American McGee's Alice

The Good
There are many things to like about this game. First off, the graphics are just drop-dead gorgeous. The scenery is as spaced out as one would expect from a game with a knife-wielding Alice. From the lush outdoors to the spooky buildings, the graphics are always a pleasure on the eye. Secondly, the levels are great. Every level has its own unique graphics, and design, giving the player the feeling of being totally immersed in another world. One of the best levels, for instance, is one where the surfaces of the walls are like mirrors, reflecting other walls. Thirdly, the controls are great: it doesn't take very long to learn how to move about and fight. Finally, the game's difficulty slowly increases as you get more used to controls and gameplay. For instance, the first few levels pits you against cards that die with one or two hits. Later however, you battle rooks and knights, each of which attack in different ways, and require a different amount of hits to dispatch.

The Bad
The requirements of the game are a let down. The first time I played it, I reached a point after which none of the game's sprites would show up. So everything was white, except for the levels. This made playing difficult. Of course that was because my video card was a stinky one. After getting a new system, however, the game screams to be played. Also, at times, the controls can be over-sensitive. This is esp. frustrating when negotiating jumps: sometimes you jump onto a platform, only to land near the edge. Desperate to avoid falling off, you quickly move back, only to accidentally run off the back.

The Bottom Line
The gameplay is good, the voice acting is great, and the graphics are superb. This game will definitely appeal to fans for 3rd-person perspective 3D games, and maybe even the RPGers (I mostly play RPGs myself). Words cannot describe how great a gaming experience this was, esp. since I'm playing it for the umpteenth time.

The Good
Put away your hash pipe, please. You won't need it to get a rush out of this game. American McGee's Alice plays like Dr. Seuss' worst nightmare, and perhaps, like Lewis Carroll's wildest ambitions. For anyone who's ever read the book, a whole new element comes to the character of Alice by playing this game. It could be viewed as a continuance of where "Through The Looking Glass" left off. Let's get down to business.

Built on the Quake III game engine, Alice takes that sharp system and pushes it to the max, with many effects unfound in Quake. If you stop drooling at the graphics, you'll notice the characters. Alice, now auburn haired and green eyed, wears an upside down horsehoe necklace and blood spatters on her apron. They never do come out. Guided and bemused by the Cheshire Cat, a scrappy looking feline with words of wit and wonder, she pursues the White Rabbit but becomes caught up in many different subplots.

Alice takes a brilliant new approach to what really is a third-person shooter game. An amazing story, mostly conjured up with help of the old books, and creatures and settings that are realistic (and fing scary enough) to keep you up nights. It doesn't get much better.

The Bad
There are a few more interactions that would have been nice to see, such as the choice-system seen in the old Windows game Titanic. You would choose what to reply, and based on that, your fate would be decided by the creatures you interacted with. That would require an expansion onto likely a second disk, but it would be worth it, just to give the player's mind a little more to chew on.

The Bottom Line*
Let's face it, kids who loved Alice In Wonderland, Disney-style, are not up for American McGee's Alice. If you're light hearted on blood and violence in your games, Alice will not be a favorite. But for those of you who like to do things the old fashioned way with a demonic twist, Alice is your meal ticket.

The Good
In the opening cutscene, we learn that Alice’s life has gone downhill since her initial forays into Wonderland. Orphaned by an accidental fire, Alice is now institutionalized in a catatonic state brought on by survivor’s guilt, clinging to a button-eyed white rabbit. But as Alice’s mind has changed, so too has Wonderland. The Red Queen has turned malevolent. Her Card Guard has imprisoned the people of Wonderland. The Mad Hatter has become uncomfortably curious about clockworks. And it’s up to Alice to make things right again.

American McGee’s Alice is a wildly inventive game that plays as a third person shooter, more arcade than adventure. American McGee’s Wonderland, is Carroll’s world reflected by a funhouse mirror. Familiar characters are stretched and twisted. White Rabbit embraces his rodent side. You can see the Card Guard's ribs beneath their garb. Alice notes that the Cheshire Cat has a touch of the mange. Alice herself has had a gothic makeover—dark hair, dark eyes, and a blood splattered outfit (with runes?). The locations are breathtaking, ranging from a sinister Skool to a chessboard city and even a bug’s eye view of the world.

What comes across, as far as level design, is American McGee’s respect for Alice’s world and his Burtonesque ability to turn it on its head. The Skool, for instance, is logically illogical including rooms that seem adjacent but are really floors apart. And everything moves. The sky in the Chessworld moves overhead. The buildings in the first levels seem to dance. The environmental effects add realism to the surreal.

As I mentioned, at its heart, Alice is an arcade game. Unlike the acrobatic Ms. Croft, Alice’s moves are simplified. But she can still swing on vines, cling to ledges and hoist herself over obstacles. With abundant jumping puzzles, the designers have kindly added ghostly footprints to indicate where Alice will land. Alice’s weapons also have a targeting reticule (which almost automatically aims).

Speaking of weapons (called toys), Alice begins the game with the Vorpal Knife. This is the only weapon that doesn’t deplete Alice’s will (the equivalent of mana, magic, etc.) and it remains useful throughout the game. Later on Alice acquires diverse toys such as the piercing playing cards, the flame throwing jack-in-the-box, and the Demon Dice. Most weapons have a primary and secondary attack option and each one is visually impressive. Toys reappear throughout the game and every time Alice reacquires a toy it grows in power.

As I mention above, Alice has to keep track of her Sanity (a red life bar) and her Will (a blue mana bar). Power-ups appear throughout the game and she can collect essence from her defeated foes. In addition to the toy and life power-ups, there are several special power-ups available for the observant player.

But what would this game be without enemies. In addition to figuring out which former friends are now foes, Alice also has miniature Jabberwockies, Snarks, and rogue chessman among others in the villains’ roster. Finally, Alice has several bosses to deal with. These bosses can be incredibly challenging and (for the most part) it’s up to Alice to out-battle them rather than figuring out the “trick” to beating them.

Lastly, while some reviewers have emphasized that this game is style over substance, I have to disagree mainly because the style is the substance. Not only does McGee offer us a twisted version of Wonderland and the characters, but also the game twists in on itself. You can’t tell me after seeing the resolution of the White Queen level that there isn’t more here than candy for the eye or music for the ear.

Bring on American McGee’s Oz! (or Narnia-- wouldn't that be interesting?)

The Bad
Is there anything I didn’t like about this game?

The graphics were great, except for the somewhat blurry ending.

Voice acting was pretty good, except for a few characters.

The Bottom Line
A wicked romp through Wonderland.