Naughty Dog has revealed their long rumored new original game, a science fiction action game named Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Neil Druckmann shared this description of the title on their official website:
“Intergalactic stars our newest protagonist, Jordan A. Mun, a dangerous bounty hunter who ends up stranded on Sempiria – a distant planet whose communication with the outside universe went dark hundreds of years ago. In fact, anyone who’s flown to it hoping to unravel its mysterious past was never heard from again. Jordan will have to use all her skills and wits if she hopes to be the first person in over 600 years to leave its orbit. “
Naughty Dog will save the rest of the story for now, but Druckmann calls Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet the deepest gameplay in Naughty Dog’s history. Since this is the studio that created the likes of The Last Of Us and The Way of the Warrior, that is a tall order indeed.
Druckmann also introduced Mun’s voice and performance actress Tati Gabrielle. Naughty Dog loyalists may remember her playing Jo Braddock in the 2022 Uncharted movie. She also appeared on the shows Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The 100, You, and Kaleidoscope, and will be appearing as Nora in Season 2 of The Last Of Us.
The four minute trailer that introduced the game at The Game Awards is a carefully crafted mini-story in itself. We are introduced to Jordan in her spaceship, where we see she has been collecting news clippings of The Five Aces.
She takes a call from her agent, who confirms that Colin Graves, one of the Aces, is in Sempiria. Jordan convinces her agent to claim the bounty so that she can go to Sempiria, in spite of said agent’s objections.
Most fans will immediately recognize Kumail Nanjiani’s profile used for Graves, though most of us haven’t figured out who’s playing the agent quite yet. But aside from this big name casting, we can see a lot of product placement, from Jordan’s Adidas shoes, her Sony branded jukebox, and even her ship is a Porsche.
While we have only been introduced to the game, it certainly looks like Druckmann, who now has some real life production experience for The Last Of Us, may have planned a real life show or movie to go with it.
And the dirty science fiction look is unmistakable. While some fans are pointing to its similarities to Concord, we can also see a pastiche of tropes that have appeared in Alien, Star Wars, Star Trek, and (insert your favorite Roger Corman cheapie here).
No release date has been tied to this one for now, but it now joins Ghost of Yōtei as one of the few Sony titles that they have finally revealed after a long gestation.
