If American McGee Doesn't Get Alice He'll Put Zombies In Oz

[Karloff]

If American McGee Doesn't Get Alice He'll Put Zombies In Oz

Scarecrow always was interested in brains.

American McGee has been angling for an Alice sequel for some time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123798-American-McGee-Seeks-Alice-For-Kickstarter-Campaign], but is dependent entirely on the goodwill of rights holder EA. Since it's always good to have a backup plan, McGee is toying with the idea of putting zombies in a steampunk version of the Wizard of Oz, in the event Alice doesn't work out for him. "There's so much fun stuff to explore," says McGee, "so many interesting characters and locations to discover." So many brains to eat as well, though that may have more attraction for Scarecrow than McGee personally. It's only in the very early stages, which means it exists as concept art - like the Dorothy you see here - and not much else.

It could go anywhere. A tentative narrative has Scarecrow, dissatisfied with the brains the Wizard gives him, going on a rampage across Oz to turn everything he meets into a zombie. Oz itself becomes a post-apocalyptic wasteland, in the game McGee's calling - at least for now - OZombie. But there's many a slip twixt the brainpan and the lip, and while McGee's thinking about Kickstarter tiers, there's no way to know whether or not this zombie apocalypse will ever see the dying light of a steampunk sun.

If the idea interests you, there's a Twitter feed [https://www.facebook.com/pages/OZombie/131172300411742]. Now tap your heels together and say, 'there's nothing like brains ...'


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[Robetid]

Some people may be over the Zombie rush, but I for one am not. Throw zombies into anything and you've got my interest. I hope this becomes more than an idea and concept art because I am already on board for this one.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Does the Wizard of Oz really, and I mean really, if you think about, does it really need Zombies? Isn't it enough that there are Witches, Wizards, Midgets, and Flying Monkeys, as well as various other creatures both sentient and sapient? It really needs Zombies? A Wizard of Oz featuring Zombies seems really unappealing to me...

 

[Operative1980]

They could do Oz as a squad game. Scarecrow would be 'immune' to the zombies as he has no brains but virtually no combat ability cos he is mostly straw and old clothes

 

[Krantos]

"A zombie infested Steam Punk OZ."
...
...
........

Is it still OZ at that point? I mean really, how many changes can you make to a setting before it ceases to be that setting? I mean at this point it sounds like something else entirely but with similarly named characters. I mean if I came up with a High Fantasy-esque world, with a story about a group of mercenaries lead by Capt. Reynolds, I couldn't really sell it as "Firefly: Tolkien Edition" could I?


That said, that concept art of Dorothy looks pretty cool.

 

[hazabaza1]

I never got this whole thing with American McGee.
"Let's make a kid's thing all dark and stuff" is hardly a unique idea and from what I've seen of the Alice games he makes them "creepy" in the most standard ways possible.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I realise this is a bit off-topic, but whenever I see that guy's name I say to myself "Is this a joke? Is this some made up person doing these antics? Is this an elaborate ruse where a community of people create and perpetuate a persona for the lulz? Who would name their child American?"

EDIT: Apparently the mother was high at the time. Makes sense.

OT: I cannot imagine how zombies at all fit into Oz, but I'm happy to watch as they're shoehorned in anyway.

 

[Colt47]

Would be more interesting if it was instead taken over by decrepit robots and steam punkish madmen. There could still be zombies, but instead of just having plain zombies, they could be the bodies of dead oz citizens reanimated by robots like in the splicers RPG. Think they called them Necro-bots in that game.

 

[tangoprime]

...Is that Dorothy holding a steampunk Nerf Maverick?

Yes, yes she is.

 

[hazabaza1]

I never got this whole thing with American McGee.
"Let's make a kid's thing all dark and stuff" is hardly a unique idea and from what I've seen of the Alice games he makes them "creepy" in the most standard ways possible.

I never thought of the games as "creepy" or "dark". I just thought of them as wonderful "What-if" sequels to the original books. Plus the worlds were always interesting to run through. In a day and age where people constantly complain about the "same old thing" or "Call of duty". I would have thought people would be happier for a bit of a different type of game coming through.

Eh, he just reeks of 'trying too hard' to me.
"Oooooooooh! Doll's heads are spooooooooky! Look guys! Dolls heads everywhere!"
Plus in Madness returns everything was so empty the world hardly had any sense of connectivity.

It is nice to see something different, and I probably could enjoy it but it really does feel like it's trying to be something it's not or something unnecessary.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I'd rather have a proper Oz game than these tired and silly old cliches, if it has to be dark, make a game in the style of Return To Oz. Not boring post apocalypse, steam and zombies, that's the most predictable thing you could do with this.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

... Oh yay, zombies ... because that hasn't gotten old or anything ...

 

[Username Redacted]

I never got this whole thing with American McGee.
"Let's make a kid's thing all dark and stuff" is hardly a unique idea and from what I've seen of the Alice games he makes them "creepy" in the most standard ways possible.

I've never really gotten it either. The problem is that it's something that people are going to try to death because it's something that's been very effective (usually in cinema but whatever) a couple of times and people figure if they stand out in a nice open field holding metal objects they can induce more lightning strikes even if it's a perfectly clear day and they're standing in the wrong field.

I am also of the opinion that at this point "From the makers of Doom and Quake" is more of a warning than an endorsement.

 

[Jburton9]

This just feels like tossing potatoes over a wall while yelling "I just threw another one!" and then wait for something to happen. I would prefer he kept the projects separate as to me it just feels like the lines are blurred for exactly what game are we talking about again?

Sorry McGee but this is EA we are talking about here, you have evil creepy boss monsters in your games so you should know better by now. Just start a new IP and move on.

 

[bafrali]

Holy Hell. This was all foreseen in the Escapist's very own Critical Miss

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/9811-Steampunk-Feminists-Vs-Zombies

You win guys, you win

 

[Terminate421]

...Is that Dorothy holding a steampunk Nerf Maverick?

Yes, yes she is.

I was just about to post that, i even have it