If you can count on Naughty Dog for one thing, it’s not to rest on its laurels. Way back with Crash Bandicoot, the studio parted ways with the franchise after an industry-defining trilogy. The same was true for the Jak and Daxter games. And, rather than put all of its artefacts in one treasure hunting basket with Uncharted, it also developed the much grittier The Last of Us to go alongside it. Intergalactic: The Heretic Project sees a similar shift, introducing a brand new sci-fi setting. But despite seeming a departure on the surface, it’s still as Naughty Dog as it gets
From the brief teases we’ve seen so far, Intergalactic is still as character-forward as ever – leveraging the phenomenal motion capture and acting talent the studio has become known for. It sees bounty hunter Jordan A. Mun (Tati Gabrielle – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, You, and yes, the Uncharted movie) perhaps unwisely takes on a particularly dangerous bounty.
Her target, Colin Graves (Kumail Nanjiani), isn’t particularly outside of Jordan’s wheelhouse. But, as her eye-patch wearing bounty hunting agent points out, he’s hiding on a Sempirian moon. This is bad news, as Sempira itself is a planet that’s gone completely dark, and nobody has left its orbit in 600 years. But Jordan won’t be dissuaded. As her totally normal conspiracy corkboard shows, she’s got a personal connection to The Five Aces, the group to which Graves belongs, and she can’t walk away from getting answers.
Eye of the storm
One (imagined) Always Sunny-style title card later: Jordan Lands On The Inescapable Planet. Within our brief glimpse at the foggy forest she explores, we’re greeted with a strange multi-armed, red-eyed robot with a heckin’ big axe that crackles with energy, stomping towards her through some very pretty puddles. Jordan isn’t unarmed, though – but she’s not reaching for a laser pistol. Instead, she activates a glowing red sword of her own, and leaps into action.
After two game series that have centered gunplay so heavily, it seems unusual on the face of it to see Intergalactic lead heavily on melee action. Even the spin-happy Jak and Daxter series quickly saw its goateed-star grab a shotgun from its second entry on. But, beyond the handguns and assault rifles, both Uncharted and The Last of Us have seen Naughty Dog quietly honing a very impressive and reactive system for close-quarters scraps.
With its sheer brutality and focus of survival, The Last of Us Part 2 isn’t quite what I’m reminded of watching Jordan take on this mechanized menace, but Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. With an incredible and dynamic cover system that empowered Nathan Drake to flit in and out of alert statuses, it was a game that allowed you to take on fights at high-speed, getting close up in enemy’s faces to bop ’em on the noggin. Drake’s fantastic grapple hook added to the options as well, you could easily swing at foes from multiple angles to do the same, often taking them by surprise to take them out instantly with a drop attack – no guns needed.
I’m reminded of Uncharted 4’s slick movement when I see Jordan engage with the enemy with a jump attack off a big rock, rather than acting more defensively. Uncharted simply flows best when you’re staying on the offensive, and the same seems to be holding true in Intergalactic, where Jordan appears to be the most agile hero Naughty Dog has ever created. Which is all to say that, even though the robot enemy looks like they’d fit right in within the world of Elden Ring, I’m not expecting Intergalactic to play remotely the same.
Beyond ways to enter combat, Uncharted 4 also evolved an in-depth counter-and-reaction system that Naughty Dog had been honing ever since the first game. From the quick look we’ve seen so far, I’m expecting Intergalactic to follow suit – dynamic entry into melee scraps to take enemy’s off guard, then, when they hit back, hitting buttons to counter and then strike back.
If there’s one thing my Uncharted 4 replay earlier in the year taught me, it’s that Naughty Dog can really make a slick action game that has you on the edge of your seat as you try to close out improvised-feeling scraps. What else better fits a sci-fi bounty hunter who favors cool jackets as opposed to body armor? Intergalactic will be a thrilling adventure, that’s a sure bet, but I think the combat will also be, well, stellar.
What else is on the horizon? Take a look at the upcoming PS5 games to get your gaming calendar in order for the year ahead!