Its fair to say that moody slow-mo trailers that dampen in-game SFX and march a despondent music track front and centre are still in vogue.
So Aliens: Colonial Marines joins the likes of Dead Island and Gears of War with a teaser "Contact" video that drives home the key beats of the gameplay in short but exciting order.
It's a definite tease, and makes us all the more intrigued to see if Gearbox manages to retain the potent mix - tension, action, lengthy siege - that made the original source material so brilliant.