The Concord episode of Prime Video's Secret Level showed the hidden potential of the ill-fated hero shooter, and it hinted at what could have been for the video game. Secret Level adapted 15 video games, both old and new, to television, but not all of them were absolute icons of the industry. One game in particular - Concord - was an objective failure, and it was a bit surprising to see it in Secret Level. Even though the game was a failure, Secret Level actually ended up enhancing Concord and showing off the game's true potential.
Concord was a hero shooter game, meaning players controlled specific characters that had their own set of abilities and powers. Like Overwatch 2 or Marvel Rivals, players would have formed teams based around each character's abilities, and they would fight against similarly structured enemy teams. Unfortunately, Concord also didn't do enough to differentiate itself from other hero shooters, and it ended up being shut down just weeks after it was released. While the game isn't playable anymore, Secret Level did take a stab at Concord, and it offers a glimpse of what could have been.
Concord's Secret Level Episode, Explained
"Tale Of The Implacable" Set Up Concord's Universe As Filled With Outlaws & Pirates
Secret Level episode 13, "Concord: Tale of the Implacable" follows a group of Freegunners - Kai, Rade, Sladie, and Smokes - on the Implacable. The Freegunners of the Implacable set out to rescue their captain, Cassidy Taimak, who was captured after stealing one of the Guild's maps. After a misguided rescue operation, the Implacable was captured by the Guild's officer, and the crew decided to broadcast their map to all the other pirates in the galaxy, effectively freeing space travel.
Concord: Tales of the Implacable Cast & Characters
Actor
Role
Leah Harvey
Cassidy Taimak
Arthur Lee
Kai
Max Rinehart
Julius
Dimitri Abold
Rade
Rachel Handshaw
Sladie
Laura Bailey
Smokes
Louis Martin
Callosian Officer
Derek Phillips
Lennox
Kerry Gutierrez
Spitz
Darin De Paul
Bartender/Narrator
Tale of the Implacable is very similar to another science fiction series: Firefly and its sequel movie Serenity. Like Concord, Firefly's galaxy is oppressed by a massive organization known as the Union of Allied Planets. Firefly's main cast is also a group of outlaws who start out being more interested in paychecks than morals, but wind up becoming revolutionary figures who inspire others. There's also an overarching sense in both Concord and Firefly that space is very much a Western frontier, and a focus on the freedom that an outlaw's life brings.
Concord's Opened-Ended Finale Set Up A Compelling Universe
Concord's Universe Had Some Interesting Elements That Were Worth Exploring
One of the most interesting aspects of Tale of the Implacable is that it didn't actually feature the main characters of Concord. It almost serves as a prequel to the game, and presents the setup for all the conflict and piracy that the game's main characters would be involved in. As an introduction to Concord, Secret Level did a great job. It's perhaps not the best episode of Secret Level, but Tale of the Implacable still introduced audiences to some of the things that made Concord unique and worth exploring.
Secret Level's open-ended ending proved that Concord was a blank page that could have been filled with an endless number of stories.
Concord may not have been as groundbreaking as science fiction legends like Star Wars or Firefly, but it still brought some interesting elements to the table. The fight between the Guild and the Freegunners was an interesting asymmetrical dynamic, and it had room to tell a lot of compelling stories. Likewise, the pirate nature of the Freegunners seemed like the perfect way to introduce colorful characters from all walks of life, and Concord could have created a lot of big personalities within the faction.
Amazon Prime Video's animated anthology series Secret Level brings to life some of the most popular video games, and now it has scored a season 2.
Even the universe itself was interesting. Space travel is rarely depicted as being as dangerous as Concord showed it, and it may have been a breath of fresh air to see the actual logistic of spaceflight play out in a game or show. It also would have been endlessly interesting to explore the Tempest and find out about its origins, just how destructive it was, and what the inside of it is like. Secret Level's open-ended ending proved that Concord was a blank page that could have been filled with an endless number of stories.
Why Concord Has Already Been Shut Down (And What Secret Level Thinks About It)
Concord Simply Didn't Have Enough Players Or Interest, Which Tim Miller Empathized With
Unfortunately, Concord will never get the chance to capitalize on Secret Level's expert set-up. Concord was taken offline on September 6, 2024 - just two weeks after it was launched - and Sony completely shut down Concord and the studio behind it, Firewalk Studios. According to Sony, Concord was shut down due to low playership - the game had just under 700 concurrent players on Steam at its all-time peak. There were a variety of reasons Concord simply failed to garner attention from gamers, from its $40 price point compared to free-to-play games like Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals to its "uninteresting" character designs that drew criticism.
Only 12 says since its launch on August 23, 2024, Firewalk Studios has announced it will be shutting down Concord.
Concord's shutdown means that Secret Level is now the only remaining vestige of the game that consumers can directly interact with. Unfortunately, it was only able to show Concord's potential, and it wasn't enough to get the game continued in any way. It was actually somewhat surprising that Secret Level didn't pull its Concord episode after the game's cancelation, and series creator Tim Miller actually had some comments about the situation (via Variety).
“My first thought when we heard it was not, ‘Oh, woe is us’ for our show — we really felt bad for these people, because they’re friends and fellow artists and people who are willing to take some risks. And we both know what it’s like to not have those risks succeed, and they’re really good people who are just trying to make a great game.”
Miller clearly had a lot of empathy for fellow creators, and since the Concord episode of Secret Level was already completed when the game was shut down, he kept it in the show out of respect for his employees (via Collider).
"First of all, we have other episodes that don’t have existing games out there, either because they haven’t come out yet, or because they came out in the past and are not currently published. So I didn’t feel weird about that. But also, why? Hundreds of artists and animators and lighters and modelers worked on this episode, and it’s great. The characters are cool. It’s funny. It’s a really interesting episode. So why add insult to injury and not have all that hard work be shown to the world? It’s a great episode, regardless of whatever happened."
Based on Miller's comments, it seems Secret Level was both a prequel and farewell to Concord. Interestingly, the show also works as a surprisingly fitting way to say goodbye to the ill-fated game.
Secret Level Gives Concord A Quietly Perfect Send-Off
Secret Level's Ending Is A Surprisingly Fitting & Bittersweet Farewell To Concord
While it was never intended to be the last thing general audiences would ever get out of the world of Concord, Secret Level does a surprisingly good job of saying goodbye to the game and its universe. The ending of Tale of the Implacable sees the Freegunners broadcast their map to the entire universe and then dive headfirst into the Tempest, and seemingly their doom. It then cuts forward an indeterminate amount of time to the narrator spreading the legend of the Implacable in a bar and saying that it doesn't matter whether they lived or died, it matters that they never got caught.
Much like the crew of the Implacable, it doesn't matter how the story ended, only that it happened in the first place.
The ending of Tale of the Implacable conjures up a lot of parallels to Concord in the real world. Though Concord functionally no longer exists, the story and universe that Firewalk Studios created still had an effect, and Secret Level has helped it live on. Concord's universe was still capable of telling a compelling story, and the artists who worked on it still poured their hearts into their creations. Much like the crew of the Implacable, it doesn't matter how the story ended, only that it happened in the first place. In that way, Secret Level is a sweet and fitting way to say goodbye to Concord.
Secret Level is an adult animated series exploring original short stories set within the worlds of popular video games. Each episode introduces new adventures, delving into iconic gaming classics and forthcoming titles to unlock captivating narratives and immersive experiences. Created by Tim Miller, the series celebrates gaming culture.
Firewalk Studios presents Concord, a first-person multiplayer sci-fi shared-world shooter. The game was announced during the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase, with little details divulged on the product. The game is expected to make its debut sometime in 2024.
Custom image by Sean Morrison
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