Earlier this month, CD Projekt Red revealed a new trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty. It revealed several plot details for the upcoming DLC and gave gamers a better look at the characters and setting. Surprisingly, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty shares some similar roots to the Metal Gear Solid games.
In the new trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty, it was revealed that the main plot of the DLC will involve V trying to rescue President Rosalind Myers of the New United States of America. Myer's shuttle had been shot down and crashed into a sealed-off region of Night City known as Dogtown where criminals reign supreme. Oddly enough, this new DLC seems to take its biggest inspiration from the film, Escape from New York, which was also a heavy influence on the Metal Gear Solid series.
The Story of Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty and Escape from New York
Released in 1981, Escape from New York has a premise that is nearly identical to Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty. The film took place in the near future where New York City had been sealed off as a giant prison. The plot of the film followed a former war hero turned criminal named Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell. After Air Force One crash lands in New York City, Snake is sent to save the President of the United States and must facedown an entire city of criminals to do it while making shaky alliances with other people in the prison. Notably, a legacy sequel to Escape from New York is currently in development.
The Cyberpunk 2077 DLC effectively has the same plot. Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty will likely have V meet Rosalind Myers and, like the president in Escape from New York, the character is implied to be something of a fascist figure. Both V and Snake Plisskin are also on a time clock as the chip, as Johnny Silverhand's personality seems to be acting up in V and causing them both pain. Snake Plisskin, likewise, was on a time clock to rescue the President and would be killed by a piece of technology if he failed to rescue him in a certain amount of time. Oddly enough, this will be the second major video game franchise that takes heavy inspiration from that film.
Metal Gear Solid 5's Escape From New York Inspiration
The Metal Gear Solid franchise is arguably the single most movie-inspired video game series of all time. The first three games in the series, Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and Metal Gear Solid were all heavily influenced by Escape From New York in particular. Each of the games involved the character having to sneak into a base full of hostile soldiers and rescue a set of VIPs while the threat of nuclear war was ever-present. Metal Gear Solid went further with this by adding a twist where it was made clear that rescuing these VIPs was a secondary objective and that more was going on in the background. Fans are going to get to experience this again soon, as several of these early Metal Gear Solid games are set to be re-released in a new collection.
The characters of Solid Snake and Naked Snake in Metal Gear Solid are also protagonists who were heavily inspired by Snake Plisskin from Escape from New York. The characters were originally molded after Kyle Reese from The Terminator and Sean Connery but as the game moved into the 3D realm they took on a new life. Both Solid Snake and Naked Snake appear to be at least somewhat physically molded after Snake Plisskin with the latter character even losing an eye to drive the point home. In addition, David Hayter's vocal performance as the characters are seemingly inspired by Snake Plisskin's voice in the film. The personalities of the characters likewise seem to combine James Bond's persona with that of the Escape from New York protagonist.
The Similarities Between Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and MGS5: The Phantom Pain
In addition to being inspired by the same piece of media, there also appear to be some surprising similarities to the fifth game in the franchise. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is a game full of hidden cutscenes But many of the most important ones take place in a helicopter. In both games, the protagonist has an extended conversation with one of the main supporting characters on a flying vehicle. The talk in both games is all about death, dying, and the character questioning why they keep going on. While the scene is far darker in Metal Gear Solid 5, it nonetheless shares a similar feeling and theme regarding the inevitable.
Likewise, both games feature a funny similarity with the word "Phantom" being in their title. In Metal Gear Solid 5, the Phantom Pain title refers to the literal phantom pain that sometimes comes with losing a limb. In the game, Venom Snake loses his arm and uses a prosthetic throughout Metal Gear Solid 5's runtime which becomes one of his greatest tools. It also refers to the internal pain that comes from loss, specifically of those who died during the events of Ground Zero.
In Phantom Liberty, however, the term seems to be more metaphorical, but the trailers haven't given away enough clues as to what this may mean. It is likely that the idea is that Liberty in this new world is just an illusion of some kind or a phantom of what it once was. Unfortunately, gamers probably won't know for sure until the DLC releases in September.
Ultimately it is a bit funny how something like Escape from New York remains so influential. The Metal Gear Solid franchise took heavy inspiration from it in the 90s and early 2000s and now the new DLC is directly lifting its plot. Likewise, the latter game seems to be taking some inspiration from the former in terms of theme and atmosphere. Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty will be adding a lot more to the base game, and it could be that gamers will see more similarities to Metal Gear Solid before the credits roll once again.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches on September 26, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.