One of the most intriguing projects to be unveiled at gamescom 2024 isn’t a game at all, but an animated series. Prime Video’s Secret Level is an anthology series from the creators of Love, Death + Robots. Each episode is basically a short film inspired by the characters and worlds of legendary video games like God of War, Mega Man, Unreal Tournament, and Pac-Man.
The first trailer for the series gives us a brief glimpse into these wonderfully animated short films and the often surprising way they reimagine well-known gaming icons. But which games are featured in the series and is that really Keanu Reeves piloting a mecha suit? Let’s analyze exactly what we see in the trailer.
Armored core
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Secret Level trailer is the reveal that Keanu Reeves himself is apparently involved. Reeves (or someone who looks a lot like the John Wick star) can be seen in footage from the Armored Core episode. Reeves’ character is shown getting into an Armored Core mecha and gearing up for battle. Combined with his prominent role in Cyberpunk 2077, Reeves’ gaming pedigree is very strong these days.
Unity
Concord is only now coming to PC and PS5, but thanks to Secret Level, there’s already an animated spinoff. We can see a shot of the steep, vertically aligned city previously seen in the Concord cinematic trailer.
Crossfire
The tactical shooter series Crossfire is one of the games included in Secret Level, which is interesting considering these games aren’t usually known for their intricate storylines. We see several quick shots of SWAT team characters in action, promising a thrilling and gritty addition to the series.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons fans already enjoyed a fun live-action adaptation in 2023, and now they can enjoy a lavish computer-animated D&D short film thanks to Secret Level. We briefly see a giant dragon emerge from the shadows and see a sword-shaped bridge over a waterfall leading to a fortress. Based on these shots, it looks like Secret Level is opting for a more traditional and serious take on the franchise than the 2023 film.
EXODUS
The upcoming sci-fi game EXODUS seems like a natural fit with Secret Level, as it deals with the emotional consequences of time dilation and the way time can pass in a split second for the human heroes battling the Celestials. We see this emotion on full display in a scene where two aged characters are lovingly reunited in the trailer.
Honor of Kings
We never would have predicted that a MOBA game like Honor of Kings would be one of the games featured in Secret Level, but that doesn’t mean we’re not excited to see how the series reimagines this popular title. Based on the few quick shots seen in the trailer, it looks like Secret Level is opting for a relatively more realistic and detailed approach compared to the game’s anime aesthetic.
Mega Man
Capcom’s long-running Mega Man series is represented in Secret Level, although this isn’t quite the Mega Man that fans know from the classic 8-bit games. The series clearly takes a much more realistic approach to the character. Well, as realistic as a story about a cyborg boy with a giant cannon for a hand can be. We see the character gearing up to take on Dr. Wily’s Robot Masters.
New World: Aeternum
It should come as no surprise that Amazon’s own MMORPG New World is one of the games in this series. Like the game, this short film appears to be set on the fabled island of Aeternum, where a lone hero prepares to prove his mettle and make his fortune. The brief glimpse in the trailer suggests that this will be one of the more detailed and realistic episodes in the series.
The Outer Worlds 2
Secret Level explores the world of Halcyon from Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds series. This short seems to have one of the most visually striking styles in the series, as it blends photorealistic characters with more stylized, computer-generated environments. As you’d expect, the games’ striking color palette is on full display here.
Pac Man
There is perhaps no better example of how dramatically Secret Level will reinvent some iconic gaming properties than Pac-Man. You’d be forgiven for not even noticing that Pac-Man is in the trailer. Far from the simplistic source material, the trailer shows us a cloaked, seemingly alien figure making his way through a vast wasteland. The trailer also ends with a brief glimpse of a robot Pac-Man with razor-sharp teeth coming online. We’re left to wonder if Pac-Man is the villain in this strange but intriguing take on the franchise.
PlayStation Studios: God of War and Ghost of Tsushima
It seems like we’re getting an episode that follows Playstation Studios’ lineup, as we see both Kratos from God of War and Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima in the trailer.
The inclusion of Kratos confirms that the series is more closely aligned with the more recent God of War games, in which Kratos is an axe-wielding slayer of Norse gods, rather than the original Greek mythology-focused games. We have to assume that means his son Atreus will be in the mix.
What’s really surprising, though, is that Kratos appears to be walking through a modern city. Is this short film about time travel? What happens when you release cold-blooded killers like Kratos and Jin-Sakai in the 21st century? And how many PlayStation Studios characters appear in this installment? We can’t wait to find out.
Sifu
The trailer features Sloclap’s popular 2022 beat-em-up, Sifu. We see a blood-soaked character entering a dojo and preparing for another bloody fight. Later, we see a few quick shots of a brutal brawl in a neon-soaked nightclub. It seems that Secret Level is opting for a slightly more realistic animation style rather than the game’s relatively stylized, edgy style. We’re curious to see how the short tackles the game’s resurrection-based combat, if at all.
Speleology
The trailer includes a shot of a Spelunky episode that’s impossible to miss. We catch a brief glimpse of treasure hunter Ana Spelunky stumbling into a lava-filled cave. It’s a real treat to see the quirky indie series get such an ambitious visual overhaul.
Unreal Tournament
The trailer also briefly shows a shot from an episode of Unreal Tournament. We can see an arena with the logo of Riordan Dynamics, the company at the heart of the plot of the Unreal Tournament games. The arena is clearly set up for a bloody deathmatch, with two opposing towers that remind us of an indoor version of the legendary Facing Worlds map.
Warhammer 40,000
It remains to be seen if Henry Cavill’s Warhammer 40,000 series will ever see the light of day, but at least Secret Level gives us a Warhammer-themed short film. The trailer opens with a scene of Space Marines leaving a bloody trail of destruction in their wake, and later we see a Marine being ambushed by a much larger monster. We also see a shot of a Marine barreling straight into an oncoming vehicle. Essentially, this short film looks to be the most action-packed and thrilling chapter in the Secret Level series.
The Mystery Game
One of the most intriguing scenes in the trailer is also one of the most mysterious. At one point, we see images of a man enveloped in flowing pink and blue energy, as if he’s bonding with a machine or other life form. We’re honestly not sure what game this is supposed to represent, but we know we’re dying to see this episode.
Let us know in the comments which game you think is depicted in this scene and let us know if there’s anything else we missed in the trailer.
For more information on gamescom and the decision to release Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PlayStation, click here. Plus, stay up to date with all the announcements at Opening Night Live.
Jesse is a mild-mannered editor at IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by Follow @jschedeen on Twitter.
