PAC-MAN: Circle

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".

I mean, I have, of course, played Pac-Man in various forms for years. I haven't though played "Shadow Labyrinth" that this particular episode is more closely based around and for a good reason, that it's not been released as of time of writing. There are recognisable "Pac-Man" elements though that I'd assume the game is going to play with.

A humanoid creature falls out of a survival tube and is met by Puck (Emily Swallow) a yellow ball who explains that the creature is the "Chosen" one and its destiny is to help them escape from the maze they are both trapped in. Puck presents the Chosen one with a sword and facilitates the killing and eating of various dangerous creatures to survive. The ultimate aim is to the defeat the ghosts, that haunt the maze and escape.

A bit more stylised than the previous editions of the show and less concerned with photo realism than producing a scary and at time ethereal world. There are moments of real horror in this one too, as the true nature of the puck is revealed and amongst the most gory elements of the whole series so far.

I don't really know what to think of this one, I mentally dubbed it "Zack Snyder's Pac-man" as soon as it finished, as it was such a dark version of what has traditionally been a colourful and family friendly sort of game. If you're looking for something akin to "Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures" this is certainly not that. It was inventive though; I'll have to give it that.

It caught me off-guard ! This episode takes an unexpectedly dark and haunting approach to the Pac-Man universe, leaning heavily into horror. We have a change of visual style this time, which is appreciated after all the amazing but repetitive photorealistic episodes. Here, instead of a "commercial" cinematic, the base of the game have been altered to expand into a new approach of the game. The neon-lit maze is transformed into a eery, nightmarish and wild jungle where survival feels genuinely tense. This bold reimagining turns the family friendly chase dynamic into something far more sinister and atmospheric. It's a strikingly different take on the classic game, exploring fear and desperation in a way that's both unsettling and compelling. Reminds me of a recent animation called Scavengers Reign. Those who have seen it, will know what sequence or characters i'm thinking about. While the minimalist, and creepy storytelling might not appeal to everyone, it's a creative and thought-provoking tribute that leaves a lasting impression. More episodes like this one, that expand the base of a game and extend its creativity...I'd like to see more like these !

Oh man, i have watched the first 6 episodes so far and some of the pervious episodes are better in terms of story telling and "source material" and probably more slick but this reimagining of Pac Man was wonderful. It really was. Unlike the Warhammer episode were they had much more to work with to make a modern "secret level" of the franchise. In this episode they needed to be creative to make a watchable story of a 1980 Atari game and i think they did a fine job! I think it was brave of them to select very simple (and archaic) action maze game and tell a more modern story for a more modern audience. In the next season i would love the team to try an bring "Tetris" alive or maybe even "pong". Now that would be a challenge!!

Altough many were criticizing this episode, even well before the release, due to how this takes such a different path from the original videogame, I found it to be quite interesting and I actually appreciated that they took such a risk on this episode.

This episode takes the core of the classic Pac-Man game and manages to write a whole lore around it, while still including and referencing parts from the original. I thought the ideas and the overall excecution here were excellent!

While most things here are completely fresh, I found it to be interesting enough to keep me engaged throughout the short runtime. And the way parts of the original game were implemented into this episode was just so creative and actually fun to spot.

However, I think the biggest flaw with this episode is that altough they managed to create something brand new around such a simple game, it still falls into a few clichés that we have seen many times before. Still, overall, this was an excellent and well-crafted episode.

The reason why I think this episode kind of works, is mainly because of the fact that it fits with vibe with the rest of the episodes, we've had games like sifu, dungeon and dragons, etc. So this episode I was wondering how it's gonna work. Cause it felt out of place. Now while this didn't entirely feel like pac man, i didn't care. Mainly because i thought it was a pretty creative idea, and i still can't get the ending out of my head, and the quote, eat or be eaten out of my head. Overall though i thought the episode was alright, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Not everything is gonna be what we want.