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LeonKennedy77 Report | 07/30/2013 1:24 pm

I’m sad to say that I never played the original American McGee’s Alice. In my defence, however, I was 6 when it was released and I was too busy playing Pokemon and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. That’s besides the point but after browsing the YouTubes I stumbled upon an LP of Alice and wanted to play it badly. However, I didn’t want to fork out the £20 it goes for on eBay nor did I want to torrent it. Thus, I had to resort to watching the LP by L0rdVega.





But now, 10 years after the original game, Alice: Madness Returns has finally reached store shelves here in the land of tea and crumpets. I picked up the game day one and was happy to see it came bundled with the first game. Although, since I knew what happens in the first game I jumped right into Madness Returns.





Now, I have to say that the game is very story driven. Alice is in an orphanage after being discharged from an asylum caused by her family’s death. Because of Alice’s corrupted mind, Wonderland reflects it and is just as twisted and corrupted as her. Alice is piecing together memories in an attempt to remember what happened the night her family was burned in the house fire and to stop the train from destroying wonderland. The train seems to represent Wonderland’s and Alice’s descent into madness as well as the climax of the game.





Anyhoe, the gameplay is marginally different from the first game. While Alice was a third-person shooter platformer, Madness Returns is a hack ‘n’ slash platformer. From a third person perspective, the player controls Alice around the environments to progress the levels and earn hidden collectibles and teeth to upgrade Alice’s arsenal. That’s right, Alice is armed and ready to dismember and maul the corruption plaguing Wonderland. There are four weapons in the game, the first being the Vorpal Blade, Alice’s primary weapon. Each weapon is upgradable to increase stats like max damage, ammo capacity etc. The combat is very easy to understand. Holding L1 (LT) will lock onto an enemy and pushing square (X) will make Alice swing her Vorpal Blade. Repeatedly pressing the button will result in a combo, stacking the damage done. It’s a typical hack ‘n’ slash feature. This simple combat mechanic can get repetitive but more so after learning each enemies attack patterns. I really liked the combat system though. It’s very reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda and Devil May Cry games. Alice also has a similar feature to Devil Alice from the first game. This mechanic is Hysteria. If Alice is reduced to one rose in her health bar Hysteria becomes available. The world turns canvas white and blood covers the screen as well as giving Alice invincibility and increased strength for a period of time. This is best used when trapped in a tight spot and are on the verge of death. You do get a shiny achievement for beating the game without using Hysteria once except during the tutorial on how to use it and since the player isn’t penalized for dying except having to return to their last checkpoint (which are frequent), this achievement is pretty easy to say it’s a silver award.





The game itself looks stunning. Madness Returns is one of the most beautifully presented and artistic games I’ve played. The environments are unique and definitely add a great level of atmosphere to the game. The locations never repeat and are unique to each chapter. The music score is just as beautiful as the visuals. Before playing a new game I let the background load on my XMB. The game’s theme started playing and I instantly fell in love and that alone made me want to play even more. While it’s not as compelling as the Silent Hill scores, it is still amazing.





There are tonnes of collectibles in Madness Returns. There are challenge rooms to increase your max health, hidden memories to link together Alice’s dark past and bottles which when collected unlock concept artwork. As a whole, the game has loads of reply value. There are also di

Premium_Panda091 Report | 07/22/2010 6:39 pm

hey, i know you wont like this, but when your space sidearm gunthings end, can i have one? you put them in market place. i know youll say no, but very please?

1212SERVAL1212 Report | 03/23/2010 3:36 pm

XD its me

-Atomic Cherry Fission- Report | 12/03/2009 1:40 pm

I'm horrible at spawncamping, so I wouldn't know how to anyway. =x
But oh man, I've been a victim of a sentry spawncamp. It was horrid.

-Atomic Cherry Fission- Report | 12/03/2009 12:26 pm

Yep. xD
Go back to your respaaaaawn. x]

-Atomic Cherry Fission- Report | 12/03/2009 12:18 pm

Yeah, you bet. >:I -jarates and gets the germ-x afterwards-

-Atomic Cherry Fission- Report | 12/03/2009 12:14 pm

>:I Fudge.
I'll go get the Jarate . . .

-Atomic Cherry Fission- Report | 12/03/2009 10:10 am

ohmygahitsaSpah! -bonks- >:I

Jessicamazing 8D Report | 11/11/2009 11:48 pm

I'll go plant some gold then. >_>

Jessicamazing 8D Report | 11/11/2009 2:00 am

lol! I wish it worked that way... O_O
I'm gonna start buying monthly collectibles and selling them. smile
And then using that money in the Gaia Exchange forum... buy stuff cheap, then sell it at regular market price.
= Profit!

Yay for gameplans! ^_^