Secret Level

Genres : Sci-fi, Anthology, Fantasy

Show Credits

Developed by: Tim Miller, Dave Wilson

Seasons : 1

Writer : Surya Turaga

Date : 18th December 2024

Secret Level is a visual treat of a show that often appeals more to the niche community of those well versed in a myriad of games. Brought to life by the creators of Love Death and Robots (an anthology that I consider to be among the best in existence), this anthology is made up of small episodes, each of which adapt a video game as an animated story. The episodes are short stories filled with well-known characters from games, satisfying easter eggs, and display creators’ love and passion for source materials. The games are not always well chosen, though.

The creators, Tim Miller and Dave Wilson, went about video game adaptations in quite a unique way as compared to existing ones such as Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and The Super Mario Bros Movie. Rather than adapting existing in-game stories onto the screen, Secret Level used the video games as a base to tell their own unique stories. The places, styles, and characters are all based on the games, but the stories are unique and creative, whether it’s about a king finding a new purpose or PACMAN hiring a warrior.

Love Death and Robots is in my opinion one of the best animated shows to exist today. It successfully tells unique stories that feel independent and beautiful, but also part of a larger whole series. Setting that as the standard, Secret Level feels a bit amateur and like an Indie side project for the creators. From the introduction titles to the general story length and arcs, there is reminiscence to LDR. The animation is less diverse in this show, with all the episodes going for a similar fantasy photorealistic videogame animation style. Thankfully, Secret Level preserves its aesthetic, delivering visually pleasing effects and stunning scenes.

The show stuck to less common video games such as Unreal Tournament, Warhammer 40k, and Honor of Kings. This seems to have narrowed their audience down to animation fanatics and well-versed gamers. The knowledge barrier was certainly not as high as I expected, though. Despite not knowing many of the games, I was able to enjoy the visuals and often engaging storyline. Of course, quick research helped every now and then.

Secret Level’s Unreal Tournament episode is the Magnum Opus of the show. It perfectly displays everything that a film adaptation of a videogame should contain, and more. Being about a rebellious droid being made to fight in an arena, it gave me far more than what I expected out of it. The visuals are highly grounded and focused on future tech that strongly resembles the video games, and do not disappoint at all. The music and cinematography are leagues ahead of what is typically expected out of such a small, animated show. Other honorable mentions are the episodes based on Warhammer 40,000 and New World: Aeturnum. With their own unique stories that feel part of a far larger world of the video games, these episodes live up to the vision of Secret Level being a treat for the fans.

However, the show is limited by its occasionally poor game selection. Some of the episodes such as Armored Core and Playtime were not executed properly due to the game not having a good enough foundation to build a story on. The stories were dull and uninteresting, and such episodes were just unenjoyable. While the idea of picking less common games was certainly a good one, some of the games just had subpar stories. I am thankful that there are fewer of such episodes.

Overall, Secret Level is an excellent concept of a short story series that brings many interesting video-game characters to life. The episodes are certainly story dependent, where strong stories that work on their own accent the source materials well to bring out the beauty of the video games. A few stories are botched with insufficient creativity and boring characters, but most of the episodes successfully deliver an entertaining and visually appealing treat. I would recommend this show to anyone who likes adult animated shows like Love Death and Robots. Secret Level is an amateur show but maintains creativity as a compilation of thoughtful and imaginative stories.

Surya-o-meter : 81%

Storytelling - 8/10

Design - 9/10

Animation - 8/10

Music - 7/10

Cinematography - 8/10

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