Secret Level Review: Video Game Anthology Has Too Many Losers

Prime Video's new adult-oriented animated anthology series "Secret Level" comes from Tim Miller, the creator of Netflix's adult-oriented animated anthology series "Love Death + Robots." Miller's Blur Studio handles much of the animation on both shows, and several writers and directors from "Love Death + Robots" are involved with "Secret Level." The first notable difference between the two shows is that while "Love Death + Robots" mostly adapts sci-fi short stories with the occasional original segment, "Secret Level" is all about adapting video games.

The second notable difference is that "Love Death + Robots" is mostly good (here's a guide to some of the best "Love Death + Robots" episodes) and "Secret Level" is mostly mediocre-to-bad. Anthology series are by their nature inconsistent, so I have to give anything in this genre some leeway, but the high points of "Secret Level" would mostly be the mid points of "Love Death + Robots," and the low points are far too low and too frequent. As a fan of "Love Death + Robots," "Secret Level" felt to me like the show that "Love Death + Robots" haters incorrectly accuse it of being: a series of boring tech demos and video game cut scenes focused more on violence than good storytelling.

However you felt about its edgy subject matter, Miller's previous series was at least driven by love of the art above all else. His new one might have emerged from similar aspirations, but too often it seems the artistic ambitions have been dragged down by the demands of marketing.

10 of the 15 episodes in "Secret Level" Season 1 are animated in the same almost-photorealistic style. Of the remaining installments, the "Sifu" and "Spelunky" episodes look more like "Arcane," the "Mega Man" and "Honor of Kings" episodes look more anime-inspired, and the "PAC-MAN" episode is the one time the animators have freedom to get weird with their stylization. The trend toward photorealism is part of why "Secret Level" appeals to me less than "Love Death + Robots," which broke new ground for photorealism in TV animation but also offers much more stylistic diversity.

I blame this lack of stylistic diversity on the state of the modern game industry, which prioritizes graphical complexity over appealing design. While some of the realistic episodes of "Secret Level" pull off the style in a successful fashion, many end up being dull or even uncomfortable to look at. The first episode, based on "Dungeons and Dragons," is one of the worst offenders: the lighting is so dark it's hard to make out what's happening much of the time, and when you can see the characters, the CGI falls right into the uncanny valley. "The Outer Worlds" episode doesn't have the darkness issue, but the uncanny valley character animation is bad enough to detract from what's on paper one of the series' more interesting stories.

The "Crossfire" episode might be the most boring of the bunch. With no fantasy or sci-fi elements that require CGI, and no exaggeration or stylization to take advantage of animation's expressive strengths, it feels like it would have been better in live-action. The "Warhammer 40,000" episode came close in boredom, though — maybe the franchise's diehards will get something out of it, but I had nothing to grab onto and the ugly dust-filled aesthetic made it hard to even appreciate the fighting. The "Unreal Tournament" episode felt like watching someone else play a video game, interspersed with some trite dialogue about revenge and rebellion.

So I didn't hate everything about "Secret Level." My favorite episode, based on the MMORPG "New World," stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a vain king learning he's not actually the best at everything while stuck in an "Edge of Tomorrow"-style loop of death and rebirth. It's funny, gory, and ultimately rather sweet. Another highlight, the "Armored Core" episode, features the series' other big celebrity casting coup: Keanu Reeves playing a mecha pilot struggling with the cybernetically-implanted voice inside his head. The action's cool and the ending is effectively bleak.

The "Honor of Kings" episode is also better than average, combining flashy effects with an intriguing story about free will vs. determinism. The "Firefly"-slash-"Guardians of the Galaxy" vibe of the "Concord" episode is enjoyable enough — though perhaps not enough to offset the weirdness of watching a short promoting a game you can no longer actually play. My verdict on the bizarro hard-R "PAC-MAN" episode is that they made a mistake announcing it as a "PAC-MAN" episode in the opening titles — a gradual revelation of what's actually happening would be way funnier (this episode was supposed to be a joke, right?).

And then we come to a bunch of episodes that feel more like trailers than actual substantial shorts in their own right. Most of these are innocuous. The "Sifu" one at least raised my curiosity about playing the game, while the "Mega Man" one, uncharacteristically wholesome for this adult-oriented series, feels like test footage for what could be a solid feature film adaptation. "Spelunky" is written like a player's personal reflections on the roguelike experience — cute, but definitely feels like it's selling you something.

The short for "Exodus" is definitely selling you something — a video game that isn't even out yet. The voiceover-heavy storytelling and brief introductions to a bunch of planets feels like checking off marketing boxes rather than offering a satisfying experience in its own right. The worst offender, however, is the "Playtime" season finale, a cheesy "Ready Player One"-esque short with the sole purpose of triggering your memberberries for ... the concept of the PlayStation ('member Kratos? 'member Sackboy? 'member Shadow of the Colossus?"). This final episode solidified my overall feelings of annoyance with "Secret Level." And with the rise of genuinely good-to-great shows like "Arcane," "The Last of Us," and "Fallout," I can no longer even damn it with the faint praise of being "one of the best video game adaptations on TV."

"Secret Level" premieres on Prime Video on December 10.