Alice: Madness Returns

UPC: 014633098594

Platform: Xbox 360

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Spicy Horse

Category: Action

Style(s): Third-Person 3D Action

Synopsis: Alice returns to a transformed Wonderland in this fright-filled follow-up to 2000's American McGee's Alice. Troubled by the memories of her past, young Alice drifts off to the dream realm of Wonderland, only to find it corrupted by an insidious evil. To save Wonderland and perhaps her sanity, Alice must directly confront horrific enemies attempting to kill her. The action is viewed from a third-person perspective as players engage in melee combat using weapons that range from a vorpal blade and hobby horse to a teapot cannon. Interact with creepy characters such as the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Caterpillar, and the Red Queen while advancing across the surreal, nightmarish world of Wonderland. Leap across platforms while avoiding various hazards and solve puzzles using items found in the environment, including chess pieces, picture blocks, and transforming objects. Alice can also acquire magical abilities that allow her to shrink or grow in size at will for use in combat as well as exploration. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Package Contents: American McGee's Alice Online Pass Code

Controls: Joystick/Gamepad

Alice: Madness Returns features enchanting artwork, an interesting storyline, pitch-perfect voice acting, and a compelling lead character. It's also one of the dullest games of 2011. The developers have crafted a world with a distinctive look and an inviting premise, but backed it up with rote platforming and tedious combat, making you question whether Alice is the only person that's mad. A sequel to American McGee's Alice, released in 2000, Alice: Madness Returns has you delving back into the protagonist's tortured mind, stemming from the deaths of her family in a suspicious fire. You'll actually play parts of Alice's "real" life, which involves briefly exploring areas like an orphanage and seedy pub in Victorian London, and these sequences are creepier than anything you'll encounter in Wonderland. This absence of tension and scares once you journey back to Wonderland is only the first surprise. The biggest issue with Alice is that the developers have padded out the game's length with enormously tedious sequences where you aren't doing anything but leaping across suspended platforms with Alice's near weightless jumps. The puzzles are so painfully obvious -- most involve flipping a switch or shooting projectiles at a bull's eye -- that it feels like you're just going through the motions for a chance to complete the story, which gradually pieces together Alice's fragmented memories. As you progress through the game's five chapters, you'll notice a repeating pattern. While the environments change in appearance, they all feel cramped and offer little to do outside of smashing breakable objects, grabbing a collectible, or flipping a switch. The gameplay has you moving from point A to point B, with moments of combat sprinkled in between the jumping and floating bits. Unfortunately, the combat isn't any more exciting than the platforming. While Alice can quickly slice and dice enemies with the vorpal blade, most must be defeated in a very specific manner, taking the creativity out of the killing. You'll have to switch between weapons, some of which will zoom the camera in behind Alice's shoulder, and try to use a lock-on system to make things easier. Unfortunately, this is more trouble than it's worth, as enemies will often surround you and start attacking while your view is focused on one target. It's a shame that the combat and platforming aren't up to the quality of the presentation, because the game has some wonderful touches. As Alice shrinks to enter small areas, she occasionally burps bubbles. Her hair realistically reacts to the wind, and whenever she dodges or dies, she morphs into a pack of blue butterflies. Whenever Alice is critically injured (her life is represented by roses on a vine), she can enter a "hysterical" mode, which transforms her into a supernatural creature that's frightening to behold. Yet there's so little decision making on your part, the game might as well be on rails. See a keyhole? That means you need to shrink. See a red button? That means you have to fire the pepper gun. Wonderland could use a lot more wonder, as the developers were seemingly afraid of giving players the freedom to approach situations in different ways. The best platform games treat their worlds as an opportunity to explore and experience new things. They also feature characters that gradually learn new moves and techniques to master. In Alice, the environments are too restrictive and the progression too linear. While the weapons may change, the moves are always the same. Despite the wonderful possibilities offered by being able to shrink at will or use an umbrella to deflect projectiles, the game can only be played one way -- the developer's way -- instead of the player's. Alice's mind is a terrible thing to waste, but that is precisely what has happened with Madness Returns. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

the game requires Joystick/Gamepad.