Alice Madness Returns Review

[likalaruku]

I have attention deficit disorder, so I have always put an emphasis on story & visuals over gameplay. It's like how some people think sports are the most boring thing in the world, but will continue to watch because some of the players are cute. That sadly describes most of my gaming experiences.

My discrepancy with this game is not the game itself but EA's "Origin." I bought the complete collection through Origin & am one of the many people who have tried everything & still cannot get this game to play. I can see why Origin is still in Beta.

 

[Steve Butts]

Fantastic review- in the same rhyming measures as The Walrus and the Carpenter

Nicely done! That was precisely the poem I was ripping off, which was itself a ripoff of Thomas Hood's Dream of Eugene Aram [http://www.bartleby.com/246/234.html].

 

[F-I-D-O]

*Initiaites slow clap*

*joins in on the slow clap, if just to make the cliche
Well done, one of the few reviews I read all the way through as opposed to just watching the video
It looks amazing, and I'd probably watch a lets play. But I'm not going to put my money on this. (disclaimer:I legally buy all of my games)
Plus, I've seen so many "dark" retelling of stories I've gotten kind of tired of them. At least this one is more of a sequel, but still.

 

[Kagim]

While the collision detection can sometimes be infuriating it's so rare i can actually remember the two times it happened. (during the last hand clap on Hatters world and One irritating jump while rescuing souls in the carpenters) Outside of that the controls are really responsive for me and honestly i haven't played a good platformer in a long time.

Honestly, if you don;t like Alice or jumping puzzles i can't see why you would want to play the game. However for the few of us who have wanted a sequel ever since we beat the red queen to death in the first game Alice:Madness returns does not disappoint, it's just a thousand times better.

 

[antipunt]

Is this game dark-meh or Dark-Yay? Games like The Path are dark-yay because in addition to its atmosphere, it has meaningful, underlying themes as well. Are there deep significant themes in Alice or is it superficial and/or dark-to-be-cool

 

[Scrythe]

So... where the fuck is the review?

 

[TheAngryMonkey]

Nice review and cool style, ya I found the same thing. The puzzles and platforming isn't that challenging, but I am a huge fan of the old game and really enjoyed this one.
The art direction, is why I bought the game.

Side note:
I really thought that Susan Ardent was going to review this game, with putting me on to 'The Path' (pun intended) and 'Limbo'. I figured this would have been up her alley, plus her reviews are my fave.

 

[Sonicron]

OK, this is brilliant. Truly, Mr Butts, methinks you deserve a bonus for this one.

I'm bogged down with my bachelor's thesis at the moment, but once I'm done, which should be in about 3 weeks, playing this game will be the first thing on my list.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Love it, Steve. Absolutely love it. Can't wait to play it myself.

 

[darkcommanderq]

Well im glad I didnt get it then. lol.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

This was a brilliantly creative review and seemed to paint the picture that even if this game isn't perfect, it probably is worth picking up.

So I shall.

 

[Trishbot]

Alice: Madness Returns is one of my favorite games of the year, or any year. It's not perfect, but it's such a breath of fresh air. There's almost no game that looks, sounds, or plays like it (with only the original Alice coming close). It's like Zelda, Tomb Raider, Enslaved, Silent Hill, and Prince of Persia all wound up in a blender and I get this delicious cocktail of platforming across gorgeous vistas while scouring the world for secrets and surviving assaults from grotesque horrors. It's a gorgeous, insane game that is one of the best experiences I've had this year.

 

[epikAXE]

Steve, so much respect. You are a genius.

 

[lumenadducere]

I've gotta agree with the others - that's an awesome review.

And yes, I'm going to be picking this up just for the visuals and McGee's interpretation of Alice. Plus the console versions come with the original, so I can't say no. I'd get it on PC but I don't want to use Origin...plus I already missed the promo when they had the original to offer.

 

[Composer]

oh thank god i wasnt the only one who felt this game's levels dragged on a little to long
however i did find the combat mildy challenging
each enemy had an almost specific way to beat them IE the medium sized Ruins arm shields could only be destroyed by its own projectile (or at least the teapot wasnt working for me)
waiting for him to through a projectile and time it right to reflect was often tedius when there was more then one monster
and was a downright pain when there was an ifninite number of slithering ruin.

 

[RevRaptor]

awesome review.
I got the game for the 360 and am loving it, yea the game play is a tad simple or old school (take your pick for how you want to describe it) I don't think that's a bad thing though I'm enjoying myself immensely.

The free HD version of alice is also nice although can be frustrating in parts.
I find all of McGee's games tend to be very imaginative but have pretty simple or poorly executed game play, remember scrapland anyone?

 

[TheMann]

I love this game. Cheshire Cat's model and voice acting, the awesome enviroments, the atmosphere, the dark theme and black humor. Gameplay's fairly console-dumb standard, but this needs to be played.

Meet the Cheshire Cat:

Yep Roger Jackson, the actor that provided the voice for Mojo Jojo, also voiced the Cheshire Cat in both the original game and this one. I found that slightly amusing.

I'm definitely getting this game. The original, which I thankfully still have, was gorgeous for the time, but was also pretty linear and that was the game's main criticism. Looks like McGee didn't pick up on that. Still any excuse to gawk at the mind-blowing artwork his team always produces is an excuse I'll take.

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

Simplistic game with incredibly powerful visuals, a land of pure metaphor and symbolism!

My housemate was telling me how Alice in Wonderland is aparrently about dissociative identity disorder and brainwashing that comes with monarchy, the blue butterfly symbolises that, so he says. Makes enough sense to me, given the subject matter.

But yeah, game fucking rules, pure art

 

[cgaWolf]

Brilliant review, thanks for that

 

[SoopaSte123]

Any review which is fun to read yet still informative deserves much respect. Kudos to you, sir!