Announced back in 2008, Gearbox Software has been working on Aliens: Colonial Marines for a while now, but with a release date nailed down for next year, it's starting to look like we'll finally be seeing a proper canonical sequel to Jame Cameron's Aliens movie, and even a lead in to Alien 3.

Stood in the shadow of the actual, original alien queen from the 1986 movie Aliens, we took some time out having sampled Aliens: Colonial Marines' multiplayer hands-on for the first time during E3 to talk to Gearbox about its long-gestating Aliens game. And having survived a gruelling 15 minutes fighting Xenomorphs, we had a few questions to ask.

We chatted to Design Director, John Mulkey about the studio's work with Alien (1979) and Prometheus director Ridley Scott and designer Syd Mead, as well as bringing some of the stars from the Aliens movie in to the game, including Lance Henriksen resuming his role as Bishop. You'll even see his severed legs from the film! Find out more about Gearbox's labour of love in our interview, then read our hands-on multiplayer preview for even more.