Secret Level is an animated documentary series that has original stories set within the worlds of iconic (and some not so iconic) video games. It comprises of 15 short episodes, each of varying lengths, anywhere from 10 minutes to 20 minutes, so it’s not a long show at all. The problem with a show telling original stories within a variety of video games is that you won’t know all of the video games, and that means you won’t be able to understand and completely enjoy each episode.
The first episode, based on Dungeons and Dragons, isn’t really a great opening episode. It is confusing and a little bit boring. However, hitting the second and third episode, one of which is based on Sifu, and you can start to see the potential that the show has. Sifu’s episode in particular showcases that the episodes will change its animation style to match the source material. And while it will still be beneficial to at least know a little bit about the background (such as Sifu’s gameplay mechanic of the main character getting older every time he dies and tries again), it manages to tell an interesting short story where you manage to empathize and stand behind the character.
The other common reason why an episode is more enjoyable than another would be the simplicity and focus on the action. Like the Unreal Tournament episode, you only need a simple premise (i.e. robots gaining sentience and now forced to fight humans in an arena), and the rest will play on common tropes. All we want from that type of episode is arena battles and it delivers on that front. Other times, it would be the humor that keeps you engaged.
The short length is both positive and negative. Positive in that it can force the shorts to being faster paced and conveying their plot points much faster. Negative in that when it fails, it fails spectacularly. When it tries to tell a more complicated story, it doesn’t have enough time to set up the characters so that you care for them. There is a wide variety of genres too, and the Pacman episode deserves a special mention as it was completely unexpected, in a good way. You would never expect something inspired by Pacman to be so dark and horror themed (although it somewhat makes sense afterwards when the new game was announced and the direction that game takes).
And of course, you can’t mention this show without mentioning the episode based on Concord. Given the very public failure of Concord just a few months prior, this gives a glimpse into its universe. Truth to told, it was actually one of the better episodes, as it quickly did some worldbuilding, and had some charm into it. It may try a bit hard with its edginess but managed to not go overboard. It’s not enough to make you lament at the closure of Concord but is just an interesting facet into its universe and characters.
Some of the episodes deal with heavier themes, such as the Exodus episode, where it uses time dilation to great effect. Travelling at lightspeed slows down time, and as it focuses on a father and his daughter, there is that human bonding element to it as well. While Spelunky plays on its roguelike gameplay, with the main character constantly dying and reviving. It explores (briefly as it is a short episode) the psychological impact it has on doing this so many times.
The final episode was perhaps a surprise, if you didn’t know it was coming. It’s like a celebration of gaming (although only a very specific brand), but if you have played some of those games, then it is a blast to see them appear in the episode. The story itself is not terribly original, which is true for most of the episode, but it was fun to watch.
Overall, Secret Level had a lot of potential and it sounds like a great idea. Its execution does leave a lot to be desired. The biggest negative is the fact that it chose some niche gaming properties, and for a debut series, that may not have been the best to showcase what it can do. There are a good amount of episodes where it is enjoyable, as they manage to quickly worldbuild and fill in the gaps, while others are boring and hard to pay attention to.
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