Xenomorphs - A N.E.W. Scenario Book

Xenomorphs - The Fall of Somerset Landing is a 60 page scenario book for the N.E.W. sci-fi role-playing game by EN Publishing. Written by Russ Morrissey, Darren Pearce and Angus Abranson, this is a re-imagining of the film, Aliens. In a similar way that 7TV has re-imagined films and TV series from the 1960's, 70's and 80's, so WOIN Studios have brought out their version of a well-known classic sci-fi film.
Xenomorphs - The Fall of Somerset Landing is the blockbuster sequel to WOIN Studio's award winning 1979 film, Xenomorph. The film sees a return to Lethe, one of three moons orbiting Melinos, an enormous gas giant, some 40 light years from Earth, which also featured in the first movie. Lethe's main role in the first film was the site of the alien ship that the crew of the Viola discover when responding to a distress signal. As we all remember well, deep within the bowels of this alien craft death and madness awaited the Viola crew. Decades on, Lethe now boasts a small colony that is terraforming the planet to make it more habitable for mankind. The planet is still a harsh environment, wracked by freezing rain and relentless winds, but the air is at least now breathable and temperatures are slowly rising - now reaching just above zero Celsius around the equator and the main outpost.

Xenomorphs charts the events just prior to the colony's loss of contact with the Chen Zua Corporation, the company behind the terraforming technology that oversees the United Planets Terraforming Contracts, and the events that take place during the black-out.
In the late 22nd century, mankind has travelled some 50 light years from Earth, but has not yet encountered any intelligent alien civilisations. Colonies - usually financed by the massive Chen Zua Corporation - litter known space, mining, terraforming and researching, as humanity slowly pushes its frontiers forward. Back on earth, much of the wasted space - Antarctica, the great deserts - has been terraformed and the planet is crowded, resources are running low, a situation which is driving the push out into the galaxy.
This book is divided into three sections:
The Setting. the first part of the book describes the overall setting, its main features, player races and careers, and a brief overview of the section of the galaxy that humankind has explored. You can use this section to run your own adventures and campaigns in this setting.
The Colony. The second part of the book describes a sample colony, Somerset Landing, some 12 parsecs from Earth. You can run adventures of your own on Somerset Landing, or you can use the adventure in the third part of the book.
The Adventure. In the third and final section of this book, you'll find an adventure scenario called The Fall of Somerset Landing, a dark horror adventure in which alien xenomorphs invade the colony...
Players can play their own characters or use any of the ten pre-generated characters found at the back of the book. It is suggested that players begin with rank level 5 characters, as per the default starting rule. Non-human races do not exist, apart from androids, but there are variant human types.

Make no mistake, this is not an easy scenario for the PCs to win. PC deaths are expected and it may happen that no PCs survive. The tension and horror of the scenario just racks up and up. This is a scary place to be. The Xenomorphs are frighteningly powerful. They come in four varieties and the book has a handy guide that shows the lethality of the Xenomorphs in the encounters.
Breed-spawn. Small semi-sentient insectoid (5d6). An easy fight assuming it doesn't get you.
Xenomorph Hunter. Medium semi-sentient insectoid (6d6). A challenge in a one-on-one encounter with a starting PC.
Xenomorph Warrior. Medium semi-sentient insectoid (8d6). Powerful, use singly; this creature can wipe out a party of starting PCs.
Xenomorph Matriarch. Large semi-sentient insectoid (10d6). Extremely powerful. This will TPK (Total Party Kill) even a veteran party if they don't have some clever way of beating her.

I don't want too give too much away about the plot but anyone who has watched Aliens will be familiar with what can be expected. This is my one and only criticism of the book. If your players know the film and recognise the plot of the scenario it'll be hard for them to distance player knowledge with that of what their characters should know. If you can overcome that hurdle then you will have a terrific role-playing experience. This is an exceptionally well-written book that has translated so well into the N.E.W. system. Yes, it is very familiar, but therein lies much of its charm. It has been done in a respectful manner that pays homage to its source material. I can't recommend it too highly. I'd give it a 10 out of 10 rating.
You can purchase this book from RPGNow for £14.49 for the soft cover book or for £8.15 for the PDF version. Here's the link for them - https://www.rpgnow.com/product/225096/WOIN-Xenomorphs-The-Fall-of-Somerset-Landing?
If any of you are wondering, will I be using this book in my The Ace of Spades Campaign the answer is probably not. To me, what happens in this book takes place in a different universe and dimension to the one I created for my The Ace of Spades Campaign.