I have reviewed each episode of "Love, Death + Robots" and am a big video games guy, so thought I'd do the same process for Amazon's "Secret Level".
The second episode is set in a gaming world that I have no experience and wasn't sure I'd even heard of, that of 2022 fighting game SIFU.
MC (Parry Shen) is sitting down for some food when he spots a distinctive tattoo on a local hoodlum. He saw the tattoo years earlier, on a gang member who participated in the killing of his father. He tracks them to a nearby club where he attacks, though as there are three of them, they eventually get the better of him and he's killed. He's resurrected though as an older version of himself, with greater technique but less energy, and continues the battle trying to find Sean (Nelson Lee) the gang's leader who is ultimately responsible for the murder.
There's a slightly more stylised look for the second episode than the photorealism of the first. There is a cel-shaded element to the visuals, which I would imagine, though again don't actually know, mirrors the games look somewhat. Still within that though the movement and choreography of the fighting is excellent.
It's an OK story, the rules are laid out pretty quickly, so we understand what is happening and how the "magic" that brings MC back works. It's limited by the short length of the episode but also that allows them to get to the point and be efficient. I understand there is a proposed movie version of the game in the mix, it'll be interesting to see if they stick as closely to the lore of the game.
Again, this was good stuff and has made me want to look for the game, which perhaps is what the series is aiming for.
