Aliens: Fireteam Elite Reveals The Fate Of Fan-Favourite Alien Character
We'll be the first to admit it, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is far from a great game. In fact, (sorry Cold Iron Studios), we'd go as far as saying it's a pretty poor game that effectively takes elements of Left 4 Dead's co-op and chucks in a few Facehuggers. Although Left 4 Xenomorphs isn't to everyone's liking, it turns out there's a surprising amount of lore buried out there on LV-895
With some 42 years of franchise history to rifle through, developers had a lot of the galaxy to explore, which has led to some neat Easter eggs. Although the game's setting of 2202 means Ellen Ripley herself doesn't pop by for a cameo - she's dead following Alien 3 - there's still a nod to her past and a cameo from another fan-favourite member of the Nostromo.
Who returns for Aliens: Fireteam Elite?
Although Fireteam Elite seems to be set in the canon of the movies, its place 23 years after the events of Alien 3 and 177 years before Alien: Resurrection mean it's in a largely unexplored era of the series. This has allowed the writers to tell the story of a new team of crack marines who kick Xeno butt. The unit itself is a one-dimensional crop of grunts, however, Fireteam Elite revisits furry favourite Jonesy from Ridley Scott's original.
First introduced in 1979's Alien, Jonesy was the ship's cat and one of only two to escape our first encounter with the Xenomorphs. Ripley and Jonesy were later discovered by the Weyland-Yutani some 57 years later, meaning both popped up in James Cameron's Aliens. However, when Ripley quickly heads back to LV-426 to tackle the latest infestation, Jonesy is left behind at the Gateway Station.
As noted by Comic Book Resources, it looks like Jonesy meets an equally tragic end as the rest of the franchise's major players. During the game's second campaign and at the start of mission two, players can retrace their steps and find the bombed bridge they crossed in the previous mission.
To the right of the bridge, there's the corpse of a cat, which has no fur and scaly plating. Although it's not 100% confirmed this is Jonesy, it definitely looks like this is the developer's way of confirming what happened to that courageous cat.
Is the Aliens: Fireteam Elite cat really Jonesy?
Click to enlargeBefore you discount the corpse as just a throwaway Easter egg that isn't part of canon, take note that franchise overseers have done a great job recently of trying to wrangle the various plot threads. Much like the Star Wars Legends universe of expanded canon was largely nixed, things have been scaled back for Alien. Although you probably won't have Fireteam or its events referenced in a future Alien movie, there was the April release of Aliens: Infiltrator as a prequel novel to the game.
Further adding Fireteam Elite to the complex canon of the Xenoverse, there's a mention of the events on the Sevastapol which makes it in the same line as the lauded Alien: Isolation and Amanda Ripley's brush with these acid-bleeding bastards. Finally, there's a homage to the original Space Jockey from Scott's movie and the random inclusion of a flute to tie to Elizabeth Shaw's demise in between Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Although it could technically be any random cat that met its maker inside Aliens: Fireteam Elite, it isn't looking good for Jonesy. Although it isn't clear how or why he ended up on the surface of LV-895, it's a tragic turn of events that Ripley wasn't there to help him. RIP you little fuzzball.
