"Alice: Madness Returns" video game shatters the looking glass
(CBS) "American McGee's Alice," released in 2000, was an imaginative expansion upon Lewis Carroll's original writings. After Alice's second adventure in Wonderland in "Through the Looking Glass (and What Alice Found There)," tragedy strikes as a fire destroys her home and family inside. Alice is left an emotionally and psychologically scarred orphan and is relegated to Rutledge Asylum. Here, she journeys through Wonderland yet again, though this time a dark and twisted version of its former self; a reflection of Alice's newly shattered state of mind.
Though clearly dated by today's industry standards, "Alice" found a niche as a cult favorite among fans for its twisted look through the looking glass. Now, more than a decade later, it receives a deserving sequel with "Alice: Madness Returns."
Set 10 years after the events of the first game, Alice has been released from the asylum to the care of Dr. Bumby. When the game opens, the doctor is helping Alice to forget her troubling childhood memories. Soon enough, Alice finds herself in a dying Wonderland that she must save to prevent her mind from falling to pieces once again and unlock the truth of her past.
The Wonderland created here is striking, often shifting from impressively vibrant and imaginative dreamscapes to more and more deranged and terrifying manifestations of Alice's broken psyche. This is not Disney's Wonderland.
Alice's journey is a combination of combat, platform hopping, and puzzle solving.
The combat in "Madness Returns" is simple but satisfying. There are plenty of weapons to discover with multiple upgrades for each. Enemies are tough and varied. In each new area of Wonderland, Alice will need to overcome new types of enemies, each with different abilities and weaknesses for the player to learn. This progression and variation helps keep combat fresh and engaging.
The game's platforming and puzzle solving, which comprises the largest percentage of the game, can become repetitive. The floating platforms, steam vents, levers and slides don't offer much variation over what is a very long game. Here the stunning and imaginative scenery does much to keep the player's attention. This Wonderland is fun to explore and hidden collectibles keep players on their toes.
"Madness Returns" is utterly immersive and addicting. Its creative and unexpected adaptation of Carroll's Wonderland and its inhabitants is entertaining and intriguing. Aside from some graphical problems - such as surface textures not loading properly or Alice's penchant for getting stuck on doorways or walls - it's a fun demented trip down the rabbit hole.
"Alice: Madness Returns" is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. It is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.