Amazon Prime’s video game anthology shorts series directed by Deadpool director Tim Miller, the first half was just released yesterday as of this writing. I was able to watch it and have thoughts I wanted to share.
Overall, I was very impressed with the anthology, though only the first 8 episodes have been released. I looked online for critical reception, and it was shocking how middling to negative it was received. Rotten Tomatoes score is 65% and Metacritic has it at a 53. I strongly disagree with this rating and personally rate what I’ve seen so far collectively as a 9 out of 10 or a 90. Oddly, looking at the non-critic reviews I see that IMDb has an average user rating of 8.1 out of 10, Metacritic user score of 71 and Rotten Tomatoes user score of 84.
Per episode thoughts
Episode 1 – Dungeons and Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle
The visuals displayed here are amazing, stellar performances… I was captivated by the whole 16-minute runtime. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in the party, the combat sequences and the Dragon Oriel. The only negative I have to say about it is that I wish I could watch more. Netflix… Amazon… please pick up a series order for this!
Episode 2 – Sifu – It Takes A life
This was a nice encapsulation of my experience playing Sifu, I died a lot and was old at the end of a level. The episode shows essentially level 2, the club and the boss fight. It felt a bit short, something I’d say about most of the entries only because I wanted to see more. The art style was very close to the game, just turned up a bit with lighting and detail.
Episode 3 – New World – The Once and Future King
The Once and Future King episode was fantastic, it centered around a vapid and vain body builder looking character who was previously king and landed in Aeternum (the island set in the game) and tried to assume the crown. Best part? The character was voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He did a magnificent job and I really enjoyed the story, which felt complete. I would absolutely watch more if it was offered, but this story felt pretty self-contained in a fable type of way.
Episode 4 – Unreal Tournament – Xan
I played a bit of UT in the late 90s and early 2000s. I don’t recall there being a lot of lore, or what was there was very high level. This episode was a sci-fi story about the subjugation of AI which becomes sentient and the struggle to find a voice to be heard. I thought the story was well done and heartfelt.
Episode 5 – Warhammer 40,000 – And They Shall Know No Fear
Warhammer 40,000 has not had great representation in media. The excellent Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader is one of a very few video games that showcase the dire and grim world of the universe. This episode showcases characters from another game that depicts the Warhammer 40k universe well – Warhammer 40k Space Marine 1 and 2. The episode shows a fight with bioluminescent blood that was absolutely gorgeous.
Episode 6 – PAC-MAN – Circle
I thought this episode was a fever dream after taking a few drugs. The game awards 2024 showcased a game toward the start called Shadow Labyrinth, which is what this episode was about. I’m not sure what I can say about this other than you have to see it to believe it, and I enjoyed it after I stopped exclaiming “What the *#&@….”
Episode 7 – Crossfire: Good Conflict
I’m not familiar with the Crossfire IP, which is probably why this one didn’t really resonate with me as the others did. It attempts to look at the odd human nature foible of everyone believing they are the good guy, when evidence is blatantly showing the contrary.
Episode 8 – Armored Core: Asset Management
Keanu Reeves led the performance here and did a stellar job. The story looks at a soldier tuned for war and the impact that can have, both when the government no longer needs you and side effects. It asks interesting questions and honestly made me want to play the latest game.
I’m incredibly excited for the remaining 8 episodes, and I sincerely hope more great fantasy television series can make it to screen, even if critics don’t seem to be on board.
