When Aliens: Colonial Marines' official game announcement billed it as a "true sequel to James Camerson's classic Aliens," diehard fans of the film trilogy took that to mean the game would undo the events of the controversial Alien 3, harshly criticized by Aliens director James Cameron and some of its principal cast. Not so, says the studio making Colonial Marines.
"Aliens: Colonial Marines is consistent and compatible with the history of events established by the three key films," Randy Pitchford, co-founder and CEO of Gearbox Software, said yesterday over Twitter.
So that means that Hicks and Newt—whose demises Cameron considered an insult to Aliens and its many fans—are still dead. That is, if this game is indeed set after the events of Alien 3. The release doesn't say; it mentions only that the Sulaco is abandoned above LV-426. That could suggest this game takes place between Aliens and Alien 3; a 2008 interview said the game would take place after Alien 3 but then, that was 2008. The game has been in development since 2006.
In the end, Hicks and Newt are still dead. Sorry to break the bad news to you.