, man, game over! I hope they splice in that voice-clip when you die ingame.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

If people complain too much, Gearbox can always take the Hollywood route and do a 'based on a true story/historical events' claim...

Aliens: Colonial Marines
(based on Aliens canon)

 

[SnakeoilSage]

What's wrong with retconning out A3? Prometheus was a gift. It retconned the AvP series out of existence. I've always hated what Alien 3 did to the four characters from Aliens, if this game does away with A3 and Resurrection, I will happily buy it and consider it canon.

And it's got MICHAEL BIEHN. Dude! I'm awash in 80's nostalgic heterosexual man-crush juices.

YES I WENT THERE.

When I was a kid all my buddies wanted to be Hicks. Or Apone, 'cause he had some awesome lines too. But I wanted to be Hicks. First, he was cool. Second, he survived the film. Nuff said.

Call me pathetic but I'm gonna pick this up if only to see how this pans out. I really hope they do it some justice but either way I'm glad to see Hicks alive and kicking xenomorph ass.

/endfanboyrant

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

SNIP

and he was cremated alongside Rebecca Jorden

SNIP

Huh, totally forgot about the cremation, guess we will get some ridiculous sci fi nonsense then.

That, or it's Dwayne's twin brother Dwain.

He's in the military, they could have a blood and tissue sample for medical or security reasons, hell his GP might have some. It's not hard to come up with a reason for someone having his DNA somewhere.