Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is about "what happens when you put your faith in different institutions"

 Naughty Dog unveiled Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, its first original project in over a decade, at The Game Awards, and director Neil Druckman has teased us with some more details about the upcoming story.

We already know some details: the game is set in a far-away retro future, centered around the mysterious planet Sempiria, which is cut off from the rest of the universe. It stars Tati Gabrielle as Jordan A. Mun, a bounty hunter on a mission to the celestial body to unravel its secrets.

Druckmann tells the New York Times that the "ambitious" story revolves around a fictitious religion and explores "what happens when you put your faith in different institutions." 

This kind of story feels like the next step for Naughty Dog and its exploration of this theme, following The Last of Us: Part 2 and its conflict between the cult-like Seraphites and militaristic WLF. That tale was inspired by Druckmann's experiences growing up in an Israeli settlement in Palestine's occupied West Bank, so he could be drawing on similar memories for Intergalactic.

Druckman also spoke to the NYT about actor Tati Gabrielle (with comments via Fandom Pulse). "She has this intimidating presence to her. We brought her in for an audition, and she blew us away. It was one of those moments — like when I first saw Ashley Johnson as Ellie," he says.

She already worked with Naughty Dog on the film adaptation of Uncharted, playing Jo Braddock, and will portray Nora in the second season of HBO's The Last of Us. I first saw her work in The 100, where she plays Gaia, a fanatical devotee of a religion that turns out to have different origins to those she originally believed, so Intergalactic's story should be perfect for her.

There's no release date for Intergalactic just yet, so why not check out the best Uncharted games while you wait for Naughty Dog's new project?