American McGee's Alice

aka: Ailisi Mengyou Xianjing
Moby ID: 2703
Windows Specs

Description official descriptions

Shortly after Alice returned from the miraculous trip through the Looking-Glass, her house was burnt down, and her parents died in the fire. Alice was the only survivor of the terrible accident. After repeated attempts at suicide, she gets locked up inside a mental institution and is slowly wasting away there before she is summoned to Wonderland again by the White Rabbit. But this time it's a Wonderland gone seriously bad and gory. The only chance for Alice to restore her peace of mind and find out more about the death of her parents is to fight through Wonderland and free it from the evil powers.

American McGee's Alice is a direct sequel to Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass, itself a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The player controls Alice as she tries to find her way and eventually escape from the demented surroundings of her own fantasy world that she's been thrust into. The surreal environments utilize themes from Lewis Carroll's original books, applying a noticeably darker and more violent edge to them.

The gameplay is third-person action with platforming, shooting, and light puzzle-solving elements. Alice starts with a knife, which can be used as a melee weapon or thrown at enemies. Later she acquires other weapons, such as a staff that shoots bolts of energy, dice that emit deadly gas, a time-stopping watch, and others. Weapons have an alternate fire mode, which usually inflicts more damage but depletes Alice's magical energy. The latter, along with Alice's health, can be restored by collecting the essence of defeated foes.

The game also features platforming sequences, during which Alice has to jump over gaps, avoid obstacles, or climb in order to reach her goal. Puzzle-solving usually involves manipulating the environment rather than using inventory items.

The game was re-released as part of select editions of the 2011 sequel, Alice: Madness Returns, as a downloadable extra. The content is identical, but with widescreen support, updated controller support, compatibility tweaks and higher-resolution textures.

Spellings

  • Америкэн Макги: Алиса - Russian spelling
  • 爱丽丝梦游仙境 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

102 People (90 developers, 12 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 62 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 146 ratings with 11 reviews)

Impressive as a visual experience but ultimately shallow as a game.

The Good
Well, even though the main idea is not really that original (taking Alice in wonderland and giving it a bizarre/dark twist) the game manages to stand out as a truly original experience. I guess that on it's own is a remarkable feat worth mentioning, yes it may be a platformer, but you ain't never seen a platformer like this. Of course, all the credit for the uniqueness of the game goes to the superb level design that combines weird curves and angles, radical lightning, psychodelic visual illusions and bizarre architecture to make a unique and beautiful gameworld. Such bizarre levels have been made before, most notably on Thief: The Dark Project (which seems to have had a major, let's say, "influence" in this game) but now you have a complete game filled with bizarre landscapes and places to visit.

Furthermore the Quake Arena engine, while not used to it's maximum extent, delivers some gorgeous graphics and effects (like mirrored corridors, etc.) which run surprisingly fast on rather wimpy computers like my own and allow you to see some of the best art in a 3D platformer in full glory.

The use of bizarre weapons and items also help the game stand out on it's own, with several original items like a set of deadly jacks or a deck of cards, each with two different firing modes. The enemies are also a breath of fresh air, from the super-cool massive bosses to the over-grown chess pieces that you encounter later on.

The game stands out on several other areas like sound with excellent voice acting that fits each character like a glove, good controls, etc. (this is after all an EA game, so you know you can expect a nicely produced package).

Lest I forget, a clever addition to the game is the inclusion of a jump targeting indicator to help you judge those nasty jump puzzles. It was about time somebody thought of something like that!

The Bad
Despite all the hoopla about the level design and the novel graphics, enemies, etc. the game is not a lot of fun to play. It is essentially a completely linear action platformer, and that gets old. Fast. Most good platformers add a host of secrets and bonuses to encourage you to explore the gameworld around you or extend the original adventure, not so in Alice. For as spectacular as the gameworld may appear to you, you are forced to move linearly from place to place following a single path towards the endgame.

But everything would be ok if that path was fun to play through, right? I mean, Out of this World wasn't exactly an exercise in non-linearity... Well, the problem is that Alice never seems to know what kind of game it is. You sometimes get inspired jump puzzle sequences, but a lot of moments in the game include Quake-like shootfests. And that's the game's biggest flaw, that it thrusts you into a massive amount of combat in a game that isn't really about that. I couldn't help but think that A. McGee just couldn't resist bringing some of the good ol' gameplay mechanics from his days on id and that stops the game dead. The inclusion of a Quad damage-like power up is a proof of that, as is the rather annoying tendency to place mazes filled with enemies towards the end of the game (be prepared to kiss that original level design goodbye every now and then pal!!).

Also I know originally you were supposed to be able to summon the Chessire Cat to fight by your side, but since that was removed I seriously question the point of keeping the "Chessire help" option. I mean, he's super-suave and all, but what's the point of wasting valuable cd space on generic one-liners that never help you??? It's like if Jedi Knight had a "Yoda" key which would allow you to listen to 4 or 5 generic words of wisdom...Next time add a text-only REAL tip system or nothing at all.

The Bottom Line
A rather poor gameplay experience masked under a beautiful if sometimes inconsistent level design. I guess this is one of those game you have to play just so you can experience something truly new and unique (at least when it comes to graphics) but the game is by no means a masterpiece, and I wouldn't recommend it except if you found it on a bargain bin.

Windows · by Zovni (10504) · 2002

Disturbing

The Good
When I first started the game I did not know exactly what to expect. First I was impressed by the graphics. Not only they are technically good, but the artists in this are awesome. Especially the menu background image of Alice in the mental hospital is awesome. Awesomely disturbing. And that is the best word to describe the whole game. Everything you see is sick, perverted, twisted, warped or otherwise odd. Mr McGee must be at least a LITTLE mad to do something like this. Weapons in the game are totally different than any normal point-shoot weapon ordinarily seen. And the music is excellent. It fits perfectly in the game. Also the voice acting is, for a change, good.

The Bad
The voice acting, while it is good, is clearly recorded a line at a time. You never get a real feeling of a conversation. And there is a certain part where you just keep getting the feeling that you are playing "a bug's life" with your little brother. The plot is also very linear, making replay value nonexistent - especially when there is no multiplayer option.

The Bottom Line
This game is pretty much different from anything else. So weird it makes Silent Hill feel sane and so twisted that Undying looks like a cute childrens game. Definitely worth a look - if you are up to it.

Windows · by Aapo Koivuniemi (41) · 2002

Alice for those who fell out of Wonderland a long, long time ago.

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.

Windows · by The Cheshire (5) · 2003

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Sequel on its way xroox (3895) Feb 20, 2009

Trivia

Alice statue

Rogue Entertainment still has one of these aforementioned Alice statues, along with the Cheshire cat, in its Dallas offices. Only three (of Alice and the Cheshire cat) were created.

Cancelled port

A PS2 version was also in development but was canceled causing Rouge Entertainment to shut down, a decision which infuriated American McGee.

Extras

  • The game came with a "Casebook" that described how Alice got admitted to the mental asylum and how her doctor tried to cure her.
  • EA supplied an Alice statue to selected retail outlets for promotion. It was an evil looking Alice bearing a butcher's knife in bloody hands, and her skirt was bloody, too. In Germany however, the knife and blood were gone, instead, she was holding some playing cards.

Cover art

Later releases of the game in the U.S. had an altered cover art. In the original, Alice was seen on the cover holding a bloody knife, with blood stains all over her apron. There were two revisions to this; in the first one she can be seen holding an ice wand, and in the second revision she's holding a deck of cards. In both of them her apron is stain-free. The Cheshire Cat next to her even looks less skeletal in the new cover art.

Cut content

An early version of the game gave you the chance to summon the Cheshire Cat to fight by your side, but this feature was removed from the final game. You can still find some early pre-release screenshots around the net that showed this however.

Merchandise

As of 2004 a line of action figures based on the game is currently in stores.

Ratings

According to an Wired interview with American McGee this game was Electronic Art's first 'M' rated release

References

On the "load/save" screen, you get three buttons to load, save or delete a game. Next to each button is a one-letter abbreviation of it's function. Did you notice that this spells out "LSD"?

Sales

According to an interview with American McGee, Alice sold over 1 million copies on the PC platform alone, contrary to reports saying it sold poorly.

Soundtrack

  • The original musical score for Alice was created by Chris Vrenna, former drummer for the band Nine Inch Nails.
  • There was a soundtrack for the game released when the game came out, which included music from the game, with dialogue from the various characters. As of 2004 you can still buy it from various retailers for $10, brand new.
  • The name of the soundtracks in the musical score are not completely correct. For instance, the musical score features a track named Battle with the Red Queen, but actually that track appears in the Skool level.
  • The musical score feature an "extra" track called Taking tea in Dreamland (the reason why it is called "extra" is that it doesn't appear in any levels throughout the game.

Awards

  • GameSpy
    • 2000 – Special Award for Graphics
    • 2000 – Special Award for Music
  • PC Powerplay (Germany)
    • Issue 11/2005 - #6 Game Which Absolutely Needs A Sequel (it eventually got one in 2011)

Information was also contributed by Foxhack, Lev Epshteyn, Karthik KANE, phlux, S M, Roger Wilco, Zack Green and Zovni

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Related Sites +

  • A White Rabbit, A Crazy Alice, and Mac OS X
    An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Alice, with commentary being provided by Michael Rogers, president of Aspyr, the company responsible for porting the game to that platform. The article also provides a brief "Visitor's Guide to Wonderland" as well as general information about the game, including a brief background on Lewis Carroll.
  • Walkthrough
    A complete guide on Gameboomers from the beginning to the end of this game! (English)

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 2703
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Cam Guest.

PlayStation 3 added by Charly2.0. Macintosh added by Corn Popper. Xbox 360 added by Kennyannydenny.

Additional contributors: Satoshi Kunsai, Unicorn Lynx, retinadesgastada, Zeppin, Klaster_1, Patrick Bregger, piltdown_man, Tien Thuy Le Nguyen.

Game added December 3, 2000. Last modified March 20, 2024.