As the global community continues to recover from the excitement generated by the latest trailer for Death Stranding 2, Naughty Dog is progressing with development of their upcoming game’s universe, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. This highly anticipated title made its debut at the 2024 Game Awards ceremony and has already ignited significant conversation on social media platforms. During a Sony podcast titled Creator to Creator, Neil Druckmann, in discussion with Alex Garland (the screenwriter of 28 Days Later and director of Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Civil War), provided intriguing insights into Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. One of the key themes explored in the game is solitude, marking a departure from Naughty Dog’s tradition of developing games centered around pairs of characters. From Jak & Daxter to The Last of Us and Uncharted series, each franchise typically features protagonists accompanied by a sidekick with whom they frequently interact. However, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will differ as the main character, Jordan, is destined to live alone on an isolated planet for nearly 600 years.
In most of our previous games, there has always been some kind of ally by your side. This time, we aim to make you feel lost in a place that is completely unknown and where you will be entirely on your own. Who are the people here? What is their history? Everything is up for discovery. The question of how to leave this planet is central to the story since no communication has been established with this planet for approximately 600 years. If you hope to have a chance to leave, understanding what transpired during your isolation will be crucial.
We recall that Intergalactic will feature Jordan as a bounty hunter who finds herself stranded on a planet where she must confront loneliness and combat warlike robots. However, Neil Druckmann has introduced an additional element that may be met with criticism from some, as faith and religion are also central themes in the game. This was confided to Alex Garland during discussions about The Last of Us Part 2, which is a game that elicits both love and disdain among players.
“We created the game ‘The Last of Us 2,’ and our creative choices have garnered both love and hate,” stated Neil Druckmann. “Many people support it, but many others strongly dislike it,” Alex Garland responded with, “‘Who cares?’ ‘Exactly,'” added Druckmann. “I often joke about this with the team, saying, ‘Let’s do something that will matter less to people—let’s make a game about faith and religion.'” This statement may reignite debates among Neil Druckmann’s critics who view him as pro-Israeli and accuse him of making allusions in his games. He now appears indifferent to these groups of fans who are ready to criticize the new direction.
This engaging over 50-minute exchange with these two creatives also reveals that Naughty Dog has heavily worked on the timeline, and it is now confirmed: Heretic will unfold in an anachronistic future, 2000 years after diverging from the 1980s. The reason for seeing 80’s ambiance references while proposing ultra-advanced technologies is that Naughty Dog has likely spent years designing this special chronology, and we truly cannot wait to discover it.
