Alice Returns with a Vengeance
Just like Alice herself, Alice: Madness Returns is a beautiful yet flawed game. Madness Returns picks up years after American McGee’s Alice and while her mental health has improved, her experience with the real world has not. Now living in London under the care of a psychiatrist, Alice begins to recall previously forgotten details of the night her family died in a house fire. As these memories return, so does her madness.
Gameplay in AMR is primarily platforming with plenty of item collecting along the way. Alice is much more nimble than in the previous game with new skills like mid-air triple jumps and the ability to glide during her descent to reach distant platforms. The jumping controls feel responsive and have a real floaty quality to them that really works for the long distance jumps you are frequently required to make.
Combat is the other major part of the core gameplay. In the original Alice game, combat was cumbersome and an unwelcome distraction to exploring the world. Madness Returns’ combat system is a total departure from its predecessor and it only benefits from the changes. Now combat is fun, fast, and engaging. Each weapon acquired is mapped to a different button allowing you to have all of your weapons ready for any situation without any awkward weapon switching in the middle of combat. The only returning weapon is Alice’s Trusty Vorpal blade, but you later gain others such as a machine-gun like pepper grinder and a mallet-like hobby horse. All of the weapons feel like the have a use and never become redundant.
A lock-on system keeps you focused on your target and sometimes, stubbornly so. The right analog stick switches between locked-on targets, but there were quite a few times where it just would not leave the currently selected enemy. Also, when not locked-on, the right stick controls the camera. This becomes an issue when locked onto an enemy and the game’s auto camera positions itself in a less than ideal position leaving you open to attack from off-screen enemies. While the combat system does have its problems, the good far outweighs the bad and remains enjoyable throughout the length of the game.
That brings me to my main issue with the game. It’s length. I am not one to complain about a game being too long. Quite the opposite in most cases. That said, Madness Returns could have really benefited from having some sections shortened or removed entirely. A new minigame/mechanic can be a good change of pace and a way to keep the momentum going, but when you have to complete the same minigame three times in the same chapter, the entertaining diversion becomes repetitive tedium. There were also a few sequences in the game that gave me the impression that they were rushed in production and it’s a shame to think that these sections could have been improved if a more critical eye was given to spending less time creating repetitions of existing sections.
Though you can’t tell it from my horrible screenshots that may or may not have been taken with a cell phone camera (they were), this game is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. This is Madness Returns’ strongest suit. The art design of the different parts of Wonderland all stand out in unique ways. My favorite has to be the beginning of Chapter 4 which starts with you thousands of feet above the ground jumping across a beautiful blue sky on a deck of cards. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows either. This game can get dark, but even in the face of some seriously disturbing imagery, you can’t help but find yourself stopping just to get a good look at all of it. It is just that good and I haven’t even mentioned the hair physics on display, which are the best I have ever seen in a game.
Alice: Madness Returns isn’t the best game I have ever played, but it is a good platformer with engaging combat, a dark story that will keep you interested, and some seriously breathtaking visuals. While it has it’s faults, none of them ruin the experience of this modern take on an old-school genre. While this game looks like it will be relegated to cult favorite at best, it really deserves much more credit than it will receive. If you’re on the fence about Alice, give it a shot, you’ll probably be surprised at how good this game really is.