User Review : Alice: Madness Returns

Even the most Frustrating moments will not keep you from enjoying this great and clever 3D Platforme

If you are a fan of American Mcgee's work, your waiting days are over, after nearly 11 years the sequel is here, is Alice's second game worth the wait?
Wonderland is a mess, but fear not, once again, Alice to the rescue, I think you guessed it for now, Alice is not a good girl, she's not running around dancing in circles and chasing rabbits, well at least she's running and maybe chasing something alright and she's ready to slice! You start off in a sort of a mental institution where Alice is taken there after the curious death of her parents in a fire that started in her own house. Unfortunately she remembers nothing. The Institution doctor is trying to make her forget what happens to her, and maybe she'll get free from the past and get well.

The game has 6 chapters; every chapter starts with Alice in the real world and continues in Wonderland. Alice starts with the classic weapon: The Knife. It's a fast weapon and suitable to kill enemies in a fast way. The Second weapon is the Horse; it's a heavy melee weapon, it's slow but highly effective against stronger enemies. Then, there are the ranged weapons, the Pepper gun and the Teapot. The first like the knife is the fast weapon, and the second like the horse is the heavy weapon. Ranged weapons has a cool down meter, if filled you have to wait for the weapon to be cool again to be able to shoot. We can't forget the reliable Explosive rabbits that can be used to blow up weak walls, but it's mostly used in lots of switches mechanics.

Combat, even if it's repetitive is fun in a strange way. The melee weapons have only three combos, but every time you swing your knife or hit your enemies with the Horse, you'll feel satisfied. The enemies are not that varied, you could find a new monster species every chapter, but that type of monster will re spawn over and over again, the good thing is that every monster has a unique attack, ranging from shooting fire balls, to melee attack. Killing monsters is satisfying, you can kill one and switch directly to the next, or you can focus on one, kill it and then focus on another one. The problem is here, while focusing the camera could get you killed easily. Killing a monster, you'll receive teeth and roses as a reward. Those two are not just collectibles. Roses represent Alice's Sanity (Life meter) and teeth can be used to upgrade the weapons you have.

Combat is not everything in Alice Madness Returns.
When not fighting, Alice can shrink herself to reveal hidden paths that can't be easily spotted. Those paths can range from hidden blocks, tiny key holes, and other wall paintings that can represent a hint to where to go next, not only enemies drop teeth or roses, these can be found scattered all over Wonderland, and even can be found in hidden places. Lots of levels depends on puzzles, so you have to solve certain puzzles to be able to continue, the problem is some of them are really frustrating especially when your worst enemy in the game is not the monsters but the camera itself.

Jumping from a platform to a next can be achieved easily in cases, and by trial and error in other cases, going down using the slider could be very rewarding where you can collect more than one hundred teeth, but also it could be costly if you don't know how to drive Alice, Worst case scenario: Alice will fall, or she will be hurt from the corrupted slime scattered all over the slider, when she's down, you'll wish she has all the roses you can dream off, because lots of corrupted creatures are waiting. You can complete challenges named "Paint the Rose Red" those challenges can be defeating waves of enemies or maybe just completing some kind of puzzle. Finishing 4 Challenges will grant you an additional rose.

The game has an amazing level creativity, every level has its unique world, unique animation, and when finishing from a room or from a sequence you will be eager about what is waiting for you. This creativity really gives wonderland its creepy and dark form and can show us that even Alice can get mad and crazy.
Alice Madness Returns could win a reward for its level creativity but for sure not for its graphics. It doesn't mean they're bad. On the contrary, the graphics gives the game its unique flavor, and thanks to the Unreal Engine, the animations are smooth except for some lag here and then. But lots of stiff
textures make the game looks a bit dated. The last element that brings the game to life is its music score. With some great music scores Wonderland feels dark and creepy and that's what the game's wants.

In the end, Alice Madness Returns is a twisted game set in the mysterious world of corrupted Wonderland. Played American Mcgee Alice or not, fan or not, you'll enjoy this game even in the most frustrating moments.