Arka Mukhopadhyay
With Shawn Levy of ‘Night at the Museum‘ franchise fame in the director’s chair, ‘Free Guy’ is a hilarious action-adventure movie with a dash of romance. The film opens in Free City, where superheroes wear sunglasses. Guy, our protagonist, leads a mundane life in the city, but that is until he catches a glimpse of the girl from his dreams. Then we come to realize that Guy lives in a game. Gradually, he gets entangled in the quest of the mysterious girl to find a hidden chapter in the game. While all of this is pretty overwhelming, especially with the grace of Ryan Reynolds in the middle, you may wonder if the world of Free City is borrowed from a real game. If the question has indeed crossed your mind, let us investigate further. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Is The Free City World Based on a Real Game?
Well, ‘Free Guy’ is not a straightforward video game rip-off. The creators built the world with care and precision from ground zero. The end of the credits reveals that the movie’s making and distribution created over 13,000 jobs worldwide. The number may give you an idea about the kind of work that went into creating the game world within the movie. The game, called ‘Free City,’ forms the film’s core – it is an open-world game where you can roam freely, rob stores, and engage in battles with other players in the multiplayer arena.
As Guy wears the sunglasses, a magical world unveils in front of him. He looks at the world as if through a gaming console. He can pick up health packs from the middle of the road and access an inventory full of smasher weapons. There are also safe houses where players can visit to refill their armory and health. Co-writer Matt Liebermann mentioned in an interview that he was inspired by the vastly popular game series ‘Grand Theft Auto’ by Rockstar Games.
The world of Free City has several resemblances to ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ particularly the fifth part of the game, which was lauded for realistic graphics and mechanics. GTA is a game that truly makes you feel sorry for the Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) – and it is perhaps no wonder that the writers found the primary inspiration from the game. Apart from GTA, the movie conceals more pop culture references, including popular video game references. Millie uses a portal gun early in the film, and Guy uses it again during the battle with Dude.
It seems that the writers borrowed the idea of the portal gun from the mind-boggling game franchise ‘Portal.’ Shortly after using the portal gun, Guy finds a lightsaber. If you are not living under the rock, you would know where the iconic weapon comes from. Apart from this casual ‘Star Wars’ reference, the movie also conceals some tidbits from Marvel. Guy counters Dude’s Death Blow with a shield straight from Captain America and goes on to develop a Hulk arm of his own. Therefore, although the world is not based on a real game, the gameplay comes off as highly realistic, not to mention the characters who are real-life actors.
Read More: Free Guy Ending, Explained
