On August 20th 2024, a teary-eyed Tim Miller (Deadpool) strutted upon the Gamescom stage to announce his ambitious video game anthology series Secret Level: a collection of short animated stories ranging from the retro, all the way to the modern classics. Having worked on the project for the last 3 years, Miller was quickly overcome with emotion and struggled to maintain his composure, citing himself as an emotional person. Miller's heartfelt love for the project was felt by the roaring Gamescom crowd who showcased their excitement through a raucous round of applause, supporting the director's genuine enthusiasm for a clearly beloved passion project. Anticipation arose amongst the audiences when its December 10th release date was revealed, and has shown no signs of letting up since then.
Video games are a sometimes disrespected segment of the entertainment industry, often described as childish or a waste of time, despite the revolutionary stories told within them. Equally, the rise of social media has given the average gamer the opportunity to nitpick minor flaws or criticise the inclusion of characters full of entertaining personalities for rarely any coherent reason. Despite all threat of negativity, Tim Miller's Blur Studio, the creative minds behind LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS (2019), collaborated with Amazon MGM Studios to deliver the adult animated series Secret Level. The result is a fantastic visual marvel, a feast for the eyes that will leave audiences yearning for more.
Secret Level boasts thrilling adventures jam-packed with epic action, despite the runtime limitations it faces. Shorter episodic run times often test a character's relatability, sometimes struggling to convey to audiences why their personal mission should resonate with them. However, Secret Level never falters in this department. Each episode begins with a grand and energetic momentum that never eases, audiences are instantly thrust into the video game world and will find some level of inspiration to resonate with our on-screen lead. Familiarity with the protagonists isn't a requirement for enjoyment, however some of the best episodes are ones that introduce viewers to unknown worlds. Ironically, the best episode of Prime Video's new series revolved around Sony's catastrophic failure Concord, a game taken offline a mere 2 weeks after release. This episode showcases the potential of the now buried franchise that will surely leave some gamers disappointed in its disappearance.
It's worth noting that in Secret Level, no two stories are the same. There's no shared universe, no Super Smash Bro's Brawl-esque come together, nor a deeper storytelling connectivity. Each episode is a standalone short, a brilliant creative decision. In the age of cinematic universes, it would have been no surprise if these short stories were brought together to culminate into an ‘epic final battle.' Yet, Prime Video have bravely committed to the individuality of the series – one that will undoubtedly leave some episodes with better viewing statistics than others. Such decision also lends well to the narrative, it heightens stakes, creates a palpatable tension and will leave viewers glued to the screen in anticipation. Episode endings are often unpredicatable, with varying twists thrown in to seperate narratives from each other — another welcome benefit of being an anthology series.
Audiences may have expected each episode to differentiate in the animation style used, perhaps changing to replicate the video game the story is adapted from. Yet throughout the first few episodes of Secret Level, the animation is incredibly consistent. Consistency doesn't always mean good, but Secret Level is truly an exhillerating visual treat that near-masters a pre-established animation style. The short episodes reap some additional benefit here, allowing animators to focus more on character movement and scene lighting, injecting this sensationally spirited soul into any on-screen drama, prioritising quality over quantity. Animation as a medium has received a lot of praise online over recent years, thanks to the efforts of pictures such as the Spiderverse series and Arcane. Whilst Secret Level doesn't invigorate the genre with a refreshing style, it does succeed in capturing the dramatic intensity of brawling robots or Godzilla-sized dragons.
Overall, Secret Level delivers plentiful enjoyment throughout. Audiences will hold a dearer love for some episodes more than others due to the nature of the tales, but this is frankly quite refreshing. Secret Level feels made for fans BY fans, there's no pressure to watch episodes that sound uninteresting, but one should take the opportunity to do so as these will be the ones that surprise viewers the most. Considering episodes are so short, they deliver breathtaking animation accompanied by surprisingly well-rounded character arcs that are sure to entertain.
Secret Level releases December 10th on Amazon Prime Video
