One Naughty Dog Game Shows What Intergalactic Could Look…

Summary

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is a departure from Naughty Dog's past work, taking players to space for a retro sci-fi experience.
The Last of Us Part 2's Seattle level offers a blueprint for Intergalactic's world design with semi-open exploration and side quests.
Intergalactic may expand on open-world concepts from The Last of Us Part 2, providing players with more freedom and exploration opportunities.

While very little is currently known about its full scope, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is already very clearly a massive departure from Naughty Dog, who is most known for its Uncharted and The Last of Us franchises. Unlike its most beloved series, Naughty Dog's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will take players to space for what already looks like an unprecedented retro sci-fi experience. With Intergalactic being such a big leap for the developer, one might speculate on what the game could look like, as there seems to be no frame of reference for its premise in Naughty Dog's past work.

That being said, there is one Naughty Dog game fans of the developer's work might glance at first to get an idea of what Intergalactic could look like, simply because of the open-ended exploration potential of the upcoming sci-fi game. Specifically, it would be understandable to look at Jak 2 as a blueprint for Intergalactic's world design, as it marked a significant shift for Naughty Dog, transitioning from the linear platforming of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy to a more open-world structure. However, with Jak 2 now being over two decades old, it may not be the best example of what the developer can do with modern technology. There is still one other, more recent Naughty Dog game, though, that might paint an even clearer picture of Intergalactic's potential.

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By Josh Cotts

The Last of Us 2 Might Hold the Blueprint to Intergalactic's World Design

The Last of Us Part 2's Seattle Space Is the Clearest Picture of What Intergalactic Could Look Like

The Last of Us Part 2 may not be a game set in space, but one of its most significant zones might be a glimpse at what Intergalactic could do with its world design: Seattle. In Uncharted 4, Naughty Dog experimented with semi-open-world design, but The Last of Us Part 2 ultimately expanded on those precepts with its early Seattle chapter. Initially, The Last of Us Part 2 was envisioned as a Bloodborne-inspired open-world game, but the developer shifted to a more linear structure to better serve the game's narrative.

The Seattle level in The Last of Us Part 2 featured a semi-open environment where players could explore at their own pace, thereby increasing their agency in an otherwise linear story. Intergalactic could potentially adopt a similar approach, allowing players to explore freely around a central hub or large interconnected areas. Seattle also featured numerous side quests and optional areas, like the music shop and the bank. In the same way, Intergalactic could include rewarding side missions, secrets, or lore hidden within its world.

Intergalactic Might Be the Open-World Game The Last of Us Part 2 Almost Was

Given that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is a new IP set in a sci-fi universe, it would make sense for Naughty Dog to revisit and even expand on the open-world concepts originally birthed during The Last of Us Part 2's initial development stages, potentially offering players more freedom and exploration opportunities. Specific gameplay details about Intergalactic have yet to be disclosed, but the game's setting and premise suggest a design that could benefit from modern open-world design.

At the very least, Intergalactic will more than likely feature a semi-open-world design like The Last of Us Part 2 and Uncharted 4, which would still give the narrative some room to be prioritized.

Open-world games may have once been immediately looked at with disdain, but more modern experiences like Elden Ring and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have proven that it's possible to make an open-world game that is still interesting and not merely bloated with repetitive content. In light of that, if Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet ends up being an open-world game, there is plenty of potential there for it to execute it well. Until more is revealed about the game, however, fans might find the best example of what Intergalactic could look like by examining the Seattle level in The Last of Us Part 2 and taking into account everything it offers.

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