Alice: Madness Returns

[Schwaltzvald]

So after being rather disappointed by the recent Alice flick I decided to look back to an old game. I remember at one point there being talks of making a movie adaptation of the old PC game; whether it would have been good or not is another matter...

However, in all of its now relatively hideous and gloriously modified Quake III Arena engine, American McGee's Alice still is as enjoyable as I remembered playing it on Nightmare mode. While reading up some stuff about it I eventually stumbled upon some rumors of a sequel or remake to the original.

Sure enough it turns out to be a sequel. At first I found myself rather elated upon the news, but then wondered how would it go as I felt the first game pretty much had done and said everything that needed to be said.

I suppose the outcome is uncertain for now...

[Level 99]

Alice is still one of the fonder memories of my childhood PC gaming days. Cheshire Cat's voice is still incredible. You're right about the game: though I must say the visuals haven't aged as well as others, the concept, execution, and gameplay is still great. Good to know they will be pursuing a follow-up! I was kinda disappointed with the Grim Tales series he did on GameTap...

[Schwaltzvald]

How the hell would he be able to top the music score he had for the first game..? It's something that's been bugging me for the past hours since I found out about the sequel.

[Dunther]

How the hell would he be able to top the music score he had for the first game..? It's something that's been bugging me for the past hours since I found out about the sequel.

I hope in Chris Vrenna's return as game composer

[Sinewav]

WANT

10char

[Caster13]

I've known about this for a while and cannot wait.

I always loved how Alice wasn't a blonde in this game. Not sure why. But she looks great with black hair.

[BooDidley7]

How the hell would he be able to top the music score he had for the first game..? It's something that's been bugging me for the past hours since I found out about the sequel.

Yeah. I've never even played the game, but I love that soundtrack.

I can't imagine anyone but Vrenna trying to tackle one for the sequel.

That being said, I'd probably wager that anyone who liked the first game probably won't be fully satisfied with a sequel that doesn't somehow have a comparable soundtrack.

[Schwaltzvald]

So hey I recently discovered some new updates on the new Alice game

Aside from the trailer that is displaying an Alice looking much older (looks mid to late twenties?). I've become more interested than before.

I can understand if not everyone enjoyed the

as I have, but I do wonder what exactly is the reasoning behind the coming sequel to begin with. Nonetheless my interests are still quite strong on this game.

[Brandon Strader]

It would have been cool to see the game remade too... Possibly released on arcade (XBLA / PSN).. Oh well.

Also

Thats the ending of the movie, but with a knife instead of a sword and a huge worm instead of a dragon. *hee hee*

[Bleck]

that is clearly a snail

[Brandon Strader]

If it was so clear as you say, then surely I would have recognized its snaily visage to begin with.

[Schwaltzvald]

uh... the swirl shell on its back's kind of a dead give away dude.

Heck the baby snails behind Alice and the seagull carrying one of them away is another huge giveaway

[Brandon Strader]

Ok guys, keep making fun of me and my bad eyesight. Hey, it has steampipes in its back, you're lucky I didn't say it was a boat.

[Schwaltzvald]

I just noticed something rather peculiar to the game info seen at the site

Eleven years ago a horrific fire took Alice’s family from her and left her terribly burned—and her mind terribly scarred. Afterwards she was confined to Rutledge Asylum, struggling to come to terms with her demons by slipping into her fantasy world of Wonderland. Now, after ten years, she has finally secured her release--yet she still bears the heavy psychological burden of that tragic event.

Okay to me that pretty much sums up how she does find freedom away from the asylum after the events in the first game...

In Alice: Madness Returns, Alice is released from the asylum to a London psychiatrist’s care. As nightmarish hallucinations continue to haunt her and invade her reality, she seeks to understand her torment in order to recover herself. Her mind in tatters, she is unable to resolve the fear and neuroses prompted by her strange memories, dreams, and visions. Her relocation to London seems only to add to their number and intensity.

Perhaps she’ll do better in Wonderland. She always has. She travels there, seeking what the “real” world can’t provide: security, knowledge, and the truth about the past. But in her absence, Wonderland too has suffered. Something has gone horribly wrong, and now a great evil is descending upon what once was her beautiful refuge.

So if I'm reading this right, this is essentially saying that the previous events were merely something for Alice to give face to a relatively traumatic event but not truly accepting that; basically experiencing an extreme form of survivor's guilt.

Hmm... okay why not?

PC and console works for me just fine~!

[Dhsu]

I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a picture of Alice fighting a giant robot snail.

[Level 99]

http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/alice-madness-returns/news/alice-madness-returns-new-trailer-and-screenshots/a-20100915134945253095/g-2009021914294780001

YAAAAAY! Just even looking at the screenies and more concept art has me in shivers. Definitely a fan of correlating the time-difference between game releases to time-difference in the game's universe and storyline.

[Schwaltzvald]

Absolutely fantastic to see this.

Seriously I have high hopes this will be a good sequel; not something I'd willing say for iffy titles.

I may even consider getting the console version over the PC version just so I could enjoy the visuals as well as sound/music on a large set with surround sound; more importantly I do hope it's as fun as the original, if not better with tighter controls.

[Level 99]

http://www.1up.com/news/alice-madness-returns-demoed-tgs

Much of the same as the other article but it goes into more gameplay details. However, the following should have been bolded and huge-fontsized:

"The cat is voiced by the same sickly ominous actor that portrayed him before."

Okay, there's no doubt in my mind. This is instantly a selling point that makes the game a must-buy for me. The cat from the original was one of the best things in the game. In fact, I think it was the cat's voice that convinced me to buy it after watching my cousin play it some.

[Deathtank]

so, what happened? nobody played it?

Im playing it and enjoying every second!

This game is fsntastic, the level of details in the backgrounds is impressive, the gameplay is cool and the whole story is capivating.

I loled at this:

[Level 99]

Been busy playing a few other games, but this is on my must-buy list. Come next pay day, this is MINE!

Glad its being enjoyed by others!

[Gollgagh]

Yeah this is a fantastic game. Besides what deathtank mentioned, I love how expressive Alice's face is, even in the idling animations. Also, coming to it straight off of playing the original, it' pretty easy to appreciate how much the platforming gameplay has been smoothed out since the Quake III engine: Alice is a joy to control, even if you occasionally miss the platform.

[Schwaltzvald]

There's nothing I could say that could fully express how it simply became one of my favorite games of 2011. Everything felt "perfect" in its own weird way. It's deliciously dark and grim without being trite or obnoxious

It's a feast for the eyes while the gaming play, especially "Alice" herself, feels perfect. Alice gave me the same feeling I felt whenever I controlled Simon Belmont in SCIV; any mistakes or deaths that occur it would fall upon me rather than any possibility of shit controls or poor mechanics. No Alice felt refreshing to me as Bayonetta did; improved controls over their predecessors and more.

The story itself gives a greater insight upon American's interpretation of "Alice" previous actions before the first game and during the sequel. In my opinion, it was worth the $60-$50 ($45 for me because of a special deal from Amazon that included the original Alice game on preorder) and the extra $2 for the DLC.

The DLC properly feels like DLC that affects the game; making it either much easier or seemingly impossibly difficult with aesthetics being a wonderful bonus.

I can see myself savoring the game for a very long time and see replays much like the first Alice game has seen. Oh and the art book only extends as well as add another layer of pleasure I got from the game.

[Gollgagh]

Should do a Nightmare run using the Cheshire dress without the Nightmare Hobby Horse

also since we're posting fanart

[ambinate]

i was thinking about getting this just because i love platformers and good 3D ones don't come around too often anymore. i haven't played the first one but i'm interested in this. i've heard both good and bad things about the actual platforming, though...

[Gollgagh]

the platforming is great

whoever didn't like the platforming doesn't like platforming