Now as a book i'm not sure this would have worked for me, even though it had more plot than I was expecting and linked really well to other offerings in the universe. It's pretty basic and has some questionable dialogue. But as a dramatised audio, it was just right- any cheesy bits add rather than detract from the experience. From the motion sensors to hissing aliens and automatic gun fire, it dings all the audio bells so loved in the films and sets your mind's eye alight. Extra points for the sound used for the facehugger application process, which is enough to make you lose you lunch, and never failed to make me gag, shudder, and lean back in my seat to get away from what, for me thankfully, was a non-existent threat. The characters were shit out of luck though. To be fair, all i'm looking for in this type of listen is lots of people getting killed by lots of aliens so I was pleased it delivered this and a whole load more.
The absolute best part is always the anticipation, that feeling of knowing so much more than the people on the ground. So you get situations where a team investigating the old mines of LV-178 go quiet and their coms aren't working because of the Trimanite interference, but their heart rate monitors show a big spike 10 hours ago followed by what looks like them sleeping and everyone's totally fine about it.... because it doesn't seem like something's wrong.. and i'm like 'OH YOU THINK SO???' What I KNOW is that they were scared shitless by a bunch of aliens, then facehuggered, and are now glued to a wall with gross alien secretions until a baby alien rips its way out of their chests. AND THEN everyone's in even more trouble.
The two main characters are excellent too. Alan Decker, a descendent of Ripley who seems to have some kind of empathetic connection to both humans and aliens, sounds like Bryan Cranston so I pictured him as an early Walter White throughout. Wayland-Yutani Corp Acquisitions manager, Andrea Rollins, was a cast iron callous bitch, with an attitude like Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada and a serious disregard for human life, always pushing the requirement to capture a live specimen. While I flat out LOVED her, I haven't been so desperate for someone to run into a bunch of aliens since Burke. Even if she might not be as human as I hoped.
All in all, heaps of fun with blood and bodies everywhere, recommended.