New Alien: Rogue Incursion trailer shows Zula Hendricks as the protagonist

It’s been a tough old time for developers trying to bring the Alien franchise to the gaming world. The likes of Colonial Marines had all but killed hopes of a decent adaptation, while Isolation was a beautiful love letter to Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror masterpiece. As such, Alien: Rogue Incursion has a lot to live up to.

Of course, we can’t judge it at this stage, but in the meantime, we have been treated to a new trailer that shows us who the protagonist of the upcoming game will be. In the footage, we get the usual accoutrements associated with the Alien games before cutting to a shot of Zula Hendricks being something of a badass.

Combined with footage from the early build of the game, there’s an impression that Rogue Incursion is going for that high-octane, gun-shootin’ action that’s more akin to James Cameron’s vision.

How does Hendricks fit into the Alien universe?

Don’t worry if you don’t know who Zula Hendricks is. I must admit, I had to do a little bit of reading myself to see how she fits into the Alien universe. While she’s not been a feature of the films, the Xenopedia page shows that she’s more of a comic book character. However, she is apparently mentioned in the novelization of Alien: Isolation.

As such, Hendricks is more of a canonical (if somewhat obscure) character, rather than a brand-new protagonist. How she’ll fare against the iconic Xenomorph creatures is anyone’s guess at this stage. But she looks like she can hold her own, judging by the above trailer.

It is a shame that Alien: Rogue Incursion is a VR exclusive. I’d wager there are plenty of people who would love to play an action-packed shooter that takes place in the Alien world with a character who is lore-friendly without the use of a headset. Oh well. I guess us non-VR players will just be over here wishing for Isolation 2 instead.