Xenopedia
Register
Advertisement
Xenopedia
AVP2010

I haven't done any writing for years, but I've always wanted to do an AVP story and to ease myself back into it I figured I'd try and write a novelisation of the video game Aliens vs. Predator from 2010. The idea started a few weeks ago, mostly as a bit of fun, but now that I've started I'm actually finding it really interesting.

I've never done a novelisation before, and I've never written anything from the perspective of a non-human before. But when I replayed the game recently I thought there was actually a fairly good story contained within it, even if it is presented quite badly in the game. I also really liked the characters (although again, they weren't always presented terribly well in the game). I certainly love the idea of fleshing things out, as novelisations tend to do. There'll definitely be scenes added — I've already scripted a new opening set aboard the USS Marlow before the mission starts, introducing us to several of the Marines.

I'll be changing some things, obviously. The game's basic layout of "go here, kill something, move on, kill something, flick a switch, kill something" won't make for a particularly readable story, so I'll probably have to cut out a lot of the action sequences. I'd like to introduce some more horror. I think the biggest problem will be with Six, as the character has basically no plot or story in the game after the initial escape at the start. Every Alien level thereafter is just aimless slaughter until a random fight with some Predators appears out of nowhere at the end. So I'm thinking I'll likely introduce some kind of vengeance story revolving around Dr. Groves, as he basically vanishes for most of the game.

Other changes are more for my own personal preference. I hated the look of the weapons in the game, so the Marines are absolutely going to be using the equipment from Aliens, which in my opinion has never been bettered in terms of design. I'm also going to cut out any references to the AVP films , whilst keeping and expanding the references to the original film series (sorry Charles, but Karl Bishop Weyland is going to be a "descendant" of Michael Weyland in this version). I won't be directly including any characters from the films, but they might be mentioned.

To be honest, I don't even know if it's going to be possible to convert the game into a novel, and I'll probably only find that out once I really get into it. But I'm certainly enjoying it so far. If anyone has any input they'd like to throw out, by all means say so below. I might even upload some snippets from time to time, if anyone wants to check it out.

Advertisement