Concord’s Secret Level episode is the best trailer for the game

Easily the strangest facet of Prime Video’s Secret Level series is a short film based on Sony’s Concord, the first-person shooter that launched this summer to a dismal reception, and was quickly taken offline and canceled. Concord was a spectacular failure for Sony and developer Firewalk Studios, in part because too few people seemed to care about its world or characters.

So it’s something of a surprise just how much fun Secret Level’s Concord episode is, how likable its characters are, and how, if it had been released long before the game’s launch — not two months after its shocking death — there’s a very real chance it might have helped the sci-fi shooter’s chances.

The Secret Level episode “Tale of the Implacable” has quite a lot going for it. Written by sci-fi and fantasy author Rachael K. Jones, the episode presents a simple, straightforward heist with sundry twists and turns. Intriguingly, it focuses on a crew of mercenaries known as Freegunners who never actually appeared in Concord. “Tale of the Implacable” is a prologue story that succinctly spells out the future of space exploration, the dangers of faster-than-light travel, and how a bunch of misfits and scoundrels snatched a map to the known universe from the powers that be. That map of interstellar highways serves as the narrative foundation for Concord’s story. But here it’s just a means to an end, a thing for the marauders to chase and establish themselves with.  

As a prequel to Concord, “Tale of the Implacable” presents its sci-fi universe and the weirdos who populate it better than the game ever did. Players had to wait for weekly animated cut scenes or dig through an in-game map to access much of its lore. But Concord’s Secret Level ep is a perfect table setter for Firewalk’s game. It’s a shame we didn’t get it earlier.

Concord faced many uphill battles: price, uninteresting game mechanics, and character designs that didn’t resonate with players. The Freegunners of “Tale of the Implacable” are much more likable than their playable counterparts. They’re less snarky — and less easily mapped to Guardians of the Galaxy characters — than what Concord players actually got their hands on.

But “Tale of the Implacable” illustrates another issue with Concord. The subterfuge, the action, the humor and camaraderie, and the action of the Implacable crew’s heist… none of that would have been in the game anyway. Concord was instead a formulaic shooter that tried a few new things that didn’t register with players. The fun, blockbuster action on screen in “Tale of the Implacable” was unlikely to ever be replicated in the game.

Concord may have failed as a game, but at least it gave us a great bit of TV.

All episodes of Secret Level are now streaming on Prime Video.