Title: Ready Player One
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Game
Year: 2018
Summary: In 2045, people seek to escape from reality through the virtual
reality entertainment universe called the OASIS (Ontologically
Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation), co-created by James
Halliday and Ogden Morrow of Gregarious Games. After Halliday's death, a
pre-recorded message left by his avatar Anorak announces a game,
granting ownership of the OASIS to the first to find the Golden Easter Egg within it, which is locked behind a gate requiring three keys which players can obtain by accomplishing three challenges.
The contest has lured a number of "Gunters", or egg hunters, and
the interest of Nolan Sorrento, the CEO of Innovative Online Industries
(IOI) who seeks to control the OASIS himself in order to insert
intrusive online advertising. IOI uses a number of indentured servants as well as an army of employees called "Sixers" to find the egg.
Wade Watts is a teenager living in Columbus, Ohio
with his aunt Alice and her boyfriend Rick. Wade's avatar Parzival, an
avid Gunter, participates in the first challenge, an unbeatable race,
alongside his best friend Aech, and Art3mis, a female avatar who
Parzival has a crush
on. Parzival regularly visits Halliday's Journals, a simulated archive
of Halliday's life and hobbies, run by the Curator. Acknowledging a
phrase by Halliday, Wade realises the race can be won by driving
backwards, receiving the Copper Key from Anorak. Art3mis, Aech, and his
friends Daito and Sho, all win the race thereafter, later collectively
named the High-5 on the OASIS' scoreboard.
Sorrento asks his friend i-R0k to learn Wade's true identity,
with the intent on bribing him to win the contest of IOI's behalf. Wade
and Art3mis discover from the Journals that Halliday once dated Morrow's
wife Karen "Kira"
Underwood, but Halliday's anxiety led to them watching a movie rather
than go dancing. Wade and Art3mis visit the Distracted Globe night club
to look for clues, where Wade confesses his love and true name to
Art3mis. They survive an IOI raid in which Art3mis abandons Wade,
explaining that her father died in debt to IOI. i-R0k, who was
eavesdropping on their conversation, informs Sorrento of his findings.
Sorrento contacts Wade with his offer. When rejected, Sorrento
destroys Wade's home, killing Alice among others. Art3mis' player
Samantha Cook takes Wade in. Together, they realise the second challenge
relates to Halliday's regret towards not pursuing a relationship with
Kira. Along with Aech, Daito, and Sho, Parzival and Art3mis search a
recreation of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. Art3mis asks Kira to a dance and wins the Jade Key.
Sorrento's subordinate F'Nale Zandor storms the Gunters' hideout,
taking Samantha to a IOI Loyalty Center to pay off her father's debt.
Wade is rescued by the other High-5 users, Helen Harris (Aech), Toshiro
(Daito), and Zhou (Sho) in Helen's truck. By hacking Sorrento's OASIS
rig, the group learn where Samantha is being held, allowing her to
escape confinement.
The third challenge is found in Castle Anorak on Planet Doom, where players must guess Halliday's favourite Atari 2600
game to earn the Crystal Key. iR0k places a forcefield around the
castle using the Orb of Osuvox, but Art3mis is able to deactivate it.
The High-5 lead an army of OASIS players against the Sixers. Sorrento
fights back in Mechagodzilla, but Aech, Daito, and Art3mis destroy his avatar using the Iron Giant, a Gundam, and a Madballs-shaped bomb. Parzival destroys Samantha's avatar, allowing her to flee IOI and is picked up by the High-5.
Parzival reaches the console, but Sorrento detonates the Cataclyst bomb, wiping out every avatar on Planet Doom. Parzival survives using an extra life coin given to him earlier by the Curator in a bet. He plays Adventure, winning the Crystal Key by locating its programmer's Easter egg.
He uses the three keys to enter a treasure room, where Anorak offers
him a contract to sign. Parzival recognizes it as the one Morrow signed
when Halliday forced him out of Gregarious Games, and refuses to sign
it. Anorak transforms into Halliday, who expresses his regrets in life,
handing over the Easter Egg.
Sorrento confronts the High-5, but relents upon seeing Wade with
the egg. He and F'Nale are arrested for the bombing. Ogden Morrow
appears, revealing he is the Curator. Wade decides to run the OASIS with
the High-5, inviting Morrow to join them as a consultant. The IOI
Loyalty Centers are shut down, while the High-5 make the controversial
choice to close the OASIS every Tuesday and Thursday, so people can
spend time in the real world.
