Somebody Wake Up Hicks, Aliens vs Pinball is Coming

This month, fans will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Aliens on 4/26, a date chosen based on the designation of the planet Ripley and the Colonial Marines visit in James Cameron's sequel. What originally was a goofy little fake holiday has since grown into a massive promotional event from 20th Century Fox and a number of its licensing partners. While there's certainly a discussion to be had about corporations co-opting something as seemingly innocuous as Aliens Day, there are some rather exciting and cool products coming to honor the film.

Case in point, Zen Studios' new Aliens vs Pinball expansion, which features three new tables based on Aliens, Alien: Isolation and Alien vs Predator.

Real pinball tables are a rare find these days, with fewer and fewer being manufactured every year. Fortunately, Zen Studios is keeping the spirit alive with its Pinball FX and Zen Pinball franchises. For the past few years, we've seen some fun original tables from the developer, but the main draw has been the licensed virtual pinball machines Zen's developed for the likes of Telltale's The Walking Dead, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and a number of Marvel movies and comic characters.

All of the tables offered so far have had some interesting interactive elements, including little scenes that play out with familiar characters from a given franchise. Though the tables themselves are still heavily rooted in the real world physics and capabilities of a pinball machine (to a point), Zen has always made an effort to go above and beyond with the presentation. That looks to be true again here, as the video for the Aliens table shows Ripley and the Queen going at it, and even features the M577 Armored Personnel Carrier getting in on the action.

What's most interesting though, is the unique way the Aliens table appears to approach multi-ball. If you watch closely, you can see there are Warriors that "attack" the flippers, and you'll have to fend them off by hitting them with the balls. That's not something you're likely to see in a physical game anytime soon, but adds a cool effect to the virtual board.

The other two tables didn't get videos, but there are screenshots below that show a bit of the layout for each. The AVP table will put you in the role of a Yautja clanmember, and the Isolation table has you aiding Amanda Ripley in evading the Xenomorph on Sevastopol Station.