Secret Level review: a hollow anthology of video game cutscenes

Ever since it was announced, there has been some confusion over just what Secret Level actually is. The video game-themed anthology streaming on Prime Video — helmed by Love, Death & Robots creator Tim Miller — is a collection of animated shorts, each based on a different gaming property. So there’s a Mega Man episode that explores the character’s origin and a Spelunky episode that attempts to create a metanarrative around the concept of a roguelike. 

It’s an interesting idea let down by a lack of interesting ideas. The 15 shorts are almost universally dull and manage to neither make their source material seem compelling nor provide new insights for existing fans. The real confusion is who this is actually for.

The main problem is how homogenous Secret Level is. Working directly with game publishers, the show pulls from an oddball but also impressively global list, with titles like Chinese megahit Honor of Kings and Korean shooter Crossfire. But despite featuring a large variety of video games, its episodes all feel very samey. It’s kind of the opposite of Love, Death & Robots, which featured a number of different styles and tones as it explored horror and sci-fi. That’s how we got beautiful episodes like the trippy “The Very Pulse of the Machine.”

Secret Level, on the other hand, mostly utilizes a gritty, hyperrealistic style that makes almost all of its episodes look identical. It’s sort of like watching a nonstop barrage of cutscenes at E3 and not being able to tell the games apart.

This works for some stories. The Warhammer 40,000 episode is appropriately grimdark. But I can’t say I really needed a hyperviolent take on Pac-Man. I’m not kidding: the Pac-Man episode is probably the goriest in the entire series, turning a classic arcade game into a brutal survivor story with copious blood and death. (The episode’s big twist is also the stupidest thing I’ve seen all year, and I sat through all of Megalopolis.) There are a handful of deviations that attempt to add some color and vibrancy, but they all end up looking like Arcane. The worst offender is the Mega Man episode, which tries to merge a realistic style with an anime aesthetic and just comes off as an awkward, ugly mix of the two.

It’s more than just how Secret Level looks, though. The series is also dreadfully dull. The majority of episodes feel like the opening scene of a much bigger story, ending right when things seem to be getting interesting. Ideas repeat themselves a lot. There are no less than three episodes — based on Spelunky, New World, and Sifu — that all try to tell a metastory about the concept of dying in a video game. And when the show does attempt some creative liberties, like with Pac-Man, it devolves into a bland attempt at edgy violence.

Two of the strangest episodes are based on games you can’t actually play right now. One is set in the world of the now-infamous multiplayer shooter Concord, which was the most disastrous launch in PlayStation history, resulting in the abrupt closure of both the game and its development studio. The other episode is based on Exodus, an upcoming roleplaying game published by Magic: the Gathering company Wizards of the Coast. In another timeline, these Secret Level episodes would be the ideal opportunity to show what makes these futuristic worlds unique and worth exploring further in a game. In reality, they make both Concord and Exodus seem like the most generic science fiction stories imaginable. I’m struggling to come up with a single distinct thing to say about either.

Really, Secret Level is best summed up by its final episode. Called “Playtime,” it follows a bike courier in a near future world that looks like an AR-infested hellscape. Very quickly, she’s handed a mysterious package that pulls her into what can only be described as a PlayStation commercial. She’s chased by Helldivers soldiers, avoids attacks from Kratos, and has a sweet moment with Sackboy. There’s no story. It’s a collection of Easter eggs tied to a brand, a chance to spot things you recognize from playing the games.

Across its 15 episodes, Secret Level fails to explain why any of these worlds are worth exploring, while at the same time failing to offer anything new for those already in the know. It sits in an awkward, empty middle ground. After watching all of it, I’m somehow more confused than before I started.

Secret Level starts streaming on Prime Video on December 10th.