Species: Unknown Review: This Is the Co-op 'Alien: Isolation' I've Been Begging For
It's still in Early Access, but this game has its hooks in me deep.
I've been waiting for a game like this for a long time. It’s the perfect blend of Alien: Isolation, Phasmophobia, and Lethal Company. This is a 4-player co-op nightmare set on an abandoned spaceship. My job? Get in, complete a high-risk contract, and get out without being turned into a bloody smear on the bulkhead. And let me tell you, I fucking love it.
An Absolute Masterclass in Dread
First off, the graphics are just... insane. Gorgeous doesn't cover it. And the optimization? I'm running this on Ultra settings on a 4080, and it's smooth as hell, which is wild for an indie title that looks this good. This small team has done something incredible, cause yes, a 4080 is a beast, sure, but when borderlands doesn’t even come close and runs the way it does… I think we should give credit where credit is due.
But the sound. Holy shit, the sound design is an Absolute Masterclass. It’s a work of art. The game knows exactly when silence is the most terrifying thing, and then it knows when to blast your ears with machinery alarms to perfectly mask the sound of something crawling in the vents behind you. I haven't felt this level of pure, stomach-churning dread in a game in years.
Meet Your New Nightmares
This isn't just one monster. The game procedurally picks one of five intelligent threats to hunt you. You have to explore and gather clues to figure out what you're up against so you can (maybe) deal with it.
And these things are not simple AI. I ran into this entity that's like a Blair (B)Witch spirit. You literally cannot look at its glowing eyes, or it rips your face off. On nightmare difficulty, it will physically force your camera to look at it, meaning you have to actively fight your own mouse to survive. It is terrifying.
Then there's a silent, hovering droid that just sucks your brain out with a stick. Or an "octopus" alien that makes cute noises right before it decapitates you. Each one has distinct behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses, and it keeps every mission horribly tense.
The Job (And Why You'll Die)
This is a co-op game, first and foremost. You can play it solo, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a masochist. This game is built for that chaotic, panicked fun with friends. It's designed for those moments when your buddy "accidentally" slams a door in your face, leaving you to be eaten.
The contracts vary, tasking you with extracting a black box, destroying the ship, or even capturing the creature alive. That capture mission is my favorite. It requires actual coordination: one player kites the monster, another tanks it with a shield, and a third hits the slow-ass button to close the cell door. It's pure, adrenaline-fueled chaos.
Your guns feel decent, but they are not a "get out of jail free" card. Some threats are just too resistant or flat-out untouchable, making your shotgun feel like a peashooter.
The Early Access Scars
As much as I love this, it's still in Early Access, and you can feel it. The main complaint I share with my fellow mercs is the need for more variety. Right now, there's only one (very large) ship map. The layout gets randomized with different locked/open doors, but you're still walking the same core corridors.
The mission types, while different, also start to feel repetitive after a while. After 10 hours, you'll have seen the main loop.
I also hit some bugs. Some keybinds are inexplicably hardbound, which is just annoying. Worse, I found a "disgraceful" exploit where non-host players can bypass a keycard hunt by just reusing the same card, which guts the tension of that entire sequence.
The Verdict
This game has a ton of potential. The foundation is rock solid. The progression loop is satisfying, completing contracts earns you credits to upgrade gear, buy new tools, customize your character (the creator is incredibly detailed, by the way), and even build your own creature museum.
Yes, it absolutely needs more maps and more mission variety, badly. But what's here is already polished to a terrifying sheen. The atmosphere, the graphics, the sound... it's all top-tier.
This is the co-op Alien: Isolation I've been dying for. It's scary, it's gorgeous, and it's a blast to play with friends (when they aren't getting you killed). For the price, it's an absolute steal, even with the Early Access jank.
Score: 8.8/10 - Like Alien: Isolation with your friends, which is somehow even more terrifying.
We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way.
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