Let the Madness Begin
Alice Madness Returns is the continued dark take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. American McGee continues a story of an insane teenager who is plagued by her corrupted memories, induced by a fire that destroyed her life. Alice Madness Returns displays a wonderfully twisted world that both entices and dissuades gamers at the same time. Alice does this by allowing you to explore a delightfully disturbing world while at the same time forces you to explore a disturbingly repetitive world.
Following the aftermath of Alice’s victory over the red queen, Alice Liddell is out of the asylum and is now under the watchful care of her psychiatrist who runs an orphanage. Alice Liddell is still rather insane and returns to her Wonderland only to find it under a new dark threat. During her journey, Alice will come across her old demented friends as she hopes to unearth the truth behind the fire that killed her family. Alice will explore the inner recess of her psyche and attempt to rectify the madness with in. The story is intriguing but it gives one of the mysteries away too soon and leads to lack of motivation. Alice’s performance also offers very little as she has almost the exact same attitude through out the entire game despite the truths that she reveals.
Alice’s twisted Wonderland features a variety of locales that will infect your very nightmares. From gutted fish to doll heads staring at you as they float in jars, Wonderland offers a deep depravity that is oddly satisfying. The characters features both in Wonderland are entertaining and brimming with insanity and even when Alice is strolling through London the game presents a world of darkness and despair through the disfigured and deformed NPCs she meets. The game is a walking contradiction because while it offers a world that at times is truly mesmerizing to look at, it also features some unimpressive graphics. Walls and floors are often muddy and look as though they were clumsily painted on. Alice herself offers a few beautiful animations; especially with her hair but if some of her movements look jagged and just plain bad. The voice acting is decent and doesn’t hinder or help the enjoyment of the game. The music is haunting and moody but will often wear thin as you spend hours upon hours in the same level.
Alice Madness Returns weakest part isn’t the gameplay but rather the game design. The game is so methodical that boredom comes sooner as each new chapter you begin. After the first chapter everything will feel great but every further level you pass, will lead to the realization that there is nothing more the game has to offer. The game attempts to break up these segments with environment inspired puzzles, mini games and side scrolling moments but even these are overdone. This is not to say that the game doesn’t get complex at all. There will be a moment where you the game will introduce a new obstacle or mechanic but once you realize how to solve the problem you will find the world littered with the same obstacle or mechanic but rearranged differently.
Alice’s combat system is functional but occasionally frustrating. It doesn’t offer a deep combo system that you would find in Devil May Cry or God of War but the combat is more complex then a Dynasty Warriors game. The combat includes one fast attack, one heavy, two long range attacks and a bomb that distracts enemies. The enemy variety helps make combat more exciting but do to repetition and bad pacing, eventually you learn every enemy pattern and they become no match for your arsenal. If your enemies happen to almost kill you, Alice can go into a rage mode where she becomes an invincible killing machine which makes it almost impossible to die in combat. The only enemy you should really have trouble with is the in game camera as it will consistently be in the way of your success. The game offers a lock on system that is reminiscent of Zelda games and eases the camera woes but sporadically it will not save you from cheap shots.
Platforming is simple but can often be ruined by a few problems. Alice can jump three times and after each jump has the ability to float gently down. This works pretty well and most players will get the hang of it eventually but the landing is always the most difficult part. The game doesn’t do a good job in telling you if you should land and this imprecision will frequently lead to sections of the game that are incredibly frustrating. One point in Spicy Horses favor is that they are very generous with check points, which will ease some of the suffering.
It is very difficult for me to whole heartedly recommend Alice Madness Returns. It does offer some great moments and locales that are satisfying but the game feels artificially padded and remains in the same areas for far too long. I still found myself enjoying the game and it clocked in about 15 hours for me to beat it but the blemishes that the game presents are hard to overlook. I think the best way to decide if Alice is right for you is to think about the game in the same way you would think about a meal. American McGee offers many dark and desirable treats but you will have to eat his steamed vegetables a little longer then you’d like to in order to enjoy the cake.
