This game has 1 major problem that's only 2 letters long: EA. This game had big ambitions, but unfortunately it lacks polish that I can only presume comes from EA stripping it of most of its potential. I think the devs were underfunded and on a tight schedule under the thumb of a corproate giant that couldn't care less about quality as long as they can market their kewl, edgy goth girl, her bloody apron & knife, and her smiling ghoul kitty fast enough to appease their shareholders.

First and foremost, there's a hell train running rampant throughout Wonderland, which is the representation of Alice's fragmented MK Ultra'd mind. I think when compared to the level design, the train is an excellent metaphor. Alice can only go forward through very long linear levels with no in-game backtracking whatsoever and 0 warnings between level transitions. This is frustrating for anyone who likes to collect everything since if you accidentally traverse a point of no return, then you cannot go back to get whatever secrets you may have missed. It's simply too late. The train has chugged on and Alice is left with fewer memories or bottles or health pieces unless you the player feel like replaying a level. And to be frank, I don't think Madness Returns would merit playing any level a 2nd time to acquire what was missed.

Unlike the first Alice game, there are no bosses, save for one at the very end. They literally tease the player in the first chapter of the game with what appears to be a boss--only for it to "comically" break down right in front of Alice. I find that to be very cheap and comparable to the rushed job they did with, say, General Scales at the end of Starfox Adventures. Building up to an expected boss fight and then "subverting expectations" a la Rian-Johnson-Star-Wars style doesn't make your game look witty or funny. It makes it look like the devs were just too rushed to execute their original vision. I didn't appreciate it back then for Scales, I don't appreciate it now, and I downright hate it when none of the major levels are punctuated with true bosses. As for the end boss fight, it's nothing to write home about. I'm pretty sure one of the devs was playing Super Smash Brothers campaigns at the time and that wound up being the boss's inspiration. Storywise, the boss has a place, but the fight itself was anticlimactic.

I think the platforming & puzzles also suffered for the rushed game design. There are actually very bad rhythm minigames nested within--absolutely abysmal "guitar hero" segments with bad audio to boot. They're few and far between, but I feel like it was just wedged in to quickly add content without much thought. There's also stuff like picture slide puzzles (eww), 2D platforming segments, and short chessboard plays. All of it feels shoehorned. Much of the extraneous stuff Alice will be doing in this game will likely feel as unpolished and hackneyed as everything else. But this is Wonderland we're talking about, so I guess anything goes, right?

The combat itself works. It's okay. There's minor gripes like having to be locked onto an enemy in order to perform a ranged deflect or having to sit through the same cutscenes after failing multiple times. The game is by no means hard. Alice has a rapid-fire dodge that grants invincibility frames. Once you have a fully upgraded knife and the teapot, then Alice can live out her abused goth girl revenge fantasy. I'd say her worst enemy can be the Z targeting, but I'm not the Mozart of controller inputs to begin with, so we could perhaps chalk up my shortcomings to garden-variety skill issues.

The story is okay. This is of course not straight from the American McGee spigot, but it gets the job done as a spiritual successor of sorts. Like the rest of the game, it lacks polish. It's told through a mix of cardboard cutouts and in-game cutscenes. Its presentation could have been way better, but I feel like it didn't get enough time to cook. Same story with most of the characters. It's rushed development across the board.

The music is crap compared to the first game's soundtrack. Sorry, not sorry. It's the cold, hard truth. One has true inspiration behind it. The other is a more ambient, uninspired mockup to prop up EA's corpo version of Wunderland. Not knockin' whoever did the music, but I think EA got what they paid for. Main theme is OK. But that's honestly the only memorable part of the entire soundtrack, for better or worse.

If you like McGee's vision, give it a go. The game is not without its artistic merits and twisted adult themes that were in the original American McGee's Alice. One part even actually made me laugh out loud. It has a soul behind it, it just feels like the soul got crushed and wilted by EA's groper hands. They can't help it. They're just the perfect combination of rich, evil and stupid. When they harm their own IP's, they know not what they do. So if you're the forgiving type and this game is on sale (like 90% off), then go for it. But if you pay full price for your train ticket, you're getting gypped big time by the Electronic Arts conductor.

Like Jim Carrey said in Liar Liar, "I've had better."

5/10

This game has 1 major problem that's only 2 letters long: EA. This game had big ambitions, but unfortunately it lacks polish that I can only presume comes from EA stripping it of most of its potential. I think the devs were underfunded and on a tight schedule under the thumb of a corproate giant that couldn't care less about quality as long as they can market their kewl, edgy goth girl, her bloody apron & knife, and her smiling ghoul kitty fast enough to appease their shareholders. First and foremost, there's a hell train running rampant throughout Wonderland, which is the representation of Alice's fragmented MK Ultra'd mind. I think when compared to the level design, the train is an excellent metaphor. Alice can only go forward through very long linear levels with no in-game backtracking whatsoever and 0 warnings between level transitions. This is frustrating for anyone who likes to collect everything since if you accidentally traverse a point of no return, then you cannot go back to get whatever secrets you may have missed. It's simply too late. The train has chugged on and Alice is left with fewer memories or bottles or health pieces unless you the player feel like replaying a level. And to be frank, I don't think Madness Returns would merit playing any level a 2nd time to acquire what was missed. Unlike the first Alice game, there are no bosses, save for one at the very end. They literally tease the player in the first chapter of the game with what appears to be a boss--only for it to "comically" break down right in front of Alice. I find that to be very cheap and comparable to the rushed job they did with, say, General Scales at the end of Starfox Adventures. Building up to an expected boss fight and then "subverting expectations" a la Rian-Johnson-Star-Wars style doesn't make your game look witty or funny. It makes it look like the devs were just too rushed to execute their original vision. I didn't appreciate it back then for Scales, I don't appreciate it now, and I downright hate it when none of the major levels are punctuated with true bosses. As for the end boss fight, it's nothing to write home about. I'm pretty sure one of the devs was playing Super Smash Brothers campaigns at the time and that wound up being the boss's inspiration. Storywise, the boss has a place, but the fight itself was anticlimactic. I think the platforming & puzzles also suffered for the rushed game design. There are actually very bad rhythm minigames nested within--absolutely abysmal "guitar hero" segments with bad audio to boot. They're few and far between, but I feel like it was just wedged in to quickly add content without much thought. There's also stuff like picture slide puzzles (eww), 2D platforming segments, and short chessboard plays. All of it feels shoehorned. Much of the extraneous stuff Alice will be doing in this game will likely feel as unpolished and hackneyed as everything else. But this is Wonderland we're talking about, so I guess anything goes, right? The combat itself works. It's okay. There's minor gripes like having to be locked onto an enemy in order to perform a ranged deflect or having to sit through the same cutscenes after failing multiple times. The game is by no means hard. Alice has a rapid-fire dodge that grants invincibility frames. Once you have a fully upgraded knife and the teapot, then Alice can live out her abused goth girl revenge fantasy. I'd say her worst enemy can be the Z targeting, but I'm not the Mozart of controller inputs to begin with, so we could perhaps chalk up my shortcomings to garden-variety skill issues. The story is okay. This is of course not straight from the American McGee spigot, but it gets the job done as a spiritual successor of sorts. Like the rest of the game, it lacks polish. It's told through a mix of cardboard cutouts and in-game cutscenes. Its presentation could have been way better, but I feel like it didn't get enough time to cook. Same story with most of the characters. It's rushed development across the board. The music is crap compared to the first game's soundtrack. Sorry, not sorry. It's the cold, hard truth. One has true inspiration behind it. The other is a more ambient, uninspired mockup to prop up EA's corpo version of Wunderland. Not knockin' whoever did the music, but I think EA got what they paid for. Main theme is OK. But that's honestly the only memorable part of the entire soundtrack, for better or worse. If you like McGee's vision, give it a go. The game is not without its artistic merits and twisted adult themes that were in the original American McGee's Alice. One part even actually made me laugh out loud. It has a soul behind it, it just feels like the soul got crushed and wilted by EA's groper hands. They can't help it. They're just the perfect combination of rich, evil and stupid. When they harm their own IP's, they know not what they do. So if you're the forgiving type and this game is on sale (like 90% off), then go for it. But if you pay full price for your train ticket, you're getting gypped big time by the Electronic Arts conductor. Like Jim Carrey said in Liar Liar, "I've had better." 5/10