While Secret Level Season 1 shines thanks to its superb animation quality, showcasing a number of fan-favorite video and tabletop games with the highest degree of polish, the focus of some episodes and lackluster writing in others make it a mixed bag.
Following up on the success of Love, Death, & Robots on Netflix, the creative team has channeled its efforts into Secret Level, a similarly anthologized project though this time, each story telling the tale of a game.
For the most part, it’s video games on display, though a few tabletop games join the mix too. Across the board, animation quality is absolutely dazzling. The raw visual appeal of every episode leaves you wanting more, regardless of how other aspects stack up.
When you look beyond its presentation, however, a good chunk of Secret Level’s first outing doesn’t quite stick the landing. Be it odd storytelling choices or simply odd choices of the projects in focus, Season 1 isn’t perfect. Though if you pick and choose your levels, as we’re sure most will, there’s plenty to enjoy across a number of legendary games.
Dungeons & Dragons – The Queen’s Cradle
Kicking things off is the D&D episode which mostly plays it safe with a straightforward tale as the group of heroes tracks down a group of baddies. An unexpected companion joins along to deepen the mystery, but given the brief runtime, there’s not too much to sink your teeth into lore-wise here.
All the usual types are on display, there’s the noble paladin, a brawler dwarf, a halfling with a penchant for casting enchantments on repeat, and of course, there are dragons too. For the most part, it’s all about what you’d expect, though there is some fun to be had along the way. In particular, the way this episode visualizes certain dice rolls that are not quite going to plan can be amusing, and the acting throughout is certainly a highlight.
Unfortunately, this one cuts off a little too early making it a mostly skippable start for Secret Level, unless you’re truly hardcore about D&D.
Sifu – It Takes a Life
Kicking things up a notch, the Sifu episode in Secret Level nails the assignment. It’s simple, effective, and perfectly mirrors the source material. If you’re expecting a new tale that expands the lore and pushes characters in new directions, you won’t find that here. What you do get instead, is effectively a long trailer for the game.
One continuous fight scene plays out over the course of five or so minutes, bookmarked by brief sections of dialogue, and that’s all she wrote. Combat is well choreographed and shot beautifully as if on a shaky handheld camera, and the way the game’s central aging mechanic is portrayed is about as good as you could ask for.
It’s a shame this comes in as one of the shorter episodes of Season 1. A little more room to breathe, further motivation for the violence, and it could’ve been a real standout. Nonetheless, it’s a fun few-minute ride for fans of the game and newcomers alike.
Unreal Tournament – Xan
As an FPS lover at heart, seeing a legendary franchise like Unreal Tournament not only thrust back into the spotlight, but celebrated in such a way, is a real treat. Observing a classic deathmatch with this caliber of animation is an adrenaline-fuelled delight, and there’s a surprisingly gripping narrative weaving all the action together too.
Action is slick throughout as soldiers looking for vengeance, or “justice” as they put it, square off against rebellious mining robots. Of course, they all come equipped with different weapons and employ unique tactics to get the one-up on each other, all punctuated by that classic announcer spotlighting first bloods, killing sprees, and the like.
One particular moment, you’ll know it when you see it, was a genuine shock to see visualized in this way. A perfect encapsulation of just how much appreciation for the source material Secret Level’s creators have.
Warhammer 40,000 – And They Shall Know No Fear
The Warhammer 40K episode is exactly what you’d expect; a bloody awesome sequence of violence and nothing more. Beyond the first minute, there’s next to no dialogue as the action does all the talking to capture that gritty tone of the ceaseless war.
Following what’s effectively a suicide mission, we track one particular squad as they look to destroy an apostate relic, though as you’d expect, it doesn’t all go according to plan. As the show’s trailers teased, when the mission goes dark and the real enemies come out to play, it’s an utter rampage.
Seeing these hulking behemoths in their otherworldly suits of armor is pure spectacle and the brief episode does just enough to do its job on both sides of the coin. While appealing to lifelong fans with its detail, it also did a decent enough job setting the scene and making me want to learn more about Warhammer lore for the first time. Mission accomplished.
Crossfire – Good Conflict
The Crossfire episode is among the most conflicting in Secret Level Season 1. On one hand, taken as a standalone piece of entertainment, it’s thrilling from start to finish and animated gorgeously. On the other, I can’t help but ponder the opportunity cost.
While not the biggest game in the Western industry by any stretch, Crossfire is one of the modern gaming juggernauts in Eastern culture. The standout FPS on mobile devices, it’s recorded over 1 billion lifetime users and rakes in billions in revenue every year. It’s a force and thus, its presence here can be justified. But if you take a look at the game itself, you’ll quickly realize it’s not at all represented in this episode.
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As a military operation gets underway in an abandoned, hurricane-ravaged city, animators on the show really get to flex their chops. As the most realistic episode of the bunch, striving for the most detailed, human characters, it’s astounding just how good it all looks in motion. Video game cutscenes have certainly come a long way, but mirroring this quality should be the next goal to strive toward.
Yet, no matter how glorious it all comes across, it’s a struggle to look past the pointlessness of it all. This isn’t what Crossfire is. Sure, there have been attempts to bring the franchise into the more Western AAA space with the likes of Sierra Squad and CrossfireX, but they haven’t caught on. The mobile game leads the charge and this fails to reflect just that. With just over a dozen episodes this season, I couldn’t help but end this episode thinking about which other games deserve the spot instead.
Exodus – Odyssey
Exodus holds a unique spot in Secret Level Season 1 as it’s the only episode based on a game that’s not actually out yet. First revealed back at the 2024 Game Awards, Matthew McConaughey took the stage to confirm he’s starring in his very first game, one taking heavy inspiration from Interstellar’s display of time dilation, that game being Exodus.
Since then, it’s been scraps from the developers as they gradually tease what the game actually is and what its story is about. Thus, this roughly 10-minute story in the game’s universe is the most we’ve ever seen and if it’s anything to go by, we’re in for one hell of a treat.
Phenomenal world-building expands the game’s galaxy-hopping narrative themes before we ourselves dive head-first into the thick of it all. Its riveting sci-fi had me completely engrossed from the jump and now, I’m extremely eager to see more. Where do the Celestials come from? What’s their motivation? Did other Arc ships survive the voyage from Earth? How does time dilation factor into gameplay? And will McConaughey get to scream ‘TARS’ once again?
This episode does an incredible job selling Exodus and it might just be the strongest chapter in Secret Level’s first season.
Concord – Tale of the Implacable
We all knew it was coming, but seeing such a high-quality production around a scrapped game really is a shame. Concord’s episode in Secret Level is genuinely a fun watch. Learning the rules of this galaxy, seeing how piracy is rife and everyone is looking for their next score, it’s all fairly well-written and engaging.
It’s interesting to note, however, this particular tale doesn’t focus on the characters on the game’s roster, but rather checks in on a completely different crew in the midst of their own daring mission. This is certainly a questionable choice when considering the intent of the episode, a marketing tool to get folks buying in on the game. Surely you’d hope for prospective players to resonate with the cast here and then seek them out in the game, but well, we all know that’s impossible now anyway.
The biggest surprise here is how the world’s character design actually felt a bit more pronounced than the game itself. Where Concord faltered most was in its utterly bland and monotone roster. From appearances to personality, everything was lacking. But here, aliens actually look interesting, humans have more personality than a blank canvas, it does a better job at what the game hoped to accomplish over time with its weekly cinematics.
Whether this episode alone would have been enough to entice players over to the game itself, we’ll never know. As a standalone tale, it’s a solid enough look at what the tone of Concord was striving to match, but the episode will always have a dire undertone given the fate of the game.
Playtime – Fulfillment
Playtime is a mysterious episode not tied to any one particular game or franchise. Early previews teased the likes of Kratos and Jin Sakai, both from popular PlayStation IP, but we didn’t know what brought them all together. Well, now we do, and it’s a bizarre, rather unnecessary episode that needlessly crams a few figures together for quick ‘aha’ moments.
Set in a fictional future where everyone is accompanied by ‘Buddibots’ voiced by Kevin Hart – more a dystopian future if we’re being honest – our protagonist is on the grind trying to deliver packages as fast as possible, crazy-taxi style as she avoids traffic on the roads. Before long, a stranger approaches, offering her ‘the most valuable thing in the world,’ known as the Conduit. It’s her job to deliver it.
Along the way, a totally random assortment of PlayStation characters pop their heads in, all vying to claim the Conduit for themselves, or so it appears.
While this could have been quite a fun play on nostalgia, especially timed with PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, the characters chosen for the episode don’t make a ton of sense. There are a number of recent icons like troopers from Helldivers and the aforementioned Kratos from God of War, but then there’s Sackboy, the LittleBigPlanet star that’s been shunned in favor of AstroBot in recent generations.
There are a few others we won’t spoil but none that’ll really make you feel any type of way, just random character appearances for the sake of it.
Throughout the episode, there are some fun details hidden throughout, like doors emblazoned with the sacred symbols, but it’s nothing to write home about. A fun concept but poor execution makes this one of the weaker episodes in Secret Level Season 1.
That’s our rundown on Secret Level Season 1 for now, but we’ll be sure to expand on the remaining episodes in the near future so check back for a final score soon.
