Secret Level: The stories that go beyond the games we know

Adaptation in the world of video games is almost always a coin flip. We’ve been lucky in recent years, with more wins than losses in adaptations that have managed to translate their source material to another medium. Next week, Prime Video launches 'Secret Level‘, a new anthology series created by Tim Miller that takes elements from 15 video games to create a unique mix of stories.

Enter all kinds of worlds

Secret Level’s proposal is simple: short animated films between 7 and 15 minutes that tell stories inspired by 15 video games. Each of them focuses on a video game or, in some very special cases, on an experience behind it. Each story is unique in more ways than one, because instead of merging them into a visual style to give cohesion to the whole series, each of the titles presented keeps its own style, maintaining the freedom of extremely different visual approaches, with a level of detail so high that in some cases it made us doubt if we were really watching an animation. Which games can we expect to see in Secret Level? Armored Core, Concord, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, PAC-MAN, various PlayStation Studios games, Sifu, Spelunky, The Outer Worlds, Unreal Tournament, and Warhammer 40,000.

The selection of games is very special. Although there are some titles that are not so well known at first glance or that the connoisseur audience would like to see, each story has a reason to be there. This shows that the world of games goes beyond the mainstream and that we should always be open to discovering the next great game. An example of this would be the chapter dedicated to 'Crossfire‘, which could have been the basis for a story worthy of Counter-Strike, but stays there to represent one of the genres of gaming.

Watching these episodes, I was impressed by the fact that for the most part it was not necessary to know much about the game to understand it or even enjoy it more. An example of this is the episode dedicated to ‘Mega Man’, which, being an origin story, doesn’t require much background, but it does have its winks and references that you’ll certainly enjoy more if you know the character’s games (especially the rendition they use in the credits for the character’s theme).

This is also seen in the episode dedicated to the fateful ‘Concord’. It is a simple episode, with touches of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, that shows us a group of bounty hunters trying to achieve their goal. The humor is there and the lore of this game is expanded, but if you didn’t play Concord when it was available, you’ll probably have no problem understanding what’s going on. The same thing happens with episodes like ‘Honor of Kings’, where, beyond showing us a MOBA in action, it is changed to an epic Go confrontation, expanding more on the strategic side of this type of game than the lore of its world.

But on the other hand, we also have episodes where you don’t have to ask anyone what happened if you have broader knowledge. An example of this is the episode dedicated to ‘Sifu’, which is not only full of fights and action, but also shows the most important and strange element of the game: the aging of its protagonist. Although it shows the medallions breaking, the lack of context can be strange, as at no time is it explained why this is happening. Nevertheless, from its visual style to the fluidity of its action scenes, it’s one of my favorites.

Full screen

Also, as I said, not all of them are video games, but they do touch on elements that are very much part of the gaming experience. The episode devoted to ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ is a good example of this, as it shows the importance of the game as the great forerunner of role-playing games, and also comes with its own tongue-in-cheek Easter eggs (from dragons you wouldn’t want to cross paths with to wizards whose only desire is to throw a fireball). The same goes for 'PlayTime‘, the much-hyped episode with elements of PlayStation games that at times feels like a big commercial, but deep down has an even deeper message about the gaming experience.

Approaching Game Over

However, within ‘Secret Level’ we come across elements that could be more of a glitch than anything else. I feel that some episodes are sometimes too short and leave you wanting more. But this series works because it is self-contained and avoids any details that would overstay their welcome.

On the other hand, not all episodes are faithful adaptations, and the particular case of ‘Pac-Man’ will provide plenty to talk about. Without giving away any spoilers, it is a very particular reinterpretation of that world. Considering the premise of the original title, it’s a twist that may not convince everyone, but it makes its attempt to be original.

‘Secret Level’ gets it right much more often than we expected, because most of the time plays it safe. If you are looking for short stories that mostly understand the essence of the game or, in other cases, of the genre to which they belong, you will find an interesting version of the worlds within these video games. There are few cases where the essence of the game conflicts with the reinterpretations, but, the stories, which in addition to having an impressive visual design, fulfill the mission of being entertaining. It won’t change or revolutionize the way gaming adaptations arrive to TV, but at least will give some interesting catalogue of games you didn’t know about.

The series will premiere with a first wave of episodes on December 10th. The rest of the anthology series will premiere the following week on December 17th.

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