The creators of Love, Death, and Robots making an animated anthology series based on video games? WithSpace Marine 2,Armored Core, andMega Manfeatured? And the likes of Keanu Reeves and Arnold Schwarzenegger voicing characters? Yes please.
Secret Levelhas been high on the list of every gamer’s most anticipated TV shows since it was first announced byAmazonearlier this year, and the final product delivers a bombastic snapshot of some great gaming stories.
As well as your Space Marines and Mega Men, there are some unusual inclusions to the roster of games. The nameConcordrings alarm bells across the industry.Exodusisn’t out yet.New Worldis only there because it’s an Amazon thing, right? How do you even make a TV show about an MMO?
As expected from an anthology show, Secret Level is a mixed bag, but even the most mediocre episodes aren’t terrible. PerhapsCrossfire’s three fans will love that it features, but other people won’t get the deep-cut references of other games. As such, we’ve recruited three different reviewers to tackle a range of episodes: some from games they love, some they don’t, and some they haven’t played. Consider this an anthology review for an anthology show, a broad spread of opinions about a series that is, overall, an exciting addition to the gaming TV canon.
Dungeon & Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle
Eric Switzer: The first episode of the season is a great place to start.Dungeons and Dragonsis so ubiquitously saturated in popular culture that you don’t need any context to understand what it’s about. Here’s a ragtag group of diverse adventurers on a quest. Action.
I enjoyed the fantasy action here and the demonstration of familiar DnD magic, but most of all I liked how earnestly it plays its silly ending. All the heroes manage to do is make a bad situation infinitely worse, but it’s shrugged off in an “all in a day’s work” way I couldn’t help but be charmed by it.
Sifu: It Takes A Life
Jade King:Sifuis already the perfect action movie, so translating that experience into animated form should be a relatively seamless task. Secret Level pulls it off by turning the game’s harsh journey of revenge into a 5-minute action masterpiece. It begins with the protagonist sitting at a dumpling stand before walking into a nightclub to get the party started/kill loads of people. He’s swiftly killed, but soon utilises the game’s revival mechanic to come back to life, even if it means aging him in the process.
Cue a sequence of brilliant action set pieces where our hero revives himself again and again in pursuit of revenge, with some highlights including a moment where he pulls a duo of knives from his bloodied chest only to use them on a corridor of unsuspecting thugs. Before the credits roll, he returns to the dumpling stand to try and convince the old lady sitting alongside him that this journey of vengeance was worthwhile.
New World: The Once And Future King
Ben Sledge: Now this is an episode that took me by surprise. Firstly, I completely missed that Arnold Schwarzenegger was on the cast list for Secret Level, so his booming voice made me start. Then I was surprised by how funny this episode was. It takes a lot to make me laugh, and New World nearly managed it.
However, its video-gamey premise of dying only to come back stronger and wrest control of the world got old fast, especially as this is also the premise of Sifu and Spelunky. I was surprised by how much heart this Amazon-game-shoehorned-into-an-Amazon-show had, but ultimately, I prefer the episodes that just exist within their game worlds to those that try to wrestle with the mechanics.
Unreal Tournament: Xan
Ben Sledge: I’ll level with you: I never playedUnreal Tournament. I have no idea how much lore there is in the old-school PvP shooter and how much was invented for Secret Level, but I’ll tell you one thing: now I really want to play Unreal Tournament.
Its story of oppression and revolution fits neatly into its 20-minute runtime, which is more than can be said for some other episodes, and this felt more similar to Love, Death, and Robots than anything else in the series. Not just because of the robots either; the dystopian tale and gritty designs fit perfectly in either setting.
Warhammer 40K: And They Shall Know No Fear
Ben Sledge: Every TV show about Space Marines will be compared to Astartes. It is the way of the internet. Secret Level’s Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 sequel isn’t quite as good as the seminal YouTube series, but Astartes creator Syama Pedersen’s work on this episode shows.
I’m a big Warhammer fan, so all those little details that Pedersen became known for are delightful, and this episode is visually one of the best out of the lot. Spots of ice blue light in the darkness punctuate the visceral action sequences. The antagonist – I won’t spoil who or what it is – is a fantastic reimagining of a classic Warhammer villain. And it makes Space Marines interesting, which is more difficult than you’d think.
PAC-MAN: Circle
Eric Switzer: This is the one. The whole season is built around this stand-out episode. The producers know it too, considering how much marketing has centered around how dark and twisted this body horror reimagining ofPAC-MANis. It’s not being oversold: this is the best episode of the season and should be Secret Level’s north star should the series continue.
It’s a shame that other episodes aren’t as bold and creative as PAC-MAN. The episode gives us an entirely new take on a classic character that’s wholly unexpected and entirely captivating. While other episodes feel like extended trailers, this one proves Secret Level has value. If you only watch one episode, make it this one.
Crossfire: Good Conflict
Jade King: The Crossfire episode begins and ends with the same line: “We’re not the bad guys.” And throughout its runtime it tries to paint this generic military shooter as a complicated and nuanced moral quandary that, no matter what side you’re fighting for, you’re doing things for the right reasons.
It taps into the need to stay alive, the lines you’ll cross to get a job done, and how you’ll react to friends dying in the line of duty. It isn’t Secret Level’s best, and is incredibly grey and drab to look at, but it’s a fun enoughCall of Dutymission in animated form with some surprisingly deep characters to boot.
Armored Core: Asset Management
Jade King: How do you makeFromSoftware’s acclaimed mech series even more interesting? Add Keanu Reeves and hardcore drugs. The beloved actor plays a pilot who takes on any and all assignments that come his way, knowing that getting into his mech will pump drugs into his veins and ensure he remains a part of the everturning war machine.
The inside of the mechs resemble life support machines as tubes pump drugs into pilots to keep them alive, with each opponent killed being a new hit to keep them loyal. It’s a bitter expansion of the political world that Armored Core takes place in and, for the most part, its heavy-handedness works in its favour. Keanu’s character is well and truly alone too, kept company by an artificial intelligence that gaslights him into bloodshed despite being a soft, calming voice in his ear. This one is a winner.
The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep
Ben Sledge: Why would I playThe Outer Worldswhen I could just replayNew Vegas? I didn’t think much of Obsidian’s spacefaring RPG when I played it, but it was still a good time. Its world was vast and interesting, and its characters were great.
Archaic game design doesn’t matter in a TV adaptation, so its Secret Level episode works well. Filled with dark humour and gritty nihilism, I wouldn’t call this episode fun, but I enjoyed it all the same. It feels like a sci-fi Black Mirror episode with extra body horror. The nihilism might not be for everyone, but it certainly was for me.
Mega Man: Start
Eric Switzer:Capcom’s all-but-forgotten mascot character has always been one of my favorite video game heroes, and this episode does a fantastic job showing off exactly what makes him such a cool character. While I praised PAC-MAN for its bold reinvention, I appreciated this episode for telling a Mega Man origin story in a way we’ve never seen before.
Start is the perfect title for the episode because it feels like the start of a Mega Man series I’d love to see. Is it its own series? Is it a Sonic the Hedgehog-style movie? I’d love to see this episode grow into something more someday, because it nails the Mega Man vibe.
