Secret Level's turning 15 games into animated shorts, but all we want to know is if that's actually Keanu Reeves piloting a mech

Green monster giving a thumbs up
(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Amid all the video game trailers at Gamescom's Opening Night Live, a surprise gem appeared out of nowhere: Secret Level, an adult animated series by the creators of Love, Death + Robots. 

The trailer was packed full of different video game characters and worlds but apparently it'll only feature 15 games, with each getting a new story for one episode. The list of games is: Armored Core, Concord, Crossfire, Dungeons & Dragons, Exodus, Honor of Kings, Mega Man, New World: Aeternum, Pac-Man, PlayStation, Sifu, Spelunky, The Outer Worlds, Unreal Tournament, and Warhammer 40K. 

It's a bit of an odd list as I'm not quite sure what the through-line is, other than the need for a bit more advertising. But even with the lack of a theme, the addition of PlayStation is an outlier, as instead of an actual game, it'll be "highlighting various PlayStation Studios beloved entities," according to a press release. I'm not sure what qualifies as an "entity," but if that means we get an Astro animated short, I'll be happy. 

I was thoroughly impressed with Love, Death + Robot's three seasons, and while there were a couple of misses most of the episodes hit. My personal favourite is still Season 1's Secret War, a short that I always thought would make for a stellar video game. So even if the list of games is an odd mix, I'm pretty confident in Blur Studio's ability to pull something great off. 

The teaser trailer that we saw at Opening Night Live did seem pretty spectacular, and it was cool to see how each world was animated slightly differently. But the one scene that has fans frothing at the mouth only lasted for a couple of seconds and seems to be Keanu Reeves piloting an Armored Core. 

It's not confirmed yet whether this is actually Reeves, and while the first few seconds of the shot at 0:52 doesn't really look like him, the character in question does appear to almost morph into a Reeves lookalike. Armored Core even tweeted an image that resembles Reeves more. 

Unfortunately, the anthology series premiers on December 10, 2024, so we'll have to wait a bit longer to get any kind of confirmation on whether Reeves is expanding his video game portfolio to more than just Cyberpunk 2077 or The Matrix Awakens. 

Other than Secret Level there were plenty of other exciting announcements, including more details on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a new standalone Dying Light game, and a meaty chunk of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's campaign. 

Elie Gould
News Writer

Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.

Read more
Green monster giving the thumbs up
Amazon's Secret Level series will serve up a second anthology of game-inspired shorts
Secret Level show
The Secret Level creator wants you to know that they did ask Halo to take part in the series, but Microsoft turned them down: 'Man, you think we didn't talk to Halo?'
Helldivers 2 intro cinematic
Helldivers 2 is getting a film adaptation, even though Starship Troopers already exists
Nolan North and Jennifer English, who will be hosting the Future Games Show's Spring Showcase.
Jennifer English (Shadowheart) and Nolan North (Nathan Drake) will be the illustrious hosts of the Future Games Show this year
Fantasy adventurers face a giant foe in Solasta 2's key art.
6 games that could be bigger hits than you're expecting in 2025
The character Neil in Death Stranding 2, who here is posing like Solid Snake.
Hideo Kojima really just went 'screw it' and made Metal Gear Stranding
Latest in Movies & TV
Split Fiction screenshot
Split Fiction is reportedly at the center of a bidding war for its movie rights
Adeline Rudolph depicting Mortal Kombat 2 character Kitana, standing ready for combat with a fan splayed in each hand.
Karl Urban as Johnny Cage and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana look like good additions to the Mortal Kombat 2 movie, but I think a flawless victory is still far from certain
A Minecraft movie promo image of the main cast standing side by side,
This is why the Minecraft movie is called A Minecraft Movie
Kratos is angry.
'I'm not a gamer,' says God of War Amazon series' new showrunner, unwittingly kicking a hornet's nest despite years of acclaimed writing experience
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Latest in News
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Image for
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Battle Brothers
Nearly 2 years after its last update, the excellent Battle Brothers gets 'a bucket load of fixes' and free new content
Western outlaws with masks and guns
'Players don't explore': former Grand Theft Auto 6 and Red Dead Online designer lays out the perils of 'open world fatigue'
Person battling bizarre four-eyed monster with stylish UI elements surrounding them
Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio's UI designer is open to accessibility options for players who find the stylish menus overstimulating: 'That is something we understand we'll need to work on and provide in the future'
Split Fiction screenshot
Split Fiction is reportedly at the center of a bidding war for its movie rights