Review: Alice: Madness Returns

Alice finally makes her return to Wonderland.

Developer: Spicy Horse 
Publisher: EA
Platforms:  PS3/ Xbox 360 [PS3 reviewed]

Alice: Madness Returns, the sequel to American McGee’s Alice, is a decent platformer in its own right, but isn’t without some hindering flaws. Alice’s second adventure begins in an orphanage where she is receiving therapy for her twisted memories that involve her family perishing in a fire. After traversing through Victorian London, she comes across a white cat, which later leads her to once again tumble into Wonderland. The fantastical world is once again riddled by evil forces, which threatens the realm and its inhabitants, as well as Alice’s own sanity. After a short meeting with an old friend, the Cheshire Cat, Alice picks up her trusty Vorpal Blade and revisits her world of torment.

The first thing you notice once you gain control of Alice in Wonderland are the stunning visuals. The game’s art direction and imagination are boundless; Alice traverses through luscious woods, a floating steam-punk inspired fortress, and a creepy yet wonderfully re-imagined rendition of the Queen of Hearts’ domain. Each area are riddled with meticulous details and colorful set pieces. Experiencing the environments alone are worth the endless battles and platforming sections that sit between each new area. Spicy Horse pulled out all the stops when it came to visuals, and the gorgeous art and imaginative surroundings are one of the best parts of the game.

The crooked characters of Wonderland look and play their parts. Creatures, monsters, and familiar characters such as the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat look grotesque and twisted, but are a marvel to look at and interact with. Alice herself goes through several wardrobe changes throughout her adventure. After every new area her outfit transforms to one that matches her surroundings; for example, in the steampunk area, Alice trades in her traditional blue dress with brown steampunk garb with buckles, leather and all. These small details bring life to the experience, and also allows the player to delve further into the disturbing world of Wonderland. Although voice-acting falters between creepy and corny, the characters of the game feel natural to the world and its twisted nature.

Compared to the excellent visuals, gameplay seems to fall a bit short. Alice can double jump and glide her way around Wonderland’s treacherous areas, but other than a few unique abilities, game play stays stagnant throughout the game. Most of the platforming sections include turning a couple valves and jumping across platforms. Some interesting and creative abilities are thrown at you such as shrinking in size to gain access to secret areas, and rolling around in the form of a head (a literal translation of the line “off with her head”), but these abilities also lose their charm after a few repetitive uses. What starts off as a pretty standard action-adventure game quickly sheds its disguise to reveal a very redundant structure that recycles the same mechanics throughout the game’s entirety.

Combat is fairly standard; Alice’s main weapons are her Vorpal Blade for short-range melee attacks and a pepper-grinder for long-range combat. Enemies have a certain weakness that can be exposed by experimenting with various weapons. For defense, Alice can dodge enemies by turning into a flurry of butterflies, or use an umbrella to repel attacks. Control-wise the actions feel tight and precise, although some dodgy camera issues may pose to be a problem during intense battles. Combat can be enjoyable, but I often found myself wanting battles to be over so I could explore the areas and environments more. Although the system isn’t completely flawed, it is missing evolution, similar to the platforming elements. Combat doesn’t evolve much other than a few new weapon upgrades, and this lack of change in combat combined with the stagnant platforming make for a very repetitive game.

Alice: Madness Returns starts out as a visually spectacular, albeit disturbing, romp in Wonderland which later gets bogged down by repetitive game play and combat. While these aren’t huge, deal-breaking issues, it does take away from the experience as a whole. I was left wishing the story was more connected with the gameplay itself. If the narrative had some significant effects on the gameplay, the journey would have felt more purposeful and evolving. What we get instead is an adventure that takes place because Alice doesn’t seem to know what to do otherwise, she goes from place to place because she happens to, not because she means to. What results is an enchanting, vibrant world with a game stitched onto it.

Despite these issues, Alice 2 is enjoyable, and enchanting. With store shelves packed with the same colorless titles that lack vibrancy and superfluous creativity, a game like Alice is refreshing to see on the market. What the game lacks in gameplay it makes up in visuals, but those who value creative gameplay over stunning art may want to look elsewhere. It may not be the best platformer out there, but it’s definitely worth a try.

Galaxy Minute

- Excellent visual design, art direction, and graphics

- Plenty of special collectibles, weapon upgrades, and exploration

- Story is interesting but slow-paced - Deliciously creepy atmosphere and music, but voice-acting can be hit or miss

- Decent platforming elements can get bogged down by repetition

- Combat is standard with interesting weapons, but lack innovation and change over time

- Controls feel tight and responsive, but the camera can be troublesome at times

By: Jane Lim

Purchase Alice: Madness Returns from Amazon