Secret Level, the animated anthology series set in the world of famous video games by Tim Miller’s Blur Studio ofLove Death and Robotsfame, is finally (all) out.
There are some gems here, but the overall output is rather unbalanced. Let’s rank all the episodes in a way no one on the Internet will dare disagree with, shall we?
15. PAC-MAN: Circle
RememberBomberman: Act Zero, the reimagining of the classic for the Xbox 360 that seems to have mistaken one of the most immediately recognizable characters in gaming history with a cyberpunk version of the Unabomber? Everyone loathed the new rendition so much they condemned it to serve only as perfect cautionary tale against unnecessary gritty reboots.
I assume the people behindPAC-MANcircle looked atBomberman: Act Edgyand thought, “It was so close; it just needed even more edge.”The result is something so mind-bendingly counterintuitive that you’ll need to see to believe. If you’re looking for an inexplicably dark origin story featuring extremely creepy-looking characters and ridiculous amounts of gore — yes, I am talking aboutthatPac-Man— then this is the one for you. If you’re looking at something that will make you ask important existential questions, such as “Is this real?” And “No, really, is this really real? then this is also the one for you. If you’re looking into trolling old folk by telling themPac-Manhas been secretly one of the vilest entities in gaming this entire time, and that they’re evil for letting you play it as a kid, then this is definitely the one for you.
If you’re not looking for the most ill-advised concept and execution for a short I’ve ever seen, then this is probably not for you.
14. Crossfire: Good Conflict
Crossfire‘sSecret LevelandPAC-MAN: Circlesit on opposite ends of the bad spectrum. Whereas one is an absolutely bizarre and quite disrespectful adaptation,Crossfireleans too close to the (highly lackluster) source material.
Good Conflictfeatures little more depth than an actualCrossfirematch, and none of the excitement. I remember watching thetrailer forCrossfire X— the firstCrossfiretitle to put emphasis on a single player campaign — and feeling pretty hyped about it. That game turned out bad, but it sure did show promise for an adaptation that could capture the fun of a softMetal Gear Solidrip-off. It doesn’t.Good Conflictjust shows a shootout between two different teams by the numbers, which is neither interesting nor fun.
13. Playtime: Fulfillment
IfArcanetaught us that the best way to adapt a video game to the big or small screens is to perhaps ignore all semblance of the actual game, thenPlaytime: Fulfillmentis the student desperately trying to rebel and do the exact opposite. Either that, or it’s a straight-upPlayStationad. The animation is good, but everything gets so bogged down by the visual noise of as many cameos as you can find that you can barely even pay attention to the incredibly thin plot.
At best,Playtime: Fulfillmentwill go down in history as an unnecessarily extended version of the “Long Live Play” PlayStation 3ad from a while ago — an excuse to show you a bunch of famous PlayStation characters doing things. At worst, we’ll remember it as aReady Player Oneripoff. Most likely, however, we’ll just forget about it.
12. Mega Man: Start
ThePAC-MANepisode had me very scared forMega Manfor a long while as I would only learn his fate upon the release ofSecret Level’ssecond half. The good news is they didn’t massacre our boy by turning him into a grimdark hero via a grotesque origin story. The bad news is that the episode isn’t great, either — albeit its biggest problem is incidental.
Mega Man’smost obvious problem is that it’s a very simple origin story, one featuring zero actual Mega Man action. The most insidious problem — and the one the makers are not to blame for — is that its animation, though good, can’t help but to look like the millions of infinitely cursed clips of AI trying to do real CGI animation currently plaguing every inch of the Internet. Again, I’m pretty sure Studio Blur isn’t using AI, so this is probably just a case of extreme bad luck.
The actor portraying Dr. Light sounds like a good version of the infamously poorly voice-acted Dr. LightfromMega Man X,and I’m always here for a good tale of redemption.
11. Spelunky: Tally
Tallyfeatures animation that many are likely to enjoy since it’s highly reminiscent of the one seen onArcane. The episode is consistent with the tone of the game, and also manages to add a neat little heartwarming plot to it. It’s a rather short episode, one that doesn’t do anything spectacular, but it checks all the boxes and does not overstay its welcome.
10. Unreal Tournament: Xan
If you’ve played the originalUnreal Tournament, you’ll know Xan is the hardest NPC to beat, but he’s also a robot, meaning that the only sensible origin story for him to have would be “he’s a bot made to mess everyone up”. I guess I’d be down to see an episode where he gets improved upon further and further as he frags the cast of the original game, but that’s not it.
They made Xan’s story one about a robot uprising, but one that’s, somehow, good. In the end, Xan wins not because he’s the strongest but because he hacks the system. The episode’s action isn’t particularly riveting, nor does it feature any of the game’s beloved maps, but the conclusion is especially bonkers as you probably don’t want an episode about a competitive shooter promoting cheating.
9. Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle
D&D‘s episode features what could’ve been a very abridged look at aD&Dcampaign told by a very edgy Dungeon Master. The people behindSecret Leveleither failed to realize or neglected what’s giving people a newfound love forD&D. Shows likeCritical Role, the movieHonor Among Thieves, andBaldur’s Gate3have caught the hearts of so many because of their fun shenanigans.Queen’sCradlehas decent action, but it’s just so incredibly dark and dour that you should probably ponder a bit before recommending it to a currentD&Dfan.
8. Exodus: Odyssey
This one tells the story of a father who’d really stop nowhere to rescue his daughter, but there’s a twist — a time twist. You see, we’re not talking about finding a girl in a different country, but rather in the far reaches of space where she’s aging at a faster rate than he is. If that sounds a little too much like Christopher Nolan’sInterstellarit’s because, well, it’s because it is, but there’s a silver lining. Though it’s not original, or particularly riveting,Odysseyis less than 15 minutes long, meaning it also cuts down a lot of the extra stuff makingInterstellarone of the most bloated Sci-Fi movies of all time.
7. Sifu: It Takes a Life
Secret Level’sepisodes are short and thus better used to tell a small story set in the world of a game rather than explain the entire concept of the game’s universe.Sifu’s It Takes a Lifechooses to condense the story of the game into a single 10-minute or so episode, and the result is uneven.
The action is cool, it does a good job of explaining the character’s particular abilities, but it also ends up feeling too close to the game — a problem in a post-Arcaneworld. You might enjoy it whether or not you care about the game, but this one certainly won’t be world-changing for anyone.
6. Honor of Kings: The Way Of All Things
The plot of this episode is very simple. Possibly taking cues fromThe Seventh Seal,The Way Of All Thingspits a regular person against a seemingly unbeatable opponent in a match of an insultingly simple game where everything is at stake.
If you’re looking for a visual feast, then you’ve come to the right place.Honor Of Kingsdoes an excellent job of showing a simple match ofGOreally is affecting a whole kingdom. Besides the visual spectacle, though,The Way Of All Thingstells an unoriginal — if decent — tale of self-sacrifice.
5. Armored Core: Asset Management
Asset Management‘s greatest asset is Keanu Reeves, who just doesn’t seem like he’ll be slowing down anytime after he began his renaissance with the originalJohn Wick, but that’s not all. This episode features a rather simple plot, but does a great job of capturing the essence ofArmored Core’saction, and even has some space to feature a nice little twist in the end.
The only downside here is the unnecessary amount of darkness that so many episodes ofSecret Levelseem to have been injected with, but it works better here than in the other episodes, which are also suffering from this malaise.
4. Concord: Tale Of The Implacable
When the firstSecret Leveltrailer revealedConcordwould be a part of the series even though the game had already been pretty much cancelled by Sony, I thought, “I’d be so funny if this turned out to be the best episode”. It’s not the best one, but it’s pretty damn good.
Tale Of The Implacableis a visually gorgeous tale about space pirates, betrayal, and comradery that masterfully averted feeling like aGuardians Of The Galaxyclone. There’s good action to remind you ofConcord’sgameplay, butImplacableis mostly its own — good — thing.
This one will probably leave the few who got to enjoyConcordon a bittersweet note, but at least they’re getting a decent sendoff this time around.
3. Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear
Remember me complaining about the strange darkness polluting some of these episodes? Well,And They Shall Know No Feardoesn’t suffer from that, and not because it’s darkness-free. It’s because the darkness makes sense here. TheWarhammerepisode is a simple and brutal tale of what I assume everyday life in that universe is, and it works. The action is great, the grit doesn’t feel out of place, and it still manages to provide a perfect introduction to the main character.
The only possible downside here is that the episode feels a bit too much likeAstartes, the famous fan-madeWarhammer 40,000kshort from a few years back. Still,Astarteswas good, and this one is better, so I won’t be complaining much about that.
2. The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep
If you’re going intoThe Company We Keepexpecting the fun times you’d naturally get fromThe Outer Worlds; Imust warn you’re about to have a surprise — but not necessarily a bad one.The Company We Keepisn’t grimdark and features no action, but it packs one hell of a gut punch.
It’s a story about unrequited love in a universe swallowed and nearly-digested by greed and boundless ambition. It’s a great episode, one whose darkness stems more from its themes than from its visuals, a problem plaguing many of the episodes in this series.
1. New World: The Once and Future King
I don’t much care for theNew World, so I definitely wasn’t expecting to get completely floored byThe Once and Future King.
I don’t want to spoil anything about it, so I’m just going to say thatNew World: The Once and Future Kingis hilarious, features an elegant and constructive lesson regarding both gamer entitlement and the dredge that is colonialism, and ties it all up with a surprisingly heartwarming ending.
Secret Level’sNew Worldepisode is a masterclass in (short)storytelling that I hope the people looking forward to doing similar stuff should take right now.
