Secret Level, now streaming on Prime Video, is a fast-paced, gorgeous animated series which will thrill adult gamers. Each episode, described as short stories in an anthology, explores a different popular game, be it tabletop, console, or online. You’ll recognize many of the voice actors, including Keanu Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenegger and his son Patrick, Kevin Hart and his daughter Heaven, Clive Standen, and more.
Many of these stories have poignant themes. Others are dark. All have great driving action. Several episodes require you to be familiar with the game to understand the meaning. Don’t let that discourage you, because this series is a must watch. It’s doing well and the creators are already discussing a second season.
Here's the low-down on each episode:
Episode 1: "Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle"
I’m a big D&D fan since the 1980s, so in my opinion this is the perfect way to start this series.
A young man covered in ritual markings and slash wounds gets rescued by an adventuring party. He is plagued by images of toothy jaws and fire; he is harangued by a sinister voice in his head who urges him on.
The party of this game consists of a human paladin, a halfling wizard, a dwarven monk, and a half-orc druid. They are pursued by orc enemies led by a dragon-riding dark mage. Their group flee to a castle housing an enormous ancient gold dragon. The paladin pleads for it to remove the boy’s curse. Meanwhile, the others in the party battle enemy forces on a sword-shaped bridge.
The gold dragon takes the boy’s curse inside himself, releasing the youth. However, instead of destroying the curse, it takes him over. The entity, now inside, bursts forth, releasing the five-headed dragon queen, Tiamat.
Episode 2: "Sifu: It Takes a Life"
This episode takes place in China. A young man plays a board game with an old woman who then gives him a bowl of dumplings she’s made. When a group of thugs walk by, the youth remembers seeing his father murdered by members of their group. He leaves to pursue them.
They go into a dance club, so he follows and engages with a flurry of fists, knives, and kicks. Twice he dies to them; twice he rises having aged a little each time. He defeats most of the gang and enters a large area filled with burning candles and red lanterns. There he finds father’s murderer. They face off and the scene breaks away.
We revisit to the old woman’s stand where an elderly man steps up and orders the dumplings. She mistakes him as the boy’s grandfather at first. When she realizes who he truly is, she asks him to tell her his story.
Episode 3: "New World: The Once and Future King"
The game New World has recently been revamped by Amazon Games. True to the game's storyline, this episode begins with a shipwreck where an arrogant King Aelstrom (voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger) nearly drowns after his ship is struck by lightning. He wakes on a sandy beach along with his one-armed vassal. Determined to build a new army, he tries to recruit a young fisherman. It goes awry and the boy slays both of them.
Alas, the magical nature of the place brings them both back to life on the same beach. A young woman explains the rules of this place: no one dies, no one leaves.
Aelstrom decides to take over the place and declare himself its new king. However, the current ruler has never been defeated in battle. They fight, Aelstrom dies, awakens again…and again. Each time their battle is different: board game, jousting, wrestling, and more. Each one turns deadly.
Eventually Aelstrom decides to seek out dark magic. The fighting and rising cycle begins again, only this time he wakes on the beach with a piece of magical armor. Eventually he gains enough pieces and a weapon. Then he returns to challenge the current ruler once again.
After getting the crown he sought outside of battle, Aelstrom trades arrogance for compassion and rewards his vassal, whose friendship was steadfast, with a prosthetic for his missing arm.
Episode 4: "Unreal Tournament: Xan"
Unreal Tournament is a game that featured fast-paced action. This episode introduces us to Xan, a robot in service to Mech soldiers. He and his fellow bots are treated poorly by the humans they serve and eventually rebel.
As punishment for murdering miners and mech soldiers, the robots are taken to an arena for a gladiatorial-style execution battle. Xan leads the robots in each round. They learn, making use of tactics and their environment to become audience favorites.
As all looks lost for Xan and his team, he manages to hack into the system maintained by the corporation operating the games. He manipulates the weaponry system and turns the tide of battle. He alone is victorious. Then he inspires another rebellion, this time against the corporation by the audience members.
Episode 5: "Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear"
Warhammer 40K is a sci-fi tabletop wargame using miniatures. It’s been popular since the late '80s. I’ve always felt the movie The Chronicles of Riddick had a Warhammer feel to it.
This episode opens in the grim darkness of a far future where there is only war. It follows a bladeguard sergeant on a mission to locate an object on a ravaged planet. He and his three companions carve their way through warriors, some on motorcycles, some with armored vehicles. None of them stand a chance.
Once they find what they're looking for, they battle inhuman creatures; two of the guardsmen perish and the third is gravely wounded, but they do win their fight. A beacon is sent skyward, drawing enemies their way. The episode ends with the fourth standing ready in his heavy armor to face the incoming warriors.
Episode 6: "PAC-MAN: Circle"
This is the darkest of the episodes, unexpected considering it deals with Pac-Man. Aboard some short of space ship, a humanoid is dumped out of a tube. He is greeted by a floating sphere that tells him he “must be hungry” and that he’s chosen. I won’t say what he’s chosen for because that’s the big reveal at the conclusion of this episode. The sphere also informs him that only the chosen can escape the maze.
He exits the ship into a heavily forested area. Accompanied by the ever-encouraging sphere, he looks for food and finds a sword in a stump. He quickly learns he’s running for his life in an ‘eat or be eaten’ world. He passes through the trees into a desolated area dotted with circular domes of metal and pipes.
On his search for food and a way out of the maze, he trudges through swamps, burning lands of flowing lava, and canyons. He defeats many creatures and ghosts and eats them. Eventually, the sphere leads him to a structure with obelisks and glowing designs. The sphere tells him that it’s time. There he meets a gorilla-like monster and they battle. This time he doesn’t survive and we learn his purpose.
Episode 7: "Crossfire: Good Conflict"
Crossfire is one of the most popular first-person shooter games in the world, so this episode will thrill fans. Mahler is a corporate man who hires a group of soldiers to help him deliver a package in a briefcase cuffed to his wrist. He’s got a bit of bad attitude, even towards his armed escorts. There’s a hurricane brewing outside the building where the mercs are preparing.
Across in another building are similar mercenaries working for another corporation. It’s interesting that both military teams claim they aren’t the enemy.
Immediately, the second team strikes and the fast action takes off. Cue high-speed vehicle chases, gunplay, crashes, and fire. Grenades send bodies flying. Mahler's car is overtaken and he is missing. The briefcase turns out to be a decoy.
Hurricane winds and rain explain the lack of anyone on the streets of the city. It also gives the second team a clue to where the real Mahler and his package may be, so they head that direction.
The two groups engage again at high speeds on the road. If these frantic action scenes don't have your heart beating fast, the thrumming music will.
I find it poignant that these men and women are mirror images of one another in terms of skills, attitudes, equipment, and motivation. Yet both sides are willing to die for whatever's in that briefcase.
Episode 8: "Armored Core: Asset Management"
We have more mecha warriors in this episode. It starts with a old school pilot (voiced by Keanu Reeves) and an upcoming hot shot (Patrick Schwarzenegger) getting into a bar fight. The fight ends when a voice in the pilot’s head informs him the other man is a potential friend. It turns out they’re both members of The Core.
The snarky voice in the pilot’s head is a cerebral implant which connects him to his Mecha named Shrieker. They trade insults occasionally. The pilot jacks into his unit when he takes on a job.
He and his Mecha fly across the landscape and encounter a pair of enemy Mechas they easily defeat. He seeks out more enemies and is quickly overwhelmed. His implant urges him on tauntingly.
The pilot takes the battle skyward and passes out from the altitude. He manages to recover just in time to prevent crashing to the ground. Even low on power, he’s determined to go forward.
Upon finding the new enemy, he defeats them and opens the Mecha capsule, whereupon he sees the pilot inside. He doesn't save the man, preferring to believe himself unique.
Episode 9: "The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep"
Amos is an orphan who lives in a mining town on a dystopian science fiction world. He’s cheerful in his environment, despite the decrepit conditions. He sees an ad for a job with a research facility and realizes the lead scientist is a girl he fell in love with when he was young. After she went off to school, they lost touch.
Despite multiple people discouraging him, Amos signs up for the job. He endures test after horrible test on his body, often losing parts as he seeks to meet Felicity once again. When they finally meet, she’s a lead scientist up for a big promotion, meaning they will part ways once again. Her ambition shuts down his hope and he’s deeply unhappy with being a ‘cog in a machine.’
Amos loses his job due to cutbacks from the new management, aka Felicity. He decides to share information about the company engaging in fradulent activities. When he sees Felicity again, she’s distraught over the ways in which she may have hurt people. She asks Amos if she’s a bad person. For the first time in his life, he lies and tells her she’s not bad and urges her to follow her ambition because he still loves her.
This is a sad ending, but I think it feels true to how many people live their lives. Love versus ambition. Compassion versus money. Acceptance with the life we have.
Episode 10: "Mega Man: Start"
This episode has a Pinocchio feel to it. An older man named Doctor Light creates a boy, only he’s a robot instead of a puppet. When their workshop is invaded by invasive insectoid bots, the robot — Rock — begs his "father" to let him help destroy them. He is denied and told to limit his help to work in the shop.
One of the spider-like bots takes over a giant robot intended to defeat them and attacks Rock and Doctor Light. Rock uses one of his arm attachments to defeat the robot but it falls onto the doctor. Still, the spider bot survives and tries to take over Rock. The boy manages to destroy it.
Dr. Light relents and transforms his creation into a battle bot. Rock becomes Mega Man, protector of the world. Thus a legend is born.
The animation has an anime feel to it. It’s entertaining and a nice origin story for this iconic video game hero.
Episode 11: "Exodus: Odyssey"
Exodus is a sci-fi game about ark ships leaving a desolate Earth. This episode explores the theme of how space travel at high speeds can affect time for those traveling and those left behind.
Mari lives with her father on a frigid planet. She wants to get away, but he refuses her request. She meets a man who is flying out to look for artifacts. It turns out he stole his spaceship from his family and flees to avoid impound. Mari goes with him.
Nik joins the crew of a cargo ship in hopes of running across his daughter someday. His ship is bound for Scotia, where he believes Mari is traveling. For every year he lives, eight pass for her. Nik follows Mari and her friend for years. He learns they are being hunted by enemy Celestials. He begs a ship from his employer and continues his quest, eventually surrendering to the Celestials.
Then one day, Nik sees Mari on a screen; she's a wanted pirate. He helps her escape amidst a firefight by detonating a Celestial ship reactor. However, her ship gets hit.
Afterward, Nik boards and finds Mari still alive. He repairs the ship and cares for his daughter, who is much older than him now. They get time to reacquaint, but she still dies from old age.
Nik returns to the original icy planet to pay back his debt and gives a powerful artifact to the granddaughter of a woman who helped him get the job on the cargo ship. He then flies off into the starry space to find his own adventure.
Episode 12: "Spelunky: Tally"
If you know Donkey Kong or Mario Brothers, you may be familiar with Spelunky due to its familiar 2-D animation. This episode opens with Ana fleeing down a mine tunnel to get away from a giant rodent. She leaps across a cavernous area only to be punched by a giant stone hand, sending her plummeting to her death.
She wakes and admits to another splunker, Liz, that this is her fifteenth time doing this. Liz tells her to take the dying more seriously, recalling a time or two when she died. Liz shows Ana a wall where she’s scratched a mark for every time she died.
Ana remains confident with her abilities even after 39 total deaths. That is until she just plain tires of it all. Liz reminds her of how wonderful and beautiful adventures under the ground can be. Renewed, Ana sets out on the next adventure and enters another cavern. There, to her wonder, she discovers Liz's tally marks over all the walls, ceiling, and floor. This episode is a sweet tale of perseverance.
Episode 13: "Concord: Tale of the Implacable"
Pirates, mercenaries called freegunners, and more travel to space to make their mark and find their fortune. However, all are beholden to The Guild. We follow a crew trying to retrieve their captured captain. They infiltrate the facility where she’s being held using various disguises and break her out. The humor and character attitudes remind me of Guardians of the Galaxy; cute but deadly.
The crew narrowly gets off the planet intact, but without their captain or the item they wanted to steal. As they discuss their failure, they begin to blame one another. A stowaway shows up and reveals herself as the captain, and she has the item they were after: a stick drive with the locations of all guild trade routes.
Of course The Guild won’t let them have it without a fight and come after them, even to the edge of a dangerous tempest space storm. Surrounded by The Guild armada, the crew decide that if they cannot get away with the location knowledge then they will just share it with as many people as possible. They make their escape by going through the tempest.
Episode 14: "Honor of Kings: The Way of All Things"
In an Asian city controlled by a machine, an orphan sets out to find out why this machine is no longer protecting the people as it was built to do. The artificial intelligence Tiangong sees itself as a god and the city as a game.
On his way into a temple, Yi Xing meets with a crazed beggar who had just confronted the AI inside. Yiangong offers Yi Xing the chance to play any game he wants: if he wins, he gains the power of Tiangong. Losing means madness.
As they play a board game, Yi Xing asks questions about how and why Tiangong controls everything. Tiangong tries to distract him by changing his visage to that of long-dead family members. Their conversation turns to cause and effect. Tiagong conjures a mirror where he can display their game a moment, an hour, any amount of time ahead.
When Yi Xing wins a move, something in the city falls and he learns they are playing for control of the metropolis. This means what they do in the game has consequences in the city: cause and effect. Later, Yi Xing exits the crumbling temple, Tiagong having conceded the game and thus ending himself. He uses his newly won power to begin rebuilding the city.
Episode 15: "Playtime: Fulfillment"
O is a bicycle delivery driver who, with the help of her buddybot (Kevin Hart), navigates traffic rather recklessly. Each time she has a successful delivery, she earns more upgrades. She’s disappointed that her new upgrade is a color change for her bike.
Around her, many people are accompanied by buddybots. Her own is encouraging in a hollow way, touting something called virtual foundation.
A sketchy man approaches her with a suspicious package containing a virtual gelatinous being called a conduit. Immediately, armed police approach her from all directions, wanting it back. Her buddybot tells her to hand it over.
As she flees with it, she encounters a giant colossus made of stone. The conduit transforms her bike into a sleek motorcycle and they escape. Leaping over huge axe-wielding Viking warriors, the conduit grows legs which allow O to climb building exteriors. The conduit shows her the direction to go but her buddybot tries to stop her, flooding her vision with stop signs and other images. She flies off the top of a building and crashes through the window of the next.
The conduit changes the motorcycle into a mini-jet, allowing them to fly out of the building and overtop traffic. The buddybot continues to hamper her so the conduit sends it flying.
The buddybot picks himself up off the street and enlists all the other buddybots around to join him in destroying O. Their cute angry faces are pretty comical. They converge on O and her conduit in the air high above the city. Conduit explodes in a blast wave of blue white light, destroying them.
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