Neil Druckmann has shared an interesting new detail about Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
Shinobi602 has summarized an interview with Neil Druckmann that’s definitely shed some more light on what we should be expecting from Naughty Dog’s next original Ip.
Naughty Dog came up with a convenient explanation for why Jordan, the lead character, is surrounded by so much 1980s themed technology and iconography. Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’s world is set in an alternate universe that specifically deviated from ours in the 1980s. That’s the reason Memphis design is found all over Jordan’s ship, with no clear indication that their world went through its Y2K or Frutiger Aero phases.
The jumping point for this game is a strange one. Druckmann says that Naughty Dog received a lot of hate for some of the creative decisions they made for The Last Of Us 2. Subsequently, they decided to shift gears to something that ‘people won’t care as much about’. And that’s the reason they went with religion.
So, this alternate timeline is built around a new religion that deviates us from the real world. We enter Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet 2000 years later, just a little bit longer than when the historical Christ or Buddha would have lived in our world. Naughty Dog spent years developing this story, including figuring out how this religion would have been shaped in that period of time.
Since there were no clear indications that religion was even a factor in the announcement trailer, it will certainly be interesting to see how it’s introduced in the game and how it plays out. While many games have played fast and loose with their depictions of religion, there is also the odd title that’s made by actual adherents and who try to grapple with religious themes in ways that are serious, and also reflect a clear knowledge of video games as a form of media itself.
We don’t know for now if what Druckmann has to say about religion is necessarily a repudiation of religion, or he may surprise us with a positive message about being religious. Or he may choose to express something close to his own personal experiences of religion. These could be themes that he also found other people in Naughty Dog who were interested in exploring. But we see that there could be a certain hazard on speculating about a creative work that the creator hasn’t fully shown us yet.
One thing is for sure now. When Druckmann shut down those rumored Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet script leaks last December, saying “you have no idea”, he was definitely telling the truth. Now we’re left actually wondering what this game is.
