Having never been a PC gamer, the original release of Alice passed me by. The concept of the game interested me, but only now having received a copy of Alice: Madness Returns for Christmas, and its bundled downloadable copy of the original, have I been able to sink my teeth into it.
McGee’s version of Alice (yes, he is a real person, he’s on Wikipedia and everything) finds her locked up in an asylum after losing her entire family in a tragic house fire. In her delirium she finds herself back in a twisted version of Wonderland that’s under the control of the Queen of Hearts. Alice must find and destroy her to save Wonderland and her own sanity.
The presentation is fantastic; especially considering it’s an 11 year old game at this point. The visuals are eerie and the music is menacing. I’ve read that samples of women’s choirs and children’s musical boxes were used in creating the soundtrack, which lends it that suitably creepy air. All the main characters from the Alice universe are represented as warped versions of their former selves, for example the Mad Hatter is a crazed scientist, attempting to create automatons of his former friends, and the Jabberwock is a semi mechanized incarnation of Alice’s guilt over the loss of her family.
Alice herself is pretty well presented too, as an initially rather hard on her former friends (She asks the crying Mock Turtle ‘What’s all this then? Has someone died? Have you lost your family?’ and when finding out he has lost his shell, snaps, ‘Oh, stop that wailing’). Further into the story, her defences lower as she is attacked by the forces of the Queen of Hearts. Shame the graphic limitations make her look like a robot attempting to cry, though. It was a good attempt.
But what of the gameplay? Disappointingly, it’s really just a basic 3D platformer with some lacklustre combat added in. It’s a shame really, because there is the potential in there to be great.
The weaponry itself is very imaginative. In Wonderland, toys have become deadly weapons, so throwing jacks will cut your enemies, and you can fire electrified croquet balls with a croquet mallet. The problem is out of a selection of ten different weapons, only four are actually any good. When you use them, you can’t see the effect they’re having until your target keels over. It feels a bit like firing foam pellets at them, and it’s not at all satisfying.
The platforming is ok but not great. I’ve seen it described elsewhere on the web as a severely cut down Tomb Raider, and it’s hard to disagree. There are some good sections, such as the Machinations level, but otherwise it just feels a bit... meh. Plus, Alice can jump like an electrified rabbit, making gauging distances a bloody nightmare.
Having said all this, I still really enjoyed Alice (apart from the fight with the Jabberwock that saw me hurl my PS3 controller for the first time ever. So, you can never outrun its fire breath, which knocks half your health out in one go? Yup, sounds fair). What it got wrong in gameplay it more than made up for in atmosphere, so I’m hoping Madness Returns will make up for the imbalance.
So, it’s a thumbs up over here! Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I’ve got a ridiculous amount of games to play through...
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