The next film in the long running Ridley Scott's Alien saga opens in cinemas next week, and the nerds in our office are very, very excited for Alien: Covenant. Following on from the okay/not too bad/very good depending on who you ask Prometheus, Alien: Covenant is shaping up to be more in the tradtional realm of full-blown horror/sci-fi that we've come to love from the series. Well, that is if the hectic trailers are anything to go by:

To celebrate the release of the film, below we've outlined a little primer on the film itself, plus the very lovely folks at 20th Century Fox have given us an Alien: Covenant merch pack to giveaway, which includes:

- Prometheus To Alien 5 Disc Blu-Ray Set

- Playing Cards

- Bottle Opener

- Alien: Covenant Hat

- Alien: Covenant Backpack

- Extra goodies

To win, send an email to info [at] pilerats [dot] com with ALIEN COVENANT in the subject, and your name/address in the email body!

ALIEN: COVENANT - A PRIMER

Alien: Covenant is set some time after Prometheus, following a colony ship filled with couples looking to set up camp on a new planet. They do find one, and it seems really nice at first. But, in the fine tradition of Alien movies, things go to shit.

Alien: Covenant continues the series' penchant for ass-kicking female leads

In the tradition of Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder and Noomi Rapace before her, Katherine Waterston plays Daniels, a terraforming expert and the wife of the ship's captain, Jacob Branson (James Franco). The teasers and trailers so far would suggest her character is the one that survives longest, and the short, dark hair and survivor instincts suggest she'lll have no trouble following in Ripley's footsteps (although this is technically set before Alien).

Michael Fassbender returns as David...and Walter

Michael Fassbender is one of our favourite actors, and his David was one of the better parts of Prometheus (dude plays a cold, dangerous, emotionless robot really well), and here he returns as Walter onboard the new ship, an upgraded version of the andriod in the previous movie.

It's a horror movie with likeable characters

One easy way to make your horror movie better is to fill it with characters you actually care about. Sure it's fun in stuff like Friday The 13th to root for the jock to get macheted to pieces, but horror films can become infinitely more terrifying if you fill it with people the audience actually likes. Nice people who are smart, and don't do dumb things. The kinda people you could see yourself being friends with. So when they do inevitably meet their untimely demise, you're actually sad, and terrified/hopeful they might survive in the lead-up to said dispatchment. This epologue sets it up nicely for you.

More xenomorph action, less big weird white dudes

Much of the focus of Prometheus was on the "engineers", massive white dudes presumably responsible for the creation of humanity. It was interesting in concept, but the execution for many was severely lacking. Alien: Covenant looks like a return to good old fashion, long-headed, mouth-inside-mouth, xenomorph action. Face-huggers are also back in full force, along with what looks to be a few variations on the xenomorph's original design.

Danny McBride is in it

And his name is Tennessee, and he wears a fucking cowboy hat.

Alien: Covenant is in cinemas May 11.