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| If you love the Alice in Wonderland disney movie, for god's sake stop reading now. |
First of all, I'm doing this a bit out of sequence. Madness Returns is actually a sequel to the old PC game Alice. However, you don't really need to play one to know the other, so I don't think it'll be too great a issue. That being said, Madness Returns is a shocking leap forward from the old Alice game, and walks the line between hideously creepy and keeping faithful to the actual book perfectly.
The story is a continuation from the first game, but once again, they recap things quickly in one of the most "what the HELL am i watching?!" opening cinematic that I've ever seen. Alice's family is gone. There was a fire that killed everyone but her, and even left her badly burned. She spent ten years in an asylum, weaving between extreme rage and near-comatose lethargy, in the grips of a suicidal depression. Wonderland has suffered as well, the lands and people growing...twisted.
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| That's the cheshire cat. |
Madness Returns picks up after Alice has left the asylum. She's staying at a youth home/orphanage/mental care facility headed by Dr. Bumby. Her mind is still tattered and torn, and what's worse, something much more dangerous then the Red Queen has taken root in the broken relms of Wonderland. She fights her way through doll-faced Ruins, gigantic bosses, and her own twisted memories to try and find the truth. What happened that night of the fire? Do her "caretakers" know more then they're letting on? Did she set it herself?
In line with the story, the major "face cards" of the Wonderland mythos are all here, in creepy, twisted glory. The Mad Hatter is back in fine form, along with his eternal cohorts March Hare and Doormouse. I especially liked the Walrus and The Carpenter in this incarnation, the Carpenter spouting off pseudo-intellectual nonsense fits perfectly. The Duchess, Red Queen, card guards, they're all here...just...perhaps not as you remember them.
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| Well...I mean, you killed most of them in the first game...what did you expect them to look like now? |
The gameplay itself is glorious, if frustrating at times. Your weapons are neat, ranging from the "Vorpal Sword" re-incarnated as a massive kitchen knife, a machine-gun pepper grinder, bone-shattering hobby horse, and a teapot that fires like a mortar filled with napalm. Fights are typically bloody, short affairs at first, slashing through shambling hordes with your knife. However, you'll start bumping in to foes needing more skill, which can be annoying at times, but add to the challange.
Some of the jumping puzzles can be hard, especially near the end, but it's noting that can't be surmounted with a bit of trial and error, and swearing. Finding the scattered shards of Alice's memory can be a little trying as well, but it's always a bit rewarding to see what new funny, odd, or chilling memory bobs to the surface. One of the fun bits is, when she gets to very low health, Alice can enter "hystera" mode, and...well, you'll see.
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| She seems...a little pissed. |
This game is pure eye candy as well. The worlds, both the real one and Wonderland, have a odd, unreal quality that fits the book amazingly well. Alice's London isn't the cheery land of Mary Poppins, but the dirty back-alleys of Jack the Ripper. Wonderland ranges from flowing rivers and toy-speckled gardens, to blasted wastelands, oily seas, and literally rotting castles. Enemies squeal, gurgle and groan in ways most unsettling, and the music is haunting and often times creepy. Especially the dollhouse...*burrrr*
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| Think it looks creepy? You should hear it giggle when it stabs you. |
Even better, this game also allows you to download the original Alice for relatively cheap, allowing you to wade through both nightmares at once. Being that I generally like console games, having the option to play the original with a actual controller is great. Also, you can collect additional outfits and other goodies for even more eye-candy goodness. Overall, I'd highly advise you play this game...
...err...just maybe not when people are around...
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| "Hey son, I was wondeWHAT THE HELL IS THAT" |
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