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Secret Level is an oddity. It seemed an interesting idea to create a series of short, animated films, generally ranting from 8-15 minutes apiece, and each based on a separate videogame of times gone by. Trouble is, I’m not really sure what they were trying to accomplish with such a disparate set of videos.
Even more odd is that out of the eight games featured, and despite all of the countless different games I’ve played over the past FIVE DECADES, I’ve only played one on this list, per se, namely Pac-Man.
The other I checked at was Dungeons And Dragons, but that’s not really the title of a videogame, it’s existed as board games, card games and even when I was a kid, I remember playing it with my next-door neighbour, who was two years old than me, and he’d just make up scenarios. However, this one rambles through like Lord Of The Rings-Lite on a budget.
As for Pac-Man, god knows what was going on there. It has similar-looking characters, the physical of which is told to just ‘eat’ to survive by a voice known as “Puck”. Eventually, the physical character turns into the figure we expect, but I can’t even begin to imagine what inspired the shite that comes in the meantime.
Okay, I’ve also played Unreal Tournament, but very briefly, because I get my arse kicked at that sort of game.
I won’t be watching any more, even if the creator of this series was Tim Miller, director of 2016’s Deadpool.
For what it’s worth, the other games are Sifu, New World, Warhammer 40000, Crossfire, and Armoured Core. Ah, actually, I did play Sifu once, and that was enough.
But if this series is for you, then there’s 8 episodes now online with 7 more to come.
Secret Level is on Prime Video now.
Cert: 
Running time: 8-15 minutes per episode (15 episodes)
Release date: December 10th 2024
Studio: Prime Video
Format: 1.78:1
Creator: Tim Miller
Voice cast includes:
Keanu Reeves
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Emily Swallow
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Elodie Yung
Ricky Whittle
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.