Ten years ago a man named American McGee teamed up with EA and of this partnership came the game Alice, a new take on the classic Alice in Wonderland story which took Alice to dark new places within the catacombs of her mind and the horrors that appeared made for one of the best PC games released in the past decade.
So here comes the sequel. Alice: Madness Returns features an older version of Alice who has spent the past ten years cooped up in an Asylum due to the death of her parents. She once again slips into Wonderland in an attempt to fix her mental psyche out and return to some form of normality.
Of course her version of Wonderland isn’t exactly bright pink Cheshire cats and shape changing muffins. The Red Queen’s famous Deck of Cards Army have turned into menacing skeletons, with their lifeless flesh still rotting against their bones. You will also soon witness the glory of a rather soulless boss whose weapons are the limbs of porcelain dolls. Alice has also been given a small arsenal of weaponry to take down her foes, including a unicorn Esq sword and clockwork bombs.
Looking at a few screenshots you will get an immediate sense of serene dilapidation within the levels created by American McGee. It still looks dark, and with all the lights turned off it will still have your hairs standing on end. Blood soaked walls, rusty knives and soulless dolls all have the makings of a very atmospheric game.
Many will remember the brilliance of the game Alice on PC, the gore, the twisted-ness and general horror that unfolded before you made the game an instant classic that the sequel has got a lot to live up to. Who knows what will happen when you take that leap down the rabbit hole, one thing that is certain after you travels through – Alice’s Wonderland you’ll never be quite the same again.
