Alice Madness Returns is an action platformer masterpiece from American McGee,
released in 2011.

Inspired by the fabulous universe of Alice in Wonderland, the game has a sumptuous artistic direction, between the sublime and the nightmarish.

Traumatized by a tragic fire that decimated her family, Alice Liddell suffers hallucinations, sometimes dreamlike, sometimes psychotic. The poor young girl wants to know the truth about this terrible incident.

The real world is all poverty and sadness, and Alice tries to disentangle the truth from the lies about her youth and her present.

The script is amusing and well written.
The narration offers a curious mix of genres.
Some tirades are full of puns, and dialogues are theatrical and poetic.
Several characters use double language, and sometimes give rise to very funny moments.

The heroine has a whole arsenal at her disposal, which can be improved.

Here are the weapons that Alice will find during her journey:
- The Vorpal Blade, a sharp knife dealing fast attacks
- The Pepper Grinder, a sort of machine gun
- The Hobby Horse, a kind of heavy hammer
- The Clockwork Bomb, an explosive with a timer
- The Teapot Cannon, a powerful gun that shoots one projectile at a time

Some of these weapons have a dual purpose and allow you to progress through the levels, giving the possibility of activating specific platforms or mechanisms.

Alice also has special abilities:
In addition to being able to glide over short distances, the young heroine can dash to avoid her enemies, shrink to reach areas with a tiny entrance, or use a sort of sixth sense to see otherwise invisible platforms.

Miss Liddell is well equipped to deal with evil creatures.
The bestiary is particularly well stocked.
The monsters are as numerous as they are original and each fights in a different way.
Each critter has a weak point, making it more vulnerable to a particular weapon.
Note also the presence of gigantic bosses. At least compared to Alice...

Various objects litter the levels.
Teeth are scattered everywhere, they are used to exchange for weapon upgrades, but it takes several hundred to do so.
Various souvenir items can be collected, they help Alice remember various events.
Pink flowers dot the levels, they allow the heroine to heal herself if she enters them in shrunken mode.
You need to have a good sense of observation to find well-hidden objects and secret passages.

Wonderland is beautifully illustrated and laid out.
The maps are teeming with details, and should be contemplated.
All levels are peppered with puzzles and creatures to fight.
Alice wears a different dress depending on the chapter, each one being sumptuous.

Small personal paragraph.
I hesitated for a long time to buy this game.
However, I always kept an eye on it.
I have always been fascinated by first its aesthetic, then its storyline.
The game has been delisted and relisted several times on Steam, which makes it unusual.
If you've read this far, you know that this game is one of my favorites.

Alice Madness Returns is an exceptional game in many ways.
Magnificent, ingenious, fun, captivating and endearing, few games can boast of being so successful in so many areas.
A sequel, named Alice Asylum, was abandoned by EA.
Rather an anticlimax, for a game of this quality.

Quake III Arena is developed by id Software and released in 1999.

This third episode abandons the linear story mode of the two previous games,
preferring to focus brilliantly on arena combat and multiplayer.
This is one of the last great iconic FPS games of the 90s,
and one of the most cult Arena Shooters ever released.

This episode does not offer a single player campaign strictly speaking,
but a series of levels in which you fight to the death for your survival,
against opponents without mercy, in arenas full of weapons,
jump pads, and power-ups of all kinds.
Sharpen your reflexes and prepare for wild gunfights,
against battle-hardened and ferocious bots.

Q3A's gameplay is hectic, intense, and brutal.
Bots are fast, responsive and skillful,
giving rise to fierce battles,
leaving you almost no second of respite,
as long as you play on a high difficulty (like Hardcore),
giving all its flavor to the game.

A large choice of levels is available,
all more lugubrious and demonic than the others,
comprising oppressive steel corridors littered with skulls and flaming torches,
dried blood, lava and rust, all topped by infernal skies.

Most of the maps have an unforgettable level design and style,
here is an anthology of my favorites, each having an infamous name:
"Arena Gate", "The Places of Many Deaths", "The Campgrounds",
"Brimstone Abbey", "Hell's Gate"...

Any cult FPS must have weapons worthy of the name,
and Quake III can boast of having 9 of the most effective weapons in the entire FPS genre,
among which the most important are described below.

The Double Barrel Shotgun has phenomenal power at close range,
and will annihilate anyone within close range.
The Rocket Launcher is very powerful and accurate, and kills in one or two hits,
it is also practical for doing Rocket Jumps and reaching high surfaces.
The Railgun is a laser cannon with perfect precision, and kills in two shots except headshot,
it can act as a sniper rifle for fans of ranged combat.
The Machine Gun and Plasma Gun are the two submachine guns in the game,
the first being available from spawn, and the second being much more powerful.
The Lightning Gun fires electricity continuously, and although its power seems limited,
its very high rate of fire makes it a weapon not to be underestimated.

Several items to collect spice up the games,
while others just allow you to survive longer in this chaos.

In addition to health and armor points, but also weapons and ammunition,
several powerups are available,
granting superb time-limited benefits to the player who picks them up.

"Haste" increases your character's speed and weapon rate of fire by 30%.
"Quad Damage" multiplies your weapon damage by 3, and no, that's not a typo...
"Regeneration" heals you little by little for 30 seconds, up to a maximum of 200HP.
"Invisibility" makes you transparent for 30 seconds, useful for surprising your opponents.
"Personal Teleporter" is an activatable item, which teleports you to a random respawn point.
"Personal Medkit" is also an activatable item, and instantly restores your health up to 125HP.

The different characters have an inimitable design,
and have for the most part become icons of the "Boomer Shooter" as they say nowadays.
Here are some of the game's most famous fighters:
Ranger is the main character of the first Quake, who needs no introduction.
Bitterman is the hero we play in Quake II, what more can be said?
Doom is better known as Doomguy, and represents id Software's cult franchise.
Anarki is the only character to have a multi-colored name, he is also recognizable thanks to his hoverboard,
Orbb is a huge eyeball with a small mechanical body and vaguely human legs.
Klesk is a sort of orange alien with a demonic appearance.
Sarge, like the previous character, reminds me so much of the PS2 version called "Quake III Revolution", which I had so much fun playing with at the time.

The soundscape is as undoubtedly successful as everything else.
The Q3A OST is one of my favorites in all games, that’s saying something!
Sonic Mayhem and Front Line Assembly made a masterpiece of Industrial Metal, very hardcore and heavy,
which will delight all music-loving metalheads of which I am a part,
and highlighting all the power and brutality of this sublime game.

Let's not forget the hoarse voice of the Announcer, and his famous "Excellent" when we do two frags in two seconds, or "Impressive" when you hit two enemies in a row without missing with the Railgun.

How to write an objective review of such an FPS monument?
It's a difficult exercise as Quake III represents the quintessence of the FPS,
and the excellent Arena Shooter genre which is now defunct.
Q3A symbolizes excellence in all areas:
fast, brutal, gory, enjoyable, beautiful and gripping,
id Software's game is simply masterful,
and is essential for anyone who claims to be a gamer and FPS fan.