I remember a long time ago, back in my teen years when my family and I went to Colorado to visit my dad's best friend. We stayed at his place with him and his now former-girlfriend and had a great week. My dad was super pumped to see his closest friend again, I had a great time in Colorado, and we even took a trip to the Six Flags amusement park that was there. It was overall some great memories even though I knew that my dad was also worried about his friend because the girlfriend was somewhat manipulative and controlling.
But one of the best things I remember was being introduced to this game as well as Clive Barker's Undying.
I remember being so enthralled by both games (but more this game) and just thinking about how much I just had to get it when I got home. Well, the girlfriend that my dad didn't like ended up surprising me by giving it to me before I left as a present, because she knew how much I liked it (and to be honest, I never really saw my dad's issue with her...but maybe he saw a side that I didn't).
During its time, the graphics were fantastic, the music was (and still is in my opinion) excellent, the gameplay is very typical 3rd person shooter (but that's not a bad thing), but the story was what captivated me...because it's not a remake of the source material...but rather a very unique adaption/sequel to it.
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In this game, you (naturally) play as Alice Liddell, the same Alice who visited Wonderland the original story.
As the game starts out, you're asleep and enjoying tea with the Mad Hatter and March Hare in Wonderland.
As you sleep, your cat Dinah is downstairs in the library, sleeping next to a stack of books sitting dangerously close to a lantern. Dinah stretches, accidentally hitting the books and knocking over the lantern...causing a fire throughout the house. Even Wonderland is affected (as there's literally a chapter that appears in the book about a fire) as your friends urge you to wake up before it's too late. You go to save your parents who urge to to flee before you get killed. You make it out of fire, but everyone else in your family burns to death.
Cut to years later, you're in the local asylum, still traumatized by the events of the fire. You hold your stuffed rabbit close, as it then begs you to save Wonderland...drawing you back to a now twisted, much darker and more sinister version of Wonderland. Now, with the help of the White Rabbit and specifically the Cheshire Cat, you must defeat the sinister source of malevolence pervading Wonderland and save yourself in the process.
Okay, where do I begin? First of all, I absolutely love the premise. At first, I was worried that this was going to be just an unnecessarily grim/dark/gory type of Alice game that flimsily uses the source material purely on the surface.
Boy, was I so glad to be wrong. Rather than just using the material on the surface, it becomes pretty obvious that American McGee at least had some love for the source material. First of all, this game at first really plays with the idea at first that Wonderland may/may not be some otherworldly dream that Alice just has, sort of doing the same thing the actual story did in making us wonder if it was real in some way or not.
A.M goes a step further by explaining that it's neither real nor a dream, but an actual form of Alice's own psyche. Wonderland is very much not just a dream, but an escape into her own mind for her to be able to repair herself and process everything. As her own memories have been mangled and twisted because of the fire, Wonderland and its citizens have also become equally mangled and twisted. By Alice saving Wonderland, she saves her own psyche and can come out alright. Her only actual enemies in this game are her own guilt and self-doubt, and the wrongful treatment to her by others after the fire, as it's shown in characters such as the Tweedles (whom represented the wrongful treatment against her), Jabberwock (who represented her guilt), her self doubt (in which the Mad Hatter represented) and of course the Queen of Hearts (who represented the corruption and malevolence that Alice allowed to take control of her).
Again, it's actually rather brilliant. And when the game was originally released, it came with a sort of game manual that involved a "Casebook" written by someone who frequently visited her at the asylum. On the surface, it was pretty neat because it went through different accounts of her time at the asylum. But after playing the game, you realize that the accounts happened at different instances of when we were in Wonderland.
In one instance in the journal, you learn about a pair of twin orderlies that give Alice a hard time, force feed her, and are overall considered cruel and sadistic in nature. At one point in the casebook, the writer states that Alice at one point suddenly wakes up from her coma to attack the two orderlies with a spoon, just seemingly out of nowhere.
However, after playing the game, you realize that this instance happens when you see the Tweedles, and after they berate you you end up fighting them.
Again, it's actually kind of clever. To think that while you're fighting to restore your own psyche, your actual body is going in and out of states of consciousness while your Wonderland actions are somehow either affecting or an extension of something happening to you in the real world. We learn that that writer of this Casebook follows her case for 10 years, suggesting that while Alice seemingly traverses through her psyche in a short time...in actuality it takes her at least 10 years to overcome her demons (we never see the caseworker experience the ending of Alice reclaiming her sanity, and it's even suggested that the caseworker themselves becomes another patient of the asylum).
I mean...wow. Just wow. From the casebook to the game's story throughout, it's no wonder this game hooked me so much. It took one of the best elements from the stories (that Wonderland was a place of Alice's creation to help her overcome her own obstacles) and really went with it. In the end, it wasn't just a dark and gritty Alice in Wonderland story. No, this was what I could
actually see happening to Wonderland if this scenario had happened in Lewis Caroll's actual story. This was a sequel to a story that I didn't know I even wanted...but I was really glad that I got it.
Now, as I said the game is very typically a 3rd person shooter type of game, and I meant it. Perhaps it'd be better if I said that it's very typically an
old-school 3rd person shooter though, as the genre has changed quite a bit in the years. Alice can run, jump, float if there's a vent blowing air out, swim (and drown if she swims too long without the appropriate shell), and of course fight. Her weapons range from a simple knife to dice that summon literal demons, and she has two different types of attacks: a basic attack that may/may not use Willpower (depending on the weapon of choice), and a more unique/powerful attack (or defense with the Ice Wand) that will always use Willpower. Enemies when killed will drop Meta Essence, which will restore a portion of health and MP. You can also find Sanity and Will essences, which will restore Health (Sanity) and Willpower.
There's also 3 different inducers you can get: a Rage Box which temporarily transforms Alice into a more demonic state, making her attacks more effective and consume less willpower.
There's also Grasshopper Tea, which changes Alice into more of a grasshopper, making her run faster and jump higher for a short period of time.
And finally the Looking Glass, which renders Alice invisible to enemies (this one is a bit harder to find).
Enemies have a pretty good variety. Your most common enemy will be the Card Soldiers and Boojums (banshess), but different areas also have different enemies (IE Pale Realm has you fighting various red chess pieces, Valley of Tears/Fungiferous Forest, etc...). Like the types, enemies also range in difficulty (and there are naturally different difficulties to play on for added challenge).
Interaction with characters is virtually nonexistent, though cutscenes are very common. While you can't actually initiate conversations with characters, you will occasionally run up to characters to progress the story. Thankfully, this isn't horribly intrusive or something that happens exceptionally often...just enough to give this adventure enough of a reason to keep progressing.
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Now, there might be a bit of divide on the graphics, since now they do tend to show their age just a bit. This was made back in 2000, and I remember being in awe of how amazing everything looked at the time. And definitely don't get me wrong: the graphics may show their age a bit now, but the game still looks absolutely gorgeous for what it's going for. I still very much love traversing the Red Queen's realm, going through the Valley of Tears, and going through the Mad Hatter's realm. The Queen herself still looks absolutely wicked, and the Mad Hatter's design is still a grim delight.
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But the music is what really brings it home for me. This was actually a soundtrack I neglected to mention in the Favorite Soundtracks thread, but it's definitely up there for me. There's a lot of vocal emphasis which I think actually works very well with the theme of the game, and I definitely had more favorite songs that stuck with me than ones I quickly forgot about (like many games):
Vale of Tears
Village of the Doomed
Main Menu theme music
Final Battle
This one for some reason is still my favorite of the songs
Time To Die (Final Level)
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Now, this isn't a game that's really replayable unless you want to challenge yourself at the higher difficulties. But other than that, like most games of this genre, it's a one-and-done type of game until you decide to come back to it years later. But that still doesn't make it any less enjoyable or recommendable. And it's definitely one I recommend for people to play, and if you have a PS3 or 360, it comes free with Alice Madness Returns (I'm not sure about the PC version now).
Speaking of Madness Returns...
Released in 2011, this game was REALLY hyped for the longest time. At first, it started as a
possibility with American McGee releasing some really unique trailers in 2010 suggesting a sequel was in the works:
Teaser Trailer 1
Teaser Trailer 2
And then in early 2011, the 3rd teaser trailer dropped.
Spoiler
Naturally, I was very curious by this point, seeing all of the different concept ideas but not any actual game. Then, they released the Launch Trailer in June, just shortly before the game's release (they also released a gameplay trailer earlier in May, which I didn't see prior to this):
Spoiler
Suffice it to say, once again I was very excited to start playing this game, knowing that it was going to exceed my expectations and be possibly better than its predecessor.
And once again, it didn't disappoint...but not for the reason that I was expecting.
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Whereas the powerhouse of the previous game was within its story, Madness Returns actually triumphs far more in the field of gameplay, with story taking just a slight back seat in terms of the game's strengths.
In this game, we see Alice has been in therapy ever since leaving the asylum. It's actually odd because in the ending of American McGee's Alice, we're to assume that she cured herself and reclaimed her sanity. But in this game, it's clear that the demons still haunt her memories, basically rendering the previous game useless since she's still almost overtaken by them (although she's not catatonic). But during this therapy, she finally reaches a point in her session when Wonderland returns to its happy self, before suddenly becoming overtaken by a new type of corruption in what I consider one of my favorite openings:
Spoiler
Now, don't get me wrong: while I say the story takes a backseat compared to the gameplay, it's not because the story is bad in any way. On the contrary, it actually expands on the story from the first game, suggesting that the events of the fire were more than what they appeared. There's a bit more interaction with characters, and you even get to go between Wonderland and Victorian England (the latter whenever you finish a chapter of the story). It's still quite engaging with the various characters you meet...but I will say the overall actual villain of the story was a bit less interesting than the Red Queen from the first game, and even the final moments when you finally confront and fight this villain, it was just overall less engaging.
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Now gameplay wise, this game excelled greatly when it came to my expectations. I was basically expecting a semi-upgraded form of the original game's mode of play (since why fix what was already passable?), but daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayum did they upgrade it more than Semi.
At first I wasn't sure how it was going to play out because the game starts you off in Victorian England, where you can only walk, look around, and walk by characters that talk to/about you or other things.
But the minute you get dropped into Wonderland, that's when things really take off.
Now, I mentioned in the previous game that Alice could walk, jump, swim, and attack...the basic gameplay things, right? Alice: Madness Returns takes those concepts and makes them more fluid. Alice can now triple jump as well as glide short distances. Willpower has been taken out of the equation and has been replaced by a bar for two of your weapons: the Pepper/Octo Grinder and Teapot/Catnip Canon. Basically it's an overheat bar letting you know that you've used the weapon too much and need to let it cool off. But other than that, there's no real ammo limit or worry about MP for your other weapons.
But attacks are much more responsive, as well. This can't actually rightfully be called a 3rd-Person shooter anymore, because it's much more of a hack and slash title. Attacks with the Vorpal Knife/cleaver aren't slow and limited to "1 hit every 5 seconds," but instead it's more of a button mashing 1 hit every second type of deal. You can hit a button to painlessly disappear in a horde of butterflies and dodge an enemy attack. If dodging isn't your strong suit, you're given an umbrella early on that can not only deflect practically any attack (though sometimes strong attacks may make it useless for a couple of seconds), but you can also reflect some attacks back at an enemy (and sometimes it's required to break their shields). The Hobby Horse can break special blocked doors as well as many enemy's defenses. White Rabbit bombs can be used to distract enemies as well as open up new areas (and they're also used to hold down switches). The Teapot Canon can break down barriers/breakable areas that you can't reach with the hobby hose, and the Pepper Grinder is your ranged machine gun weapon that is also used to gather the various Pig Snouts (which I'll get to later).
Basically, all of your weapons have purpose outside of being a weapon that looks shiny and does fun damage. You can also make your weapons stronger by gathering teeth, which can be found scattered around the various chapters, hidden in breakable objects, and are given for killing enemies.
Also scattered around the various chapters are both bottles and memories. Collecting all of the bottles can unlock character and concept art, while collecting all of the memories will uncover more of Alice's past and her relationship with certain characters.
There are also Pig Snouts scattered throughout the game, which are hidden in various areas (and some by Shrink Sense, which I'll mention later), and you must find and shoot with the Pepper Grinder. Getting these snouts can offer a variety of rewards, be it access to a previously unreachable area with a bottle/memory, or the appearance of a picnic basket from the Duchess that, when broken from attacking, will wield Gold Teeth which give 10 teeth each.
Finally, scattered in the chapters outside of the 1st are what look to be giant snail shells sans-the occupant (otherwise known as Radula Rooms). Entering these shells will give you 1 of 4 types of challenges: answering a riddle correctly, re-traversing one of the game's unique areas (again, I'll mention it later), surviving an onslaught of enemies (not necessarily killing them, just lasting until time runs out), or killing every enemy in the room.
Succeeding in the challenge, you'll be rewarded with Rose Paint. Getting 4 things of Rose Paint will grant you with another rose, which in this game is your life points.
Outside of the normal gameplay and collectibles, there's also little mini game sessions sprinkled throughout. Whether it's manning a ship and dodging enemy fire as well as the hordes of skeleton-like fish, stomping through the Queen's Courtyard at giant height, solving puzzles in the form of picture swapping and chess, or taking part in hitting buttons at the right time to replicate a melody, there's quite a bit of variety. One of my favorites actually is in the 3rd Chapter, you dive into paintings and traverse through them in classic platformer style (minus attacking), and the graphics take on a classic painting look.
On top of all of that, is the game's new Shrink Sense mechanic. In the first chapter, you're introduced very early to it via a giant Drink Me potion going into the water. You walk in and basically bathe yourself in it, and you get access to Shrink Sense.
Basically, throughout the game after this point, you can press and hold a button to make Alice small. In this state, she'll be able to see things normally unseen, such as platforms that look like crude purple drawings, as well as drawings on the wall to let her know of secrets ahead or where to go for story progression. Also scattered throughout are purple flowers (with literal hands). If one of these flowers is near, it's a good idea to use Shrink Sense to get an idea of what to do next. If you use your shrink sense on the flower, it will cover you and gradually replenish your health until you let go of the Shrink button.
And in all of that, I still haven't even completely covered gameplay. Because on top of that, there's also various costumes that you'll get through the game...and some with the Ultimate Weapons and Dresses DLC. These costumes have various types of effects ranging from disabling health drops by enemies, doubling weapon damage, making Shrink Sense always active (or constantly replenishing your health like the flowers do), making all damage reduce teeth instead of health, and so on. Once you've unlocked a costume (or right at the beginning if you obtained the DLC costumes), you can choose to have Alice wear it instead of going through her story-progressing costume changes.
Speaking of changes, remember those Rage Boxes I mentioned in the previous game? Let me introduce you to this game's version of that...Hysteria. Now, much like the effect of Rage Boxes, Hysteria increases your damage almost substantially. You're also completely invincible during this state, and can only die if you fall. Unlike Rage Boxes, however, Hysteria can only be activated either when you're about to die, or if you have the DLC costume that allows you to activate it whenever you want. During this mode, the only thing enemies will drop is roses (since, you know, it's a last ditch thing when you're about to die).
And speaking of enemies, let's talk about that for a second as well. Much like the previous game, the variety of enemies in this is pretty nice. You've got your typical enemies which are the different forms of corruption (which even then have a good mix of types). On top of them, however, you've also got the area-specific enemies (such as zombie card soldiers in the Queen's courtyard, samurai wasps in Catepiller's area, Eyepots (teapot enemies) and boltflies in Hatter's Domain, etc...) The game actually introduces you to each of these enemies for the first time to give them a more intimidating feel.
But the game does shirk on something: Bosses. Right from the end of Chapter 1, the game makes it clear that this isn't a completely cut and dry type of approach of playing through a chapter, fighting a boss. In fact, Chapter 1 makes this clear by actually making the opposite seem true: it sets you up in thinking that you're about to fight a big mechanized boss controlled by Dormouse and March Hare, only to have that boss immediately incapacitated by a random falling teapot, leading right to the Chapter's end.
Now, don't get me wrong...there ARE boss like creatures in about 2 of the chapters. However, one of the creatures is one you fight multiple times as a sort of improved version of your most common enemy (the various forms of corruption), and the other is immediately squashed the minute you grow big in the Queen's Garden, even though it's the primary antagonist of the area all the way up to that point.
Really, the only actual boss you fight is the one at the very final chapter. And you know what? That's perfectly okay.
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Now I've droned on about the gameplay and how impressed I am by it, let me now talk about the game's graphics.
First off, it's definitely a step up from the original game. As much as I loved the original, I admit that it could have looked a bit better. Environments could have been varied a bit better, and overall there could have been more...regardless of it already looking pretty okay.
This game is a prime example of variety done well. Your first area is somewhere very vibrant and lovely, the colors are bright and colorful, and everything looks just gorgeous. As you go through the chapter, gradually the level pulls a Silent Hill and becomes gradually more twisted: water becomes blood, the blue sky turns into a more ominous sunset, everything is breaking apart. By the 2nd half of the chapter, you're practically in a wasteland once ruled by the Hatter with many teapot-houses, and an area reminiscent of the Asylum area in the original game, but is actually a factory run jointly by the now cruel Dormouse and March Hare.
And this variety happens throughout the game: Caterpillar's domain is very reminiscent of Feudal times, but gradually really hits hard with the china/porcelain look (and the slide sections in this one are my favorite because of that). Dollhouse land really lives up to looking like a land of giant dollhouses, but also pulls a Silent Hill with looking incredibly wretched and disturbing underneath.
Overall, the variety in color, style, the look of the characters and enemies, it was all just very excellently done. You can always know the difference in Victorian England in comparison because of how muted the colors are, and I feel like there's a sort of symbolism in that choice which I greatly appreciate.
I also loved the great contrast between in game cutscenes, as well as the chapter-end/character confession cutscenes (which resemble the style of the intro shown at the beginning of this review). It was just such a different and unique style, especially compared to how the original game handled the beginning and ending cutscenes, and I was actually very happy with the style choice.
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Now, the music was a bit of a tough one in this. Again, it's not that the music was
bad in any way, because it wasn't. But it was just different enough to where it just didn't hit me as much as the previous soundtrack did. But again, the music itself wasn't bad. If anything, I think the music once again very much fit with the levels themselves.
The problem is that the music throughout just wasn't memorable. The problem that I normally have with music in games that I didn't have with the original game, I did have with this one. I had no desire to want to hear more of the music after I'd beaten the game, and it was just something that was easily forgettable.
I will say this though: The sounds and voices are an improvement in this game. The original was fine in that department, but sounds for certain weapons (like the Jabberwock eyestaff) were loud and invasive, and some of the voicework sounded off.
In this game, everything just sounds better. Voices were much more quality all around (even the new Cheshire Cat voice was fine), weapons had a much nicer sound (and I loved how the vorpal knife/cleaver sounds) and overall I had much less issues in this department.
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Unlike the previous game, however, this one has more of a replayability factor to it. Along with a sort of New Game + type of mode that you can do, there's enough collectible types to where you may find yourself wanting to go back after finishing to collect those bottles so you can see the unlockable art, or you may want to get those memories you missed to learn more about Alice's past. Overall, this may be a one-and-done game for some, but it has a better chance of grabbing others to play through it at a deeper level to collect everything.
Much like the previous game, I would greatly recommend this one to people. Sure, the story isn't
quite as engaging at points as the original game. Yes, the music can be seen as very basic background music that doesn't really draw you in. But the game's many, many unique gameplay mechanics as well as it's beautiful graphics style (which I
still think looks really nice today) might be enough to win you over. It definitely won me over despite the high expectations I had because of the previous game.
And if you enjoyed these 2 games, American McGee is already very hard at work on a 3rd game for the trilogy; Alice: Asylum. While the main story is finishing up, there's rumor that this is a prequel to the original game...although I'm curious as to how that'll work.
But we'll see!
