To use an hyperbolic expression, I would say, extraordinarily captivating. I have to admit, I watched it couple of times. In terms of quality and artistically, the nerdy aspect of this short movie is perfectly "coded".

Short Gaming History

1993 saw the release of one of the first first-person shooter games known as "DOOM".
The game, taking place on the planet Mars, an extra-terrestrial mining landscape as a background, allows you to embody a marine to face a horde of demons and monsters that found their way, via an interdimensional access, to Mars and are on the verge of invading Earth.The game takes you through levels with an increasing intensity of violence from monsters and demons with larger and bigger weapons. The following year, 1994, a second instalment of the game was released, capitalising on its success.

What made the franchise successful is twofold. It was unique in its graphics and networking features. People were able to play the game on a local network with a multitude of PC interconnected. You had an arena where all these players were competing against each other, sometimes team versus team, with observers watching. All that locally, physically speaking.
Tension, at that time, was very palpable, often accompanied by strong language, regretted the following second it was uttered (Not every time), but unapologetic about the digital violence used.

Fast-forwarding to the advent of the Internet in 1999, two games, Quake Arena and Unreal Tournament, transformed the linear first-person shooter game into a 3D, multi-level arena filled with players, each with a short digital lifespan, keen to compete against one another. These arenas host deathmatch or team deathmatch events.

Unreal Tournament Game & Background Story

A war took place in a fictional future between humans and Skaarj (a reptilian race). Mining was the primary and profitable industry managed by The Liandri Mining Corporation, which covered the growing cost of war, but at a human price, which was very unpopular among blue-collar workers. A decisive battle ensued when the human forces destroyed a key Skaarj mothership, forcing the Skaarj forces to retreat.

As the years passed, the war, reduced to skirmishes, pushed human communities living out of mining activities to eruptions of violence, primarily due to the worsening working conditions. Laws were passed to try to quash the rising discontent swiftly. Ultimately, the idea was to channel the violence through dramatised public events and exhibitions, which evolved into organised leagues and competing teams. A license-to-kill and team-based UFC-type of events. These events ultimately proved extremely lucrative and contributed to a reduction in violence.

I spent countless hours on this game. As noted earlier, it is a multiplayer arena-based (called a map) game where the goal is to outkill your opponents or to be the last man standing or part of the last team standing.
The game also includes an offline challenge where you must navigate multiple levels or maps, battling bots with increasing difficulty, and climbing the ladder until the final challenge: fighting a mysterious champion called Xan Kriegor. Other modes are available, such as Assault, Capture the Flag, Domination and Team Deathmatch.

Unreal Tournament - Xan

The short animated movie, episode 4 (Season 1), which is approximately 19 minutes long, was released as part of a series called Secret Level and is built on the video game Unreal Tournament. The Secret Level is based on video games of different genres that have had a significant impact on the gaming world to this day and have shaped a generation of gamers.

To add a twist to the original story, robots are the blue-collar workers doing the laborious mining for humans. The rising hero, starting as an underdog, is no other than Xan. The robot, Xan, whose name will be disclosed only later in the movie (refer to my article about hype and AI), became conscious or self-aware after a violent mishandling of a human operator.
After a violent uprising led by Xan against humans, the robots were captured and sentenced to be executed in a lost battle taking place in an arena surrounded by a void and spectacle of a large and unhinged crowd.

The original story was amended in specific ways to fit the modern challenges of technology, notably AI, with a flavour reminiscent of Rome's Colosseum. Xan learns quickly about the competing environment, embodying a learning AI model, to surmount subsequent challenges. To avoid getting into details for those who have not watched it, after successive and successful battles, Xan ends up killing the Liandri Captain, the corporation's champion, and takes over the corporation.

Map

The movie scenery is directly inspired by the video game, particularly the last arena.
This arena is an iconic map from Unreal Tournament called Facing Worlds.

Weapons

Most of the weaponry is also inspired by the game, and some of it was devised for the plot.
-Impact Hammer

Xan initially used this tool or instrument to extract raw minerals. Not found in the original game.
The instrument of Xan's damnation (working in mining) became the instrument of his salvation (you will see when watching the movie).

-Flak Cannon
It is my favourite weapon and is used as a shotgun.

-The Redeemer-

This weapon is typically located in the centre of the map, equidistant from the two teams facing each other. Acquiring this weapon in the game gives you a lethal advantage. Players will get eliminated just trying to get it.

The artistic aspect of the movie does not stop here. In Unreal Tournament, voice notifications, provided by an in-game announcer during gameplay, add depth to the game and offer players feedback on their performance.
The following is an example of common voice notifications:
Headshot: Announces a headshot elimination.
Rampage: Announces a series of eliminations.
First Blood: Announces the first elimination.
These voices are wonderfully rendered in the movie.

Unreal Engine

The animated movie has been built using Unreal Engine 5.3, a showcase of a powerful real-time 3D creation tool. The Unreal Engine was initially developed in 1995 by Epic Games, which gave birth to the video game Unreal Tournament four years later. We are currently at the fifth generation, which was released in April 2022.

The engine is based on the programming language C++ and is highly versatile and flexible regarding the platforms on which it can be deployed.


My final recommendation: Watch it!

Source:
https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0IT5QD04WG06AKTABIYKVOTHYM/ref=atv_sr_fle_c_sr1f8a17_1_1_1?sr=1-1&pageTypeIdSource=ASIN&pageTypeId=B0DK71P5GX&qid=1750598015088 (Secret Level on Prime Video)
https://www.artstation.com/lennardclaussen (Artist worked for Secret Level on Prime Video)
https://www.artstation.com/wigierski (Artist worked for Secret Level on Prime Video)
https://www.artstation.com/daytoner (Artist worked for Secret Level on Prime Video)
https://www.artstation.com/refuser (Artist modelling weapons)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facing_Worlds
https://planetunreal.gamespy.com/View9f2f.html?id=5 (Unreal tournament Guide)
https://www.reddit.com/r/ZombieSurvivalTactics/comments/1dg4sj0/which_unreal_tournament_weapon_would_you_choose (List of weapons)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Engine (Unreal engine)