Summary
- Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is Naughty Dog’s new sci-fi game, inspired by ’80s anime.
- The game centres around a fictional religion, according to director Neil Druckmann.
- Internet sleuths are already gleaning information from the trailer.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has been turning heads since its reveal at this year’s Game Awards. Fans have patiently waited for years to discover Naughty Dog and Neil Druckmann’s next project. The reveal of a Cowboy Bebop-inspired sci-fi story wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card, but everyone is excited to see what the team can do in a new genre.
The reveal trailer showed off some of the game’s cast, including protagonist Jordan Mun (played by Tati Gabrielle). We learn that Mun is a bounty hunter searching for a dangerous individual. The game’s aesthetic is reminiscent of ’80s anime and the trailer contains not-so-subtle brand placement. A contemporary comparison is James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which has the same retrofuturist inspirations.
Gotta Have Faith
According to Druckmann, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will centre around a fictional religion. In an interview with the New York Times, he called it “ambitious” and said the story will explore “what happens when you put your faith in different institutions.” The ‘Heretic Prophet’ subtitle certainly suggests a religious element. Perhaps Mun is hunting down someone who betrayed her religion? Or perhaps Mun herself is this so-called heretic. We know Intergalactic’s setting is an alternate history where space travel advanced rapidly in the 1980s and beyond, and Mun winds up on the planet Sempiria, a “distant planet whose communication with the outside universe went dark hundreds of years ago.”
Towards the end of the trailer, we saw a tiny slice of gameplay. Our brave protagonist engages a cyborg-looking creature in melee combat with Pet Shop Boys blaring in the background. Intergalactic will be more action-packed than some of Naughty Dog’s previous offerings, like The Last of Us.
Despite the game’s reveal, Naughty Dog remains relatively tight-lipped about the project. We know the studio has been working on the game for over four years. As with all of Naughty Dog’s recent games, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is set to release exclusively for PlayStation 5, with a PC port likely to arrive a year or so afterwards.
As with any anticipated title, there are already sleuths poring over the trailer trying to pick out every little detail. The community is trying to decipher a QR code featured in the trailer, and they’ve spotted something interesting about Jordan’s sword.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Propher follows 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.