Alice: Madness Returns

There's a method to the madness

This is the sequel to the first game in the series of American McGee's Alice. The series is developed by EA, yes, you read that right. EA has made an out of the box game in the past, crazy right. Alice: Madness Returns is a game idea I thought I would never see, taking a beloved animated kids’ film like Alice in Wonderland and changed it into a very dark psychological hack and slash horror game. The studio owned by EA; Spicy House is actually meant to be in the process of making a sequel to this game.

More games should do this!

Alice: Madness Returns is set after the original game but is still set in the Wonderland. It starts with Alice having a hallucination because of the traumatic death of her family due to a fire. The hallucination gets worse until she wakes up back in a familiar world to her wonderland. Although it’s not as she remembers. Wonderland has been corrupted by something, not of Wonderland called Infernal Train which has been destroying the land. After finding this out she sets out on a journey to stop the corruption of Wonderland and find out more about her patchy past.

Darker but still Alice

The graphics are from the Unreal Engine but are the Unreal 3 before 4 was a thing. The game doesn’t look as good as some modern games, most likely due to the engine being behind modern games but that’s more to the date of release of the game than a problem. The way the game has been converted from a 2D kids cartoon movie to a fully animated 3D hack and slash, the horror-inspired video game had to be a hard thing to do and they’ve managed to pull it off pretty well. I hope that they get their hands on maybe more kids cartoons and turn them into 18+ nightmare versions of themselves as to its just a concept that hasn’t been explored in video games except for this game. Also, they do all-time in films so why not make kids' stories into horror games...

How could it possibly get any madder?

The gameplay of Alice: Madness Returns is a classic hack and slash reminds me a bit of Lollipop chainsaw but without the humour element to it and focusing more on the horror aspect in this game. As it dives into the madness of Alice through the game, you fight different enemies like the Lost Souls’ and the Drowned Sailor. If the name of the enemies doesn’t tell that this game isn’t a horror game and your main weapon is a kitchen knife. That’s probably one of the scariest things in the kitchen people! Even the shrinking potion has been used from the film, making it into a mechanic which grants you an ability to sneak. The game takes everything from the cartoon movie and turns into something dark and mad.

It’s still Alice but for a darker generation

This game is such a simple idea taking what is originally there and making it a darker experience. It's been done so much in films, it's time for it to start in gaming and with this game. This game proves that it’s possible as the experience of playing as Alice through a darker version of the original story was really enjoyable.

I could not have been any more excited for Alice: Madness Returns. The original American McGee’s Alice game released in 2000 was one of the first games that made me want to get a PC. While it may have taken over a decade, many people, especially me were excited to once again take a dark, scary and messed up trip to Wonderland.

A Messed-Up Setting

While I would personally say that playing the original Alice game before this would be preferable, it is not essential. The story of the game is basically that Alice finds herself outside of the mental institution. She wants to know how the fire that killed her family really happened and why she was driven insane. The game is set between a creepy Tim Burton style London and the horrific version of Wonderland that you would expect. Wonderland in this game is way more run-down than it was in the first!

Is that Alice Or Bayonetta?

Ok so the comparison to Bayonetta may be a bit of a stretch, but the first time you play this you will probably be surprised at how quick and nimble Alice is to control. The game is a 3rd person action game, but it has way more platforming than you would think. Alice moves around very well and she can do things like a double and triple jump as well as grow big and small. There is a lot of variety to getting around each area and it makes exploring a lot of fun.

The combat is just as much fun. Alice has many different weapons at her disposal, ranging from a blade to a thing full of pepper. What is great about this is that not only are the weapons in Alice: Madness Returns very satisfying to use and very cool to look at. The game has a very well-done combo system that lets you switch between weapons very quickly and unleash some very powerful and really cool looking combos.

Wow, You Are Ugly

I love the character designs of Alice: Madness Returns. The Rabbit and Mad Hatter, in particular, are firm favorites of mine. The levels as well at first glance have a ton of personality to them and I really like what they have done to not just Wonderland, but London as well. You are never really sure if what you are looking at is “real” or if it is just the way our sweet, dear crazy Alice sees it. With that being said, while at first glance everything looks amazing when you get closer things can get a bit blocky and low quality. Now to be fair, I feel that this is more down to the age of the game than anything else. However, I do wonder just how epic the game could have looked had the budget been a bit higher and had it been made for higher-end hardware.

I think that Alice: Madness Returns is an excellent action game. The story behind the game is truly amazing and it is a lot of fun to actually play. It succeeds as both a platform and an action game. While it may show its age a little now, especially in comparison to more recent 3rd person action/platform games. I still feel that this is a game that is well worth playing through as it is an experience you will never forget.

8/10

Pros:

• The story is truly incredible
• The setting of the game is very interesting
• Lots of interesting characters to interact with
• The combat feels great and is very combo heavy
• Platforming is a joy to do

Cons:

• The story may be a bit dark and messed up for some
• The game is starting to show its age a bit in the visual department