With shows like Prime Video's Fallout, HBO's The Last Of Us, and Netflix's League Of Legends inspired animated effort Arcane all earning the adulation of fans and critics alike, TV has long since proven itself the place to be for truly AAA video game adaptations. Now, a new player is set to join the party in the shape of animated Prime Video anthology series Secret Level, announced on the opening night of this year's Gamescom. Hailing from Deadpool director Tim Miller and the creative brains responsible for another animated anthology series, Netflix's extraordinary _Love, Deat_h & Robots, this new show is set to tell 15 short stories set within the worlds of iconic game series from Pac-Man to Spelunky, and from Dungeons & Dragons to modern cinematic gaming juggernauts like Ghost Of Tsushima and God Of War. Check out the eye-popping first teaser below:
Kratos! Jin Sakai! Mega Man! Armored Cores from Armored Core! Dungeons & Dragons' titular dragons! It's as if Ready Player One and Wreck-It Ralph were put in a beautifully rendered Blur Studios blender, creating the ultimate gamer smoothie (no energy drinks necessary!). Sure, what these 15 stories will entail is a mystery wrapped in an enigma at this point — and this first teaser is certainly not in the business of doling out any expository detail, either. But as a stunningly animated sizzle reel tailor-made to tantalise and tease video game connoisseurs, complete with a cool-as-you-like final frame Pac-Man sting, this is ticking all our anthological animation boxes already.
“Secret Level weaves a tapestry of iconic games across multiple mediums, to tell a series of unique and captivating stories,” said Amazon MGM Studios' head of television Vernon Sanders in a statement accompanying the announcement trailer. “Created and led by Tim Miller, Blur Studio, and Supervising Director Dave Wilson, each episode will take our global Prime Video customers on a brand new journey with breathtaking animation and imaginative storytelling.” Among the properties Miller and co are working with here are *deep breath* Armored Core, Concord, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, PAC-MAN, several PlayStation Studios titles, Sifu, Spelunky, The Outer Worlds, Unreal Tournament, and Warhammer 40,000.
"Come in, you have a game to play," beckons an unnamed character at the end of Secret Level's teaser trailer. And with all of these characters assembled, by this creative team, it's an offer we surely won't be refusing when the anthology series hits Prime Video UK on 10 December. Game on!