Review:- "Worth Playing"

[The Dogfather]

Now that I have finally completed the actual game I would have to say it's definitely worth a playthrough.

Alice has finally been released from the Asylum to the Orphanage convinced that she herself started the fire which killed her parents and sister. Racked with guilt that is slowly driving her towards the brink of insanity she once again descends into the imaginative world of Wonderland looking for some comfort from old friends but with her mind fast unravelling the Wonderland of her childhood has now fully transformed itself into a dark cellar of a world filled with the grotesque and unimaginable.

As for the game it's a mixture of platforming, puzzle-solving, adventuring with more than a touch of horror. The games earlier scenes are visually stunning as we move from a grey 1800's London to a the lush beauty of the Vale. The differences in colour palette used is so striking that for a minute you will almost believe that this safe haven for Alice's shattered mind is the rightful place to recuperate. It doesn't take long, however, before Wonderland starts to distort and disfigure itself.

It's a pity that those striking sequences aren't matched by what follows as Alice visits three area's in succession that diminish the power of the opening stages - The Mad Hatter's Domain, the Deluded Depths and the Oriental Grove (with the Grove looking particularly under developed and rushed with terrible textures everywhere - in fact it looks like an entire different team developed this section as it doesn't match the quality of the other areas). It was at this point that I was getting weary and a bit tired of Alice's shenanigans and her search to find out the truth about what actually happened to her parents that she initiates once in Wonderland by cleverly having to collect memories of her childhood that slowly piece together the events that led to her family's death.

I am glad I stayed along for the ride because Alice really shows off its strength in the last two areas of the game - Queensland and the Doll house. These two worlds are such a horrifying joy to explore (and I mean horrifying with the Queen of Hearts castle literally blood-soaked or being attacked by dolls with missing eyes and limbs during the Doll House sequence amongst other disturbing imagery). It's during these stages that Alice really hits its creative stride soaring past the earlier levels in design and creativity. If I have one gripe during these magnificent levels, its seems as if the game itself has gotten much, much easier posing very little in the way of a challenge.

The game is also a very long one - it took me 18hrs to complete and that time does not include searching for all the collectibles on each level. The game's soundtrack is also truly immersive managing to hit all the right notes to keep you audibly invested in the adventure even though the Alice is a game of two halves - one utterly brilliant and so imaginative that I could lose myself to a larger gaming world just comprised of those areas.The other feeling completely souless and devoid of any charm.

[Mortal Motö]

Цитата допису Sir Faulty:

or being attacked by dolls with missing eyes and limbs during the Doll house sequence

The best part is; that's not the most horrifying thing about that level or those dolls. If you think about it a little bit longer, and look at some of the giant dolls' poses and other stuff.. You can certainly see why the game is for 18+

Anyways, nice review. Gotta agree with you.

[The Dogfather]

I did not want to mention that in the review - that was kind of very sick and twisted.

Here is to hoping that Alice 3 makes it our way soon!

[Mortal Motö]

Цитата допису Sir Faulty:

I did not want to mention that in the review - that was kind of very sick and twisted.

Here is to hoping that Alice 3 makes it our way soon!

We should know it this mont. Or even today? Alice: Otherlands page in Facebook is ran by no one else than American Mcgee himself, and he said that he'll announce in June wether he'll kickstart Alice 3 or Ozombies.

Too bad the consept pictures of the Otherlands are... well, not the same as this games :D And the story and setting, but I'm still giving the game a chance. American already promised that it'll be 15€, and after all it's a sequel to my favorite game.

[The Dogfather]

I never played the first Alice - but I hear it was a sleeper hit. It's a pity this game didn't score big with the press and public but I can see where they coming from. Some of the sections (Mad Hatters domain, Deluded Depths and Oriental Grove seem as if they belong it an entirely different game). But in the end I enjoyed it :)

[Mortal Motö]

Цитата допису Sir Faulty:

I never played the first Alice - but I hear it was a sleeper hit. It's a pity this game didn't score big with the press and public but I can see where they coming from. Some of the sections (Mad Hatters domain, Deluded Depths and Oriental Grove seem as if they belong it an entirely different game). But in the end I enjoyed it :)

You may want to play again. I though Mad Hatter's Domain and Depths were soooo boring on my first playthrough, but now on my second playthrough I though they were totally awesome. And the opposite with the 3rd chapter - I though it was soooo long and boring now that I played it second time.

You can get the original Alice from Amazon (there's link at American Mcgee's website) for $20 or something. I guess it's worth it. I've also heard it's good, but haven't tried it either. It's also totally different, judging by gameplay videos. Not a hack n' slash at all.

[The Dogfather]

My official 5 mintute gameplay video

http://youtu.be/hwApaSgcBpw

[Mo1ecu1e]

The game is ok but the PC version suffers from poor controls and plenty of bugs. It's by far one of the worst ports I've played.

[The Dogfather]

I never had any problems with it...played flawlessly and smooth. Only technical issue I had with was it was the low textures used all over the place and then of course the games rathers muddled midsection but its still a worthwhile play and you could hardly call it generic...which Is one of the things I really love about it

[Mortal Motö]

Цитата допису Fatonium:

The game is ok but the PC version suffers from poor controls and plenty of bugs. It's by far the only port I've played.

Fix'd.

I mean really. One the worst ports? I haven't had a single bug during my 30 hours, and as I've said earlier, the keyboard controls were perfectly fine. And you always can use a gamepad, unless you're one of these tr00 pc gamers.

[The Dogfather]

Цитата допису Fatonium:

The game is ok but the PC version suffers from poor controls and plenty of bugs. It's by far one of the worst ports I've played.

Dude then you never played the Resident Evil 4 PC port - that has the dubious honour of being the worst. This is far from the worst by a country mile.

[Rainbow Moo]

This game is not worth playing on the PC because there are far too many bugs and glitches and just too many things going wrong that the makers don't care about fixing, so a lot of the time the game ends up being unplayable. If you're really desperate get it on a console.

This game is a real kick in the face to the first game. There is no originality to the story. How many times have we heard a child abuse/molestation story anywhere in media? That's so overused. I was expecting an original and interesting story plot and instead they took the easy way out. The reason for a lot of good reviews and ratings for this game is that people are impressed with the flashy graphics and appearance(like the movie Avatar) and they have gotten sucked into the unoriginal and overused storyline. Child abuse explains everything doesn't it? I also don't think there is enough combat, then again I'm used to playing Serious Sam so my expectations may be skewed. This game is great for teens and emo's.

What I like about the game though is the way Alice jumps and her ability to float, the combat(doging is especially fun), the weapons, and the DLC package. Some levels are too long, the puzzles are annoying especially the ones you can't skip, and the only levels that really adhere to Alice in Wonderland are Queensland and the Hatter's domain. I noticed that parts of the dialogue have been copied word for word from the first game, not only copied, but repeated several times. Yet another thing that speaks to their laziness. I don't feel too cheated however, because I only had to pay $10 for this game on Steam. I'm not impressed and the original game is far better. If another game is made(the set up of the ending definitely left it open for another game) I hope it is many years from now when media has originality and higher standards.

[The Dogfather]

Ahh excuse me if you are going to compare storylines try not compare movies and media to games. They are all seperate mediums. This is the first game I have played that dealt with issues of child abuse and I thought it quite original the way the game makers handled it (not that child absue is a theme I would seek out generally).

Unplayable on the PC - I never had single issue with it so you certainly cant go around making such bold statements. Perhaps you should do all the driver updates and make sure you have a PC good enough to run the game before claiming it unplayable.

[Mo1ecu1e]

Цитата допису Motö And Other Horrors:

Цитата допису Fatonium:

The game is ok but the PC version suffers from poor controls and plenty of bugs. It's by far the only port I've played.

Fix'd.

I mean really. One the worst ports? I haven't had a single bug during my 30 hours, and as I've said earlier, the keyboard controls were perfectly fine. And you always can use a gamepad, unless you're one of these tr00 pc gamers.

Out of the hundreds of games that I have on Steam, I can only think of one game off the top of my head that is a lot worse of a port than Madness Returns, and that, of course, would be Dark Souls. So yeah, AMR is definitely one of the worst ports out there.
I don't want to play a 3rd person action/adventure/platformer with a gamepad. This type of games plays better with keyboard/mouse than a controller when it gets the proper PC treatment. This game clearly didn't.

[Mortal Motö]

Цитата допису Fatonium:

Цитата допису Motö And Other Horrors:

Fix'd.

I mean really. One the worst ports? I haven't had a single bug during my 30 hours, and as I've said earlier, the keyboard controls were perfectly fine. And you always can use a gamepad, unless you're one of these tr00 pc gamers.

Out of the hundreds of games that I have on Steam, I can only think of one game off the top of my head that is a lot worse of a port than Madness Returns, and that, of course, would be Dark Souls. So yeah, AMR is definitely one of the worst ports out there.
I don't want to play a 3rd person action/adventure/platformer with a gamepad. This type of games plays better with keyboard/mouse than a controller when it gets the proper PC treatment. This game clearly didn't.

What did I just read O.o That's excatly a game for gamepad. FPS and RTS games would be the only one that are not for gamepads. I mean really, are you serious :o How do you think people managed to play Mario back in the day?

[Mo1ecu1e]

Цитата допису Motö And Other Horrors:

Цитата допису Fatonium:

Out of the hundreds of games that I have on Steam, I can only think of one game off the top of my head that is a lot worse of a port than Madness Returns, and that, of course, would be Dark Souls. So yeah, AMR is definitely one of the worst ports out there.
I don't want to play a 3rd person action/adventure/platformer with a gamepad. This type of games plays better with keyboard/mouse than a controller when it gets the proper PC treatment. This game clearly didn't.

What did I just read O.o That's excatly a game for gamepad. FPS and RTS games would be the only one that are not for gamepads. I mean really, are you serious :o How do you think people managed to play Mario back in the day?

I didn't know Madness Returns was a sidescoller.
I played Darksiders, Darksiders II, the new Devil May Cry, Psychonauts,etc with keyboard/mouse just fine. Those games have proper keyboard/mouse support and don't feel like half assed console ports. So again, the fact that AMR doesn't play well with mouse is not because of its genre but because of how bad of a port it is. Not to mention the bugs/glitches/random stutters I've experienced thus far.