Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophetis the surprising new IP from Naughty Dog. While still maintaining the studio’s action adventure foundation,Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophetbrings forth a retro sci-fi world that marks a surprising change of form for the massive developer. Responsible for major franchises likeUnchartedandThe Last of Us, Intergalactic is a bold departure from these more grounded series.
As it stands,The Last of Us Part 2is Naughty Dog’s most recent release. The franchise as a whole has proven to be such a huge success that it has even spawned a live-action adaptation on HBO. Writer Neil Druckmann’s post-apocalyptic world is a unique reinvention of the zombie genre, which really helpedThe Last of Usstand out. Despite such a fascinating world,The Last of Usand its lore have been slow to build, as the main focus being on Ellie has kept the story fairly isolated. Ellie is an incredibly compelling and complex character, but the spotlight staying mostly on her has kept the game’s lore from expanding, andIntergalacticcan hopefully sidestep this issue with its protagonist.
Intergalactic’s Future Hopefully Doesn’t Restrict Itself to One Protagonist
The Last of Us Seems to Be Winding Down
There were a lot of gamers hoping thatThe Last of Us Part 3would be Naughty Dog’s next announcement, but that wasn’t the case. As of now, there is no clear roadmap forPart 3, but if it finally sees the light of day, it’s likely to be the franchise’s last chapter. Afterthe disappointing cancelation ofThe Last of Us Online, it seems unlikely to get deeper dives intoThe Last of Us' world outside of Ellie’s, and now Abby’s, perspective. Both characters showcase a compelling mirror image of the bleak world they have to survive, but getting a brand-new viewpoint potentially outside of Ellie’s orbit made the prospect ofThe Last of Us Onlineexciting.
The score forIntergalacticis being composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Jordan A. Mun Could Be One of Many Protagonists
The promise of having Tati Gabrielle star in a Naughty Dog game as Jordan A. Mun is incredibly exciting, butifIntergalacticgets to become a full-blown franchise, future games may want to take the leap and follow other characters besides just her. Mun’s story of bounty-hunting prowess looks promising, but getting more than just a singular viewpoint of a world that holds so much potential for exploration could be a misstep.
Putting too much focus on one central character can sometimes back a franchise’s story into a corner, andIntergalacticexploring other narrative threads could avoid that risk. Much ofIntergalactic’s setting and loreremains a mystery, but there are a few confirmed details that Naughty Dog has made official.
Intergalactic Continuing Naughty Dog’s Legacy of Storytelling
When it comes to story-driven games, Naughty Dog has been one of the strongest developers in this realm. The worlds the studio has been able to build have been impressive and imaginative, andIntergalacticwill hopefully continue this tradition. While there is a risk of keeping its franchise’s world from expanding beyond one character, Naughty Dog is at least skilled at balancing that with such strong stories.
So far,Intergalacticdoes not have a launch date or even a general release window.
Even ifIntergalacticcontinues to only follow Jordan through potential sequels,Naughty Dog has a track record of pulling this off well.Jak and Daxter,Uncharted, andThe Last of Ushave all set their gaze on a central figure for the most part, andIntergalacticcan still offer a compelling world through this singular lens.
