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.

F.E.A.R. is an FPS developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros.
The game instantly became a reference of the genre,
thanks to its epic and enjoyable gunfights,
its ultra violence and extreme gore,
its breathtaking scenario mixing paranormal and science fiction,
and especially its "Bullet Time" à la Matrix & Max Payne, making it famous.

"There was an uprising. Fettel has taken command of the prototypes." (Genevieve Aristide)

Alma, a little girl dressed all in red,
wakes up a man who is languishing in a cell: Paxton Fettel.
She orders him to kill everyone.
Fettel screams at the top of his lungs,
and takes psychic control of an entire battalion of heavily armed super soldiers: the Replicas.
They assault Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC),
a multinational technology and weapons research company,
which works for the US army.
The shooting is a real massacre.
Fettel devours his victims to capture their memories...
Project Origin, the top-secret experiment in controlling military clones by a psychic commander, turns into a fiasco...
The US Army then deployed the F.E.A.R.,
the military unit best able to overcome this situation, founded in 2002.
You play as the Point Man, the best soldier in this unit, gifted of excellent reflexes,
which has to find and neutralize Fettel, in order to break the telepathic link with the Replicas.
Meanwhile, Alma seems to follow you while sowing death in her path...


"A war is coming, I've seen it in my dreams. (Paxton Fettel)

F.E.A.R. is a linear FPS which may seem classic but is extremely effective.
The shootouts are as enjoyable as violent.
The "Bullet Time" allows you to have a great advantage over the enemy.
A few puzzles dot the levels to calm the intensity of the game.

Many weapons are at your disposal,
including some original ones with a particular design, including:
- the AT-14, a precise and powerful pistol,
- the RPL, an SMG resembling the MP5, not very powerful but firing in bursts,
- the G2A2, a precise, powerful assault rifle offering a good rate of fire,
- the VK-12 Shotgun, a sort of devastating short-range SPAS-12,
- the ASP, an assault rifle with a scope similar to the AUG, overpowered but has little ammunition,
- the HV Penetrator, a nailgun as powerful as it is precise,
- the Particle Type 7, a sniper-railgun that strips the target's flesh and gear, leaving only a burned skeleton,
- the MOD-3 Rocket Launcher which fires three rockets simultaneously, useful against armored enemies,
- The MP-50 Automatic Cannon, a kind of rocket launcher firing one shot at a time and more versatile.

Explosives can be found on the ground, such as:
- the traditional Explosive Grenade,
- a Remote Control Grenade that can be detonated at your will,
- a classic Mine to kill unwary enemies.

The Point Man knows how to fight in close combat, and can deliver:
- punches,
- jump kicks,
- tackles.

"It is the way of men to make monsters, and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers." (Harlan Wade)

F.E.A.R. features an AI of unprecedented intelligence in the FPS genre,
and is still unmatched today.

Replicas are extremely effective soldiers on the battlefield.
They communicate a lot with each other, in particular about their position, their state of health, their ammunition, their suspicions, ask for reinforcements...
A squad leader can even give orders to his subordinates.
Their vocoder-modified voice makes them easily identifiable, even iconic.
They are on the lookout, and react to noise or the light of a flashlight.
Their animations are particularly neat.
These military clones run, crawl, jump through windows,
move bulky objects to take cover, shoot from cover,
break the lamps, break down the doors...
The Replicas have several skins, and are increasingly resistant and seasoned as the adventure progresses.
The design of these soldiers as well as their combat skills are reminiscent of those of the film Equilibrium released in 2002.

Replica Heavy Armor are larger, armored soldiers.
They are heavy, slow and tough in combat.
The VK-12, HV Penetrator and Particle Type 7 are their weapons of choice.

Watchers are discreet but efficient Replicas.
They are very agile, can climb ceilings, walk on walls and make great leaps.
Their most important specificity is their ability to become almost invisible.

In addition to their advanced physical abilities, Replicas are copiously equipped.
They make the best use of everything Armacham Technology Corporation has available:

- Small flying drones firing lasers,
- Powered Armor (Mechas) which act as bosses,
heavily armored, armed with rocket launchers or lasers,
- Hind helicopters that deploy troops and fire rockets.

ATC's security forces try to defend themselves as best they can against the Replicas, while perceiving you as an enemy.
They are not very threatening, due to their light armament and their almost non-existent armor.
These men act as cannon fodder for both the Replicas and the Point Man.

In addition to soldiers of all kinds, Nightmares may appear,
sort of infernal specters that move towards the player and explode on impact.

"My God. There was a lot of anger in this room." (Jin Sun-Kwon)

F.E.A.R. brilliantly mixes horror and science fiction,
all enhanced by detailed graphics,
and a memorable soundscape.

The game's settings are numerous and varied:
- dark and sordid alleys, paved with rubbish and covered with graffiti,
- a hospital in which traumatic experiences took place,
- impersonal and soulless offices
- disreputable industrial zones,
- gloomy warehouses,
- filthy and ruined buildings,
- laboratories and scientific complexes...

Numerous effects accentuate the spectacle offered by the game:
- Splendid pyrotechnic and electric effects,
- Superb play of light and shadow,
so much so that you will sometimes be afraid of your own shadow,
- Impressive bloodsheds,
- The bullet Time accentuates the color saturation,
- Broken glass goes in all directions...

The level design is sometimes complex, surprising and tortuous,
so much so that it happens that I still get lost,
even though I have completed the game dozens of times,
including several, well before it was released on Steam in 2010.

"You don't even know who you are." (Spencer Jankowski)

The atmosphere of F.E.A.R. is very specific.

Weapon sounds are realistic, and give a feeling of great power.
The large number of strange noises reinforce the notion of the paranormal...

The music accentuates the cinematic side of the game:
frantic, serious and catchy rhythms during fights,
melancholic melodies in moments of emotion,
haunting sounds to heighten the feeling of strangeness and paranormal.

Everything is done to make the player feel uncomfortable and constantly remain on guard.
Throughout the game, you will encounter numerous appearances from Alma and Paxton Fettel,
poltergeists, abandoned corpses and even skeletons,
as well as rare jumpscares.

The game's aesthetic seems inspired by Japanese horror,
and action movies like Equilibrium or Matrix.

"Man, I should have called in sick today." (Douglas Holiday)

Like any great game, F.E.A.R. nevertheless has some flaws.
The game has technical issues on modern PCs, some stuttering and visual artifacts.
The RPL, the G2A2 and the ASP only fire in bursts, no single shot possible.
The Particle Type 7 allows you to aim even though it doesn't have a scope...
The bullet holes are sometimes ridiculously exaggerated in size,
Some weapons are reloaded out of sight.
You can only carry 3 weapons on you.
The Point Man is very slow.

"He's going home" (Rodney Betters)

F.E.A.R. is an excellent FPS, a brutal release and a spectacular experience.
All elements of the game have been developed to perfection.
Its AI, atmosphere and shootouts are memorable.
This cult title is essential for all fans of the genre.
In fact, the game has only aged in form.
However, it would be wise to release a remastered version of this classic.