You thought it couldn’t get more preposterous, but you were wrong. This is The World of Species (1995). When I learned this existed I was like, “Oh, yea, I this is exactly what the feed needs in 2025, it’ll be a hoot.” Ladies and gentlemen, it was not a hoot. The book is 144 pages and I cannot imagine engaging with the film Species to the extent that I would be able to write it. Frankly, I can’t imagine engaging with the RPG to the extent that I can write this post, but I will give it a shot.

So, this takes place after the events of the film. Whatever the agency is that made Natasha Henstridge knows that she survived. Another government is also close to making their own Natasha Henstridge. So in order to effectively hunt down her and her presumed offspring, the agency has used Natasha Henstridge DNA to genetically alter its agents. Presumably they are more effective at keeping their clothes on. I still get the feeling that this was not just a bad idea, but a deeply stupid one. I refuse to read the lore about the aliens who sent the Henstridge DNA to earth and what their scheme involving unlimited fuel and genetic super-predators is, but I bet making more genetic super-predators is playing into their hands! Wild thing? As stupid as all this sounds, it’s actually better than the actual plot of Species II, which is set in space. Even Leprechaun waited until the fourth movie to go to space. Fuck.

This is exactly the sort of book Leading Edge would have been making if they were still in business in 1994. It kind of astounds me that West End Games scrambled to pick up that torch. Especially considering the fact that the company was still doing genuinely interesting, high-quality work with the Star Wars line. Just, wild.