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Prime Video’s newest TV show comes with a lot of hype. First of all, it’s the brainchild of Tim Miller: the person behind Deadpool, and Netflix anthology series Love, Death and Robots.
Secondly, it takes some of the most beloved games of the last few decades and turns them into 17-minute animated shorts. The trailer is a rollercoaster ride through at least 16 different franchises that span both indie and AAA titles: basically, heaven for gaming fans.
But which games have made the cut for the show’s 15 episodes? Here’s our list.
Armored Core
Release the giant mech suits! Armored Core has been around since 1997, but the premise has remained the same: step into the suits of the pilots who control massive, Pacific Rim-style mech-suits called Armored Cores. This has been teased heavily in the trailer, and the episode will likely be set around the same time as Amored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, the most recent 2023 release.
Concord
RIP Concord. The multiplayer online shooter was pulled by PlayStation in September, just a few weeks after it launched, due to mixed reviews and poor sales. But Miller never considered pulling the episode, and the episode looks set to deliver some gorgeous sci-fi world building.
"It never came up with us… we have games in the mix that are no longer like Unreal Tournament," he told GamesRadar. "This one the course to not being out there was different, of course, but the end result is we have an interesting story with a beautiful piece of animation that people worked very hard to produce."
Crossfire
The Call of Duty flavoured Crossfire is one of the only games on this list to be set in the present day. The games themselves are all about counter-terrorism, strategy and battling mercenary groups – where players battle it out in a multiplayer arena. The trailer shows soldiers making their way through a deserted town – similar to the setting of Crossfire: Legion.
Dungeons & Dragons
Baldur’s Gate 3 took D&D into video game territory, but the table-top role-playing game itself has been around since the 1970s. There are tomes upon tomes of D&D lore to draw upon here, but the trailer has teased the appearance of Tiamat, a dragon god who appears a lot in the games. Intriguing.
Exodus
It’s not even out yet, but it already has a dedicated episode. Exodus is an upcoming science-fiction, time-travelling RPG set in the future, where humans travel across the galaxy with the aim of colonising new worlds. The trailer hasn’t shown us much (including whether the game’s star, Matthew McConaughey, will be appearing in the short) so maybe the episode will just be an extended trailer. Who knows: but we’re intrigued.
Honor of Kings
The League of Legends-esque Honor of Kings is probably one of the biggest mobile games in the world right now, so it’s no surprise it’s been featured here. The series looks to veer away from the games’ anime art style in favour of something more realistic – whether the combat stays remains to be seen.
Mega Man
This should be a fun one. Mega Man is an android who fights robots, and from what we’ve seen in the trailer his design here is fairly similar to the one in the original Capcom games: complete with his cute little boots.
New World: Aeternum
It’s time to explore this gorgeous fantasy RPG a little further – specifically the fan favourite character of Aelstrom, who pops up in-game but whose backstory is never really explained. Get ready for that to change though: the Secret Level episode will delve into his past in detail (including how he becomes known in-game as the Fallen King).
PAC-MAN
The game that needs no introduction. Pac-Man was released as an arcade game all the way back in 1980 and has stood the test of time ever since. The premise is simple: you are a massive mouth that has to chomp dots before you are caught by four angry ghosts. How that’s going to be made into a 17-minute short is another matter.
PlayStation
Yes, we know: PlayStation isn’t a game. But this episode looks set to embrace some of the gaming behemoth’s biggest titles, Astro-Bot style. We’re hoping for some God of War, some The Last of Us and maybe some Uncharted.
Sifu
The narrative-heavy Sifu is a stand-out on this list. The game itself follows a martial artist on his quest for revenge against the people who killed his father – and was hugely critically acclaimed on release for its gameplay and combat mechanics.
Spelunky
Um, yep. It’s the game about mining – but it looks as though the game’s 2D art style will be getting a 3D makeover for this episode. It also looks as though the protagonist will be the spelunker in Spelunky 2 – and she seems to be battling a cavern of lava.
The Outer Worlds 2
So: The Outer Worlds 2 isn’t actually out yet. We do know that the upcoming game – which will follow an entirely new crew as they explore a new planet – will probably feature the same anti-capitalist themes and cheeky humour as the first game. Apart from that it’s a bit of a mystery: hopefully we get to meet some of the protagonists of the upcoming release.
Unreal Tournament
An interesting one to adapt for television. Unreal Tournament is one of the OG first-person shooters, an online multiplayer where contestants battle it out for dominance in an arena. In space. It’s a bit of a forgotten classic, which makes the premise of this one – robots facing off against humans in what looks like an epic battle – actually rather exciting.
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer has had quite the year: Space Marine 2 came out to glowing reviews in September, and now it’s getting some love in Secret Level. The plot looks basic, but it also looks like it’ll be giving Warhammer fans what they love: namely the chance to watch beefy men oversized armour lay waste to hordes of aliens.
When is Secret Level out?
The series comes out on Prime Video on December 10.
