A severely underrated game which is better than psychonauts and such titles but doesn't get as much praise. The gameplay and fighting is robust, there are many enemy and weapon types allowing for diversity, and complexity. I like platformers in general, this one is a little easy but great because of the amazing level design. The story and art are at the top. If the gameplay allowed more replayability and was more original the game could easily deserve a 10, yet it already deserves a 10 in every other category, art direction, sound, voice acting, graphics and polish. The game is also long, and full of content, bursting with quality.… Expand

Reminds me of the good old platforming games like Crash or Croc... except here we play a psycho girl with a knife, how cool is that? I'd give it a 10/10 if it wasn't for the performance issues i've expierenced.

It's a shame that how bias and ignorant video game journalism is nowadays. The gameplay is formulaic? just combining a standard third person action and old-school platform? All COD games are the same, what say you? 9? 10? Invisible walls? you know almost every game has them. Long chapters and hidden collectibles make it a lengthy adventure?ah, now, the game length being long and hidden elements are disadvantages. my opinion about this game: Alice Madness Returns has beautifully twisted art style and atmosphere. the gameplay is not innovative but still fun. The game itself is filled with intense action, interactive environments, and interesting puzzles. Yes, Alice MR has its own problems, for example, the length is a bit short comparing to the original one and the control can be jerky at times. yet, playing through game is still an enjoyable experience. Overall a sold 8 out of 10.… Collapse

This game was very fun. The graphics and scenery are astounding and the Devs really took a lot of attention to detail in many of these themes of places that we taken for granted. Plus the array of wonderland weapons is really creative and funny. The vast amounts of enemies with there own strength and weaknesses. I really enjoyed the game. Sadly the game lacks more content and making replay ability poor. Another let down was the ending and end boss fight was a little too boring and cliche. But still enjoyed its gross gory wonderland fun puzzle thriller.… Expand

amazing sound design and graphical level design go a very long way to excusing rather repetitive game play at times.

Every second of the game feels like an analyses of the protagonists psyche as it should, coupled with a surprisingly dark story provided plenty of incentive as well to play through the overlong levels especially in the second half of the game.

Combat is instantly recognizable from similar action games like god of war or darksiders and does little to nothing to add to that side of the genre.

You will get the most enjoyment from this playing it simply to see the next bizarre set piece, and that's how I strongly suggest it be played.… Expand

Alice: Madness Returns is a game that needs to be experienced. It's a wonderful journey through a weird and haunting place. This is a game that feels fresh in today's gaming world. So please, pick it up and give it a try.

this game is everything alice 1 was and much better...the art makes this game a beautiful one...the pc version, once again is th better version with tight controls, great interface....a total underrated gem...love this...pirated, played the first 10 minutes, bought it on steam...thats how much i enjoyed the first 10 minutes...great game..do yourself a favor and play this, its a breath of fresh air amongst the console crap of nowadays and shooters...a plat former for everyone… Expand

This game isn't without it's flaws but none were game-breaking or enough to take much away from the sheer fun I had playing this title.

The story takes place in London and Wonderland as Alice, now out of the asylum she was in the original game, is in therapy trying to make sense of her life events. Her main goal is to collect the pieces of her shattered memory and rebuild the events of her past and get to the truth of the matter at hand.

With one or two exceptions the graphics are gorgeous. Environments are richly detailed with bright colorful areas and dark sinister areas. Alice and her various dresses are works of art and most of the other characters are well done and well animated though I wish some characters/enemies would have been done a little bit better. The visual style breaks from the 3d game-play rendering with artistic 2d paper diorama style cut-scenes which add a nice break from poor quality 3d cut-scenes found in other games.

Game control is smooth and flowing with jumping, gliding, and combat both responsive and fluid. Combat is straight forward hack-and-slash fare with timing of both attack and defense the key to surviving the tougher opponents. What really lacks here is the camera control. The camera doesn't auto-center itself behind you and positioning it while in combat can be problematic at times, especially when you're focused on a target where you can't move the camera at all leaving your opponent off screen sometimes.

Music in the game suits the levels well featuring a heavy dose of bells throughout most of the pieces. Slow somber pieces and fast harsh pieces follow Alice's mindset as she traverses London and Wonderland. Sound effects are top notch for the most part as are the character voice overs.

Weapons are varied plentiful from the familiar Vorpal Blade to the Clockwork Rabbit Bomb with the Hobby Horse and Pepper Grinder in between. The Umbrella and the ability to dodge (you can dodge while you jump!) round out your defenses. Alice also has a special shrink power which let's her access special hideaways and see otherwise invisible objects.

The games story flows nicely though there are places you can see where elements are missing (due to some areas being cut out of the game). It will take a keen eye to grasp all of the connection in this game that ties the story together as metaphor and imagery play a prevalent part of the story telling. Thankfully the major plot points are left vague and you aren't left with a "what the" at the end.

Level design is decidedly linear with very little opportunity to deviate from the main path. Levels are long and somewhat repetitive but for the most part I found myself enjoying traveling through them collecting memories and bottles and peppering snouts. Save for the London areas no two levels are the same, each having its own theme and style.

Outside the game in the menu there are character bios, artwork, and other things to unlock/look at to enhance the experience. These are worthwhile extras which add to the overall enjoyment I had with this game.

The game offers various difficulty levels and you can switch difficulty at any time if things get to hard for you. Once you complete the game you can start a new game with all the weapons you collected and access to the various dresses you collected and pick the look and/or dress ability you want if you so choose. You can even replay a specific section of any of the levels as much as you want until you collect every last item out there.

All in all Alice: Madness Returns is just short of a masterpiece. It's flaws are easy enough to deal with because they are overshadowed by rich environments, a haunting soundtrack, smooth gameplay and a story you won't soon forget.… Expand

Cannot comment on mouse controls as I use a 360 pad but this game is good fun, I really wasn't expecting much from it, being Alice in Wonderland and me being someone narrow-minded but I really had fun playing this game. It is not the most taxing game in the world but for a 3D platformer it is fun y0.

Just as imaginative and fun as the original game. Beautiful scenery and creative gameplay make this a unique game and very fun to play. I hope that EA makes a third game if possible.

This is a really good game, and I played the original Alice and so it really pains me to have to give it a 6. The absolutely atrocious PC controls is one thing that sucked almost all of the enjoyment out of what is otherwise a very good game with very high production values. The controls are also bug-ridden and EA hasn't bothered to issue any patches to fix the buggy controls (as of Dec 2012). Great atmosphere and graphics, although I wish the alice model & movement animations were nicer, considering this game was released just last year. Graphics performance is fair (a bit laggy), considering the apparent complexity of the graphics. A MAJOR problem with the game is the checkpoint saving. It wouldn't be so bad if the checkpoints were set before major battles, but they're not. At one point there's a lot of platforming, followed by a major battle. If you die in the battle, which is almost 100% likely, you've got to do the platforming bit again. After 2 or 3 goes at it, i threw in the towel & turned on god mode. And turning god mode on and off is so time consuming that I'm just playing the game right through with the god mode on. The game is basically a console port ("Please don't turn off your computer while the save icon is on screen". Duh. Only console-tards do that). The story is good I think (i haven't finished the game yet), but you "unlock" parts of the story by finding collectibles. Which is stupid because if you're playing the game just for its story and don't want to bother finding hard-to-find collectibles, you're stuck with patchy fragments of a story. Which moron's idea was this again?… Expand

Alice: Madness Returns falls short on gameplay but excels in atmosphere and art. The platforming, while fun at first, becomes tiresome towards the end. I felt that each level was stretched out to be just a bit too repetitive, particularly the Doll House. The combat was a strong point of the game and is fast-paced and exciting, though it too suffers from some repetitiveness. A bigger variety of enemies and the inclusion of boss fights would have gone a long way. As I mentioned the atmosphere of the game, like its predecessor, is fantastic. The art and music immerse the player in a sick and twisted fantasy world. The story is good enough to drive the game, and the ending is satisfying. The ideas and concepts are fresh in an industry plagued by dull first person shooters, but the execution could use some polish. While I gave a rating of 7, I would give the game a 6.5 overall.… Expand

The best game of 2011, with a great plot and charismatic characters. The gameplay is a little bit old, but still funny and the graphics are simply stunning! A trip in this dark and twisted Wonderland is highly recondemned: I assure you won\'t forget it easily!

Not as good as the original American McGee's Alice, the sequel still manages to create a similarly fascinating world with very diverse level designs. The horror is more subtle in this one as all aspects tend to a brighter version than in the original game, somewhat lightening the otherwise dark mood of the story. This is a nice action game full of creative elements. Especially the levels are well designed and each has its distinct atmosphere. The game experience is intense and there are many threats as the story increases in its dramatic narration. Still, the original was slightly more inventive and dared to be darker, where the new Alice focuses more on surrealism. All in all a worthy sequel and a good game worth its money, being in the Alice franchise it delivers a great colourful contrast to the almost bland titles around it.… Expand

This is one of the best games I have ever played and certainly the best Action-platformer. No DMC, no Bayonetta can possibly match up to this. The first thing you notice is the graphics which is amazing. Alice: The madness returns has the best and most stylish in my opinion graphics in the world. No matter if the textures seem to be low-res sometimes you still will find yourself spending hours of just staring at the level.
Second is the atmosphere. The game is unimaginably good at making the player feel what's it like to fight your own insane mind. Close to the end of the game it becomes simply uncomfortable to play. And not because the game becomes boring or anything like that. You simply feel like you are also getting a little mad. Needless to say that the voice acting in the game is top-level.
Then there is the environment. This one is simply the best. Out of all games. I have never seen just SO MUCH VARIANCE. You will NEVER throughout 20 hours worth of the game's length see 2 similar rooms or locations. They all just SO DIFFERENT.
Now the reasons why I put 9 instead of 10 are:
1. The price- 50 buck for a single player completely linear (comes with a genre) experience, no matter how amazing, is too much. The game doesn't even have achievement support. And though you might want to sift through it in search of some more collectibles, the replay value is simply too small for 50 bucks.
2. And controls. Of course compared to your average game they are flawless, but for an EXTREMELY hardcore game like Alice: The madness returns is it is not. The game is pretty much impossible to play on the keyboard and I had to play with a controller in order to write a proper review and not just a bunch of "OMG this game sux, it's unplayable" rage. Sometimes even on the gamepad controls would stick, not respond, or respond incorrectly. But this, I believe is going to be fixed, if it's not already. So I am totally happy to own the game and my overall recommendation would be to buy it IMMEDIATELY when there is a sale for it or when it's price drops from 50$.
Just make sure your mental health can withstand the impact. I literally had Hattman's voice looping in my head for 2 days :O. This game will be a great replacement for Dead Space until third part comes.… Expand

I don't know what critics are smoking these days, and maybe the console version was lesser (as I haven't played it on console), but the PC version is drop-dead gorgeous, incredible continuation of the story, fluid, twisted, wicked, and just downright fun to play. It has all the elements prior, and alot of new ones.

American Mcgee definetely has not lost his touch here, and it's a well orchestrated sequel that plays, sounds, and feels flawless. Simply compare the amazing user score to the mediocre critic score, and its obvious they either did not play it, or just didn't care. Easily a 10/10.… Expand

As a big fan of the first Alice, I had my doubts. But Madness Returns outshines the first one in every way. There is a HUGE Psychonauts influence here (and at one point the developers pay homage in a laugh-out-loud manner). The exploration is amazing, the story is more mature and compelling, the combat is more intense than MANY of the top line FPS games out there.

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. It's been a long, long time since I've played a game that left me baffled at the level design this much. Every new area I entered, I always just had to look around for a bit first, literally making me go 'ooh' and 'aah' at most occasions. This whole game is just so incredibly lovingly crafted. There's so much detail to everything, I can't even wrap my mind around it. The gameplay in itself is nothing special, but it works just fine. Target lock is a bit shoddy at times, but you'll manage. The dialogue might be a tad bit pretentious, but that actually fits the game's style. But really, this game is a bloody gem. A floating island of gold in a sea of mediocre crap. I've never played a prettier game than this.… Expand

If there's one thing I expected with the second game, it was not to be disappointed. And it delivered. It delivered oh so well. Where do I even begin? This new iteration of Alice appears to be bigger and better in every way. There is a plethora of collectibles, bonus objectives, the so-called "memories", etc., but none of them are boring or tedious to get.There is a huge variety of clothiâ

this game is awesome i loved every second of it and just wish that it was even longer than what it was. if you havnt got this game already you should go and buy it.

I am really enjoying this game.
There is a great atmosphere that is brought to the game by the incredibly varied and detailed aesthetics, and when coupled with a great soundtrack and excellent voice acting, it all comes together to create Alice: Madness Returns. The gameplay is fun, although it is not particularly groundbreaking. The nice touches, however, like Alice's dodge turning her into a cloud of butterflies and the particle effects around her dress as she twirls in the air are great.
All in all, I would recommend buying this game, if you've ever played the first. I just finished the first on Monday, and I am just as impressed with this.… Expand

Pretty awesome game, ignore the "pro" critics and buy this to enjoy beatiful graphics and excellent gameplay in a sequel that has delivered extra value than the first game 10 years ago.

Alice: Madness Returns is a pretty good game. Despite dull and sometimes repetitive textures, Alice: MR still manages to be aesthetically pleasing. This is due to the great use or art style and design. The designs to most of the characters are interesting and relate them to something physical or psychological with Alice herself (much like Silent Hill's monster designs). This is a mature game and there are some mature messages and innuendos throughout. The sound design is good, but not particularly memorable. There is quite a bit length to this game and that contributes to a bit of a been-there-done-that feeling in the last 1/4 of it. The combat expands throughout the game with the introduction of new weapons, but it's not a big list and does get tiresome later on. Platforming plays a big part in this game as well and I found it to be a bit cumbersome with the mouse and keyboard, but once I plugged in my controller everything was smooth sailing. And that pretty much wraps up this game. It is a good game and worth a play-through, but it's nothing fantastic.
VERDICT: Worth a bargain-bin buy. 7/10… Expand

Alice: MR remains a mediocre game: the graphics is hardly fair, with texture problems and not satisfying details, the gameplay leads to very frequent boring spots, puzzles are wearisome and useless. Moreover, the game looks unfinished and unpolished, they shouldn't have put it on the marketplace so early. Just rent it for a couple of days, but I won't suggest you to buy it at all.

Way too long and repetitive. People who rate this game a ten have to be out of their minds..how can you sit through such boring gameplay. You have seen everything after the first few hours. It never gets refreshing after that..Sure, some of the stages have been designed nicely but it's always the same "jump", "push a switch", "kill enemies" -> repeat ad nauseum.

One of the best games that i have played this year beside Witcher 2.This is a rare atmosphere which could be found in this game and you talk about game play,graphics , atmosphere or even story in every aspect this game shines in Pc version.

The game unfortunately has a number of game breaking bugs that currently there are NO fixes for.

On my first play I got to a part where you go up an elevator except it did not transition to the next cutscene. No amount of replaying to that point solved it. I then had to download someone else's save and use the chapter select menu to play.

Unfortunately there is no save function with this method so it was by luck that I resumed where I wanted. I then ran into a second game breaking bug towards the end where on finishing a chapter it would not load the next level. It would just crash.

The gameplay is ho-hum at best. The entire game is just platforming and some monkey level grade puzzles that don't require much thought at all. Seriously the entire game is just platform jumping, the combat never evolves much. It shows moments of brilliance but there's about 1/10th brilliance to 9/10ths horrendously boring platforms and puzzles.

Compared to the previous games they nearly do away almost entirely with interesting combat. They vary the enemies a lot mid game but then go back to the regular ones for the end.

Each chapter follows an identical forumla, introduce new enemies. Then jump jump jump. Quirky part.. chase some main character. Then that's it.

Artistically and graphically it has it's moments. The level design and look is brilliant except for a few chapters, it ends on a weak note really. Overall it's a very PG experience compared to the first one.

You never feel attached to any of the characters like in the last one, they never kill any of them off. As I said it's a very PG experience all in all.

The story is painfully predictable, and fizzles out towards the end with no real conclusion.

I have no doubt EA ruined much of this. They likely forced the devs to keep the overall gameplay simple, hence why it's nothing but platforming jumps. The combat again is equally simple compared to the last game, MB1 all day long.

What ruins this game is ultimately it's mechanics, the lack of interaction with the characters, and game design, all of which are boring and as stale as you like. The cat is the only one you really interact with much.

Sad, I really wanted to like this game, but it's ultimately emotionless. You spend the entire game wondering what's happened to Alice in reality as opposed to exploring the characters or Wonderland's madness.… Expand

I had heard this game was very unique from a friend and he was right. I was very interested into going to the next levels just because of how the levels were designed. The voice acting to the unique style of graphics set this game apart from any other platformer. All the little things in this game as well were fun to do. Every time I heard a piggy I would go on edge to try to find it damn piggies. The best part about Alice though is the storyline. It is a very in depth and engaging story that will make anyone think. I would recommend this to anyone even if they don't like platformers as this game was very good and worth the money. Let's get the bad out of the way though and there really isn't much of it to go around in this game. Firstly I had problems with the camera angles about 5 - 6 times. I would jump in the wrong direction sometimes and it was kinda of frustrating to die to. Secondly is the replay value. This game was very good indeed but I can't see myself playing this game over again.… Expand

Reviewers got it wrong, combat is deep and rewards strategy, platforming controls are amazing and it has great level & encounter design. Looks fantastic as well, some great aesthetic choices were clearly made during the development at Spicy Horse.

Props to them for releasing a charming 3D platformer in a sea of uninspired shooters.

I have to say this is the game with some of the best visuals I have ever seen, certainly from a creative perspective - the imagination put into it is really rarely seen. The mouse controls on PC I have no problems with after I slow the responsiveness down considerably. There is, however, a big problem with the engine - you have to turn off most of the PhysX effects or even turn them off completely to get any kind of decent frame rate. This can put off a lot of people, but can be fixed relatively easily by reading various online tutorials on editing the game's .ini files. The gameplay is mostly satisfying, sometimes too slow, but for me the visual make up for it. All in all, I would recommend this game to any platform lover with a decent graphics card and CPU.… Expand

True to what seems to be a trend, the "pro" critics show they know little to nothing about what makes a game good through their ratings. Don't be fooled, this game is good. I will mention, first off, that there are many aspects of the game that feel unpolished, such as getting stuck on the terrain at times, not having an animation for sudden turns or changes in direction, or being unable to adjust your camera at all while using a jump float. But despite those problems, they aren't game breaking by any stretch of the word, and are more annoyances at worst than anything. The visual aesthetic is incredible, and truly captures and reflects a world brought to its knees in madness. It's worth stopping on occasion to take in the environments and how meticulous they can be. I can't really emphasize enough how amazing the graphic stylization is for this game. It's nothing short of perfect. The music score compliments the gorgeous environments perfectly by adding to the feeling each world possesses. The story doesn't start to become truly interesting until about halfway through the game. That's not to say that the game or story is boring up until that point, but the real meat of the whole ordeal starts to unfold at around that mark. My only real gripe with the game is that some of the mini-games implemented, while simple and easy to solve, feel largely unnecessary, and take away from the immersive experience the game offers. Don't listen to what these so-called expert critics have to say. This game has been worth the money, and was a great experience overall… Expand

Alice MR is unpolished and feels rushed and outsourced, cheep... can you say all your base belongs to us? The story doesn't translate well and seems disjointed, discombobulated, disdonsounlikerearengrisck, I didn't even know what happened until after beating the game then reading up on what the game was about. This was partially due to dialogue overlapping and/with sound effects. The art is stunning and beautiful, the action is average/boring, the puzzles are mostly horrible with random parts hidden due to the combination of poor camera angles and extremely poor map design. I got no satisfaction after beating it other then it was finally over.… Expand

The only bad thing I can complain about this game is the collectables part throughout the chapters which include all those bottles, memories, pig snouts, etc that really make anyone who plays divert his/her attention from enjoying the game and atmosphere, the story line and humor to the tedious and frustrating part of collecting everything. Of course one could easily finish the game and not worry about all this, but it's so frustrating to try and clear out all the tiny spaces and alternate routes, when you are done with a chapter and see you got 1x and 2y left to collect you feel like bashing your head on the desk. Not to say re-playing a chapter or part of a chapter will reset your autosave to that particular part. In the end this is an amazing game that would have been less frustrating if they left the collectibles part out of your face.… Expand

What i like about this game is that the art style and the game world is simply amazing. There are tons of thing to stop and look at and in 3D its just stunning. The story is pretty bad and i really didnt get it before the end of the game and than it was like a little to late to make a difference. The graphics is pretty average but the amazing game world makes it stand out. Overall the games gameplay was way to repetetive but somehow i still kept pushing through because i wanted to see what crazy map i could play on next… Expand

I didn't really want to play this game; I was somewhat disappointed by the first one. I'm glad I picked it up though. This is a very solid and fun game. It is beautiful, yes, but perhaps more importantly it's varied. I'm maybe 4 or 5 hours in and I've seen the gray "real world", vivid wonderland, wasted wonderland, goth/steam-punk factories, icy tundra, and underwater. All have been well imagined and interesting. The game play is good. The environments, enemies, weapons and other game mechanics are varied enough to keep things interesting. There are even some quasi-mini-games thrown in. Not enough to be annoying, they're more like well-placed breaks. As some have mentioned there are issues here and there but the good stuff definitely far outweighs the bad.… Expand

Great game. Crazy design, outstanding locations and characters, nice music.
The only downside is lack off boss fights, but this doesn't make game looks bad.

Great game with fantastic original artwork and very fun to play. The only reason it is not higher is that the pc controls are unworkable so i was forced to use a 360 controller which was unfortunate. It was also marked down for a game breaking bug where you could not use the umbrella which is a core part of the game if you remapped the controls. That aside, the graphics and artwork were second to none and despite it dragging out for a bit near then end, it was a VERY enjoyable experience. I look forward to something more from these devs.… Expand

beautiful graphics, good story, psychological violence that contrasts well with the graphics caricatured final, beautiful PhysX effects

As a fan of america Mcgee, Alice, reawakened the interest of the dark side of the classic story, would not surprise me in the near future on the big screen to see the film

visuals! atmosphere! story! definitely enjoyable in those areas. can get repetitive (a lot of jumping) but its still worth it. I didn't have any problems with controls they are adjustable in the options.

This game was nice. Lots of issues (that's what you get when you let EA rush a game with great potential), most noticeably the physx engine, which for ATI cards, can only run at low.
The story and graphics were definitely the highlights, however it's a shame they decided to go for the ambiguous ending considering they're unlikely to ever be given funding by EA again.

Black bars on a 4:3 are an abomination, and the terrible mouse controls are VERY uncomfortable and make me feel ill at the point that I can't play this game at all.
Too bad, the art direction seemed very good, so dear devs, please learn how to program a decent control system.

A bizarre, yet beautiful world. It's one of the ways I can describe the Wonderland in the sequel of McGee's masterpiece. I've played the original few years ago and can say for sure that Madness Returns is as good as it's predecessor.

The graphics are beautiful and the use of physx effects on Alice's clothes and hair is amazing.

I really can't understand these bad website reviews. Probably they are upset because this game is not for COD generation, with arrows indicating where to go, life auto-regen and smash buttons fest.… Expand

First, this game is a console game, which I normally hate, but in this case I was aware of that, as the first Alice already was. It only goes further this time because of the stupid auto-save, which makes you miss a lot of hidden stuff (even though the game is very linear).
But it's still ok. While game works at 30FPS by default, something we too owe to consoles, fortunately you can tweak some files to get 70, and that changes A LOT.

Visually, and in the narration, Madness Returns took everything from the first, and made it better.
I thought that it looked a bit "angular" in Youtube movies, and it kinda does, but there's a reason for that: the game is HUGE. Textures aren't too high-res, but there are SO MANY of them and they all look so amazing, well the game is (visually) a real piece of art.
I also never played a so inspired game. Lots of good ideas in there.

Now the ugly, & why I couldn't give it a higher score: the infamous umbrella bug (but not just that).
It's really bad, not because it's so tricky to fix, but because everyone on the internet as his own way to fix it, and you have to waste hours trying to find the one that works. And it's not even complex.. once you know it. Also the bug occurs when a boss arrives, and you really wonder what's wrong with it, EVEN THOUGH I already knew about the umbrella bug (imagine the one who hasn't..), it's really tricky because even when it works, it only works during targeting (more on that later).

The first levels are easy enough, but there's a big problem with the gameplay, you hardly get a hint (or rather, you get misleading ones) on whether you hit the enemy or not. So you fail to beat a boss several times in a row, you wonder what's wrong, if you're missing a specific strategy, you check Youtube, and you realize that no, there was no strategy, you just have to shoot the boss for minutes until he dies.
It's supposed to be easier when using the targeting system, but that targeting system.. just blows. First, it's the one thing you expect on console but NOT ON A PC. But sadly, you have to use it, many times
Second, it doesn't help, it often does more harm than good.
But anyway, if you start cheating (something you learn while trying to fix the umbrella bug) during the middle of the game, the experience won't be worse, the fights are just fun during the first half, believe me.

The platform aspect of the game is enjoyable, sure you miss a lot, but the game is very forgiving. The triple jump+floating sometimes makes it more a flight simulator than a platformer, but that's definitely enjoyable, and better than the first Alice.
I wasn't convinced about the shrinking replacing crouching at first, but it's actually very nice.

The level design.. well it's good, except for the "dolls" part that's really repetitive. But there's one problem with it: as I wrote, the artwork is wonderful, but it's just that, artwork. This is the kind of game for which the level design was made roughly, and then levels were filled with artwork, but NOT TOUCHING the "hit" geometry. That is, there are a lot of nicely crafted objects, mountains & all, but very rough hit boxes around them all, and you often see stuff that you can't climb on or pass under, just because they're only decoration.

But again, it looks amazing, you don't expect this quality for such a huge game. And actually, in the level you visit the most in the game (the town part), you can see what the artists can achieve when they put even more work, and it's gorgeous.
And of course, it's Alice, and she has a really great charism.

Oh, and the vocals. By mistake I played the french version, and thought it would have been a mistake, but no! The localization is EXCELLENT, and it's extremely rare (in fact, the last good localization I remember is in the first Alice). More, it's not just the vocals, even all of the signs in game have been translated with taste. The only few glitches are people speaking over themselves because french is typically longer, but that's rare enough.


So I believe that Madness Returns is a game that should have been a movie. The narration & graphics are amazing, it's more adult than the first Alice, and as a movie it would have blown Tim Burton's stuff. But I can't imagine this ever made as a movie, because a movie costs big money & thus has to be watchable by kids, which this game isn't at all (not so much because of the visuals but because of some of the subjects in the story).… Expand

I loved the first Alice game so much. The idea was great but the game was far from flawless. I still clocked it though. Now, the new one comes along and it is much, much better than the first game and yet somehow scored so low! I don't understand how it is worse than any other AAA game. Okay, maybe I do. It can get a bit repetitive sure, but that doesn't mean the game deserves 6! It easily deserves 8 out of 10 imo because of its amazing atmosphere, music, very good gfx, art style, nice dialogue, and reasonable action gameplay. I personally was expecting gameplay to be worse and as minimal as the first game but it actually surpassed my expectations. Though, I would like to be more puzzles like the first game. I am 3 hours or so into it and so far no serious or fun puzzles. But this game is a great action/platformer with art style that is unmatched. The amount of imagination put into this just is mind boggling and that is exactly what you expect from an Alice game. A bizarre world! Don't believe in the critics. Especially if you have played the first game and liked it.… Expand

A game with excellent platforming and level designs, sufficient length (10-15 hours), gorgeous art style and presentation with different fantasy worlds stitched together, engaging combat, snappy writing and great voice acting, a story that that you'll have to piece together, emphasizing Alice's dementia. Only brought down by a few annoyances like the lock-on camera or the mediocre sidescrolling minigames. Alice Madness Returns is a wonderful journey and a truly unique game.… Expand

This little game is one of the more inventive ones I've got the chance to see for the past years. More fun than the first Prince game after the trilogy and with quite a bit of style poured into Unreal 3. Alice's hair reminds me of Nvidia's Nalu. Giving it a 10 for great justice, as people are mostly overlooking this gem of a game.

There are two things to be said about Alice: Madness Returns.

One, it's the first game I was able to play top-bottom (25h and counting now) with NO crash or bugs. How many games there days come with no bugs at all? A minority have bugs that are related to hardware and drivers, not the game itself. Secondly, this game brings back the golden age of gaming where entertainment and fun where more important then raw number of fans or money made. It's platforming, it is easy, and it's majestic on it's simplicity. A fair change from the pointless shooters we all came to see as standard.

Make no mistakes, the game has it's downsizes, like some annoying aiming issues with ranged weapons (eventually you learn how to use it without pain), but the repetitiveness of level design is totally forgotten when you are eager to see the artwork, the stunning visuals, and - for your first play - get to learn more about Alice's past.

Some games are short and you play it several times to enjoy it's worth (at all), but Alice is long: instead of playing it 10 times, you will play it twice and still sum up more enjoyable memories than several other games combined.

And did I mention stunning graphics? a must-have… Expand

The art and music direction in this game are stunning. The platforming is quite fun and reminiscent of the great platformers of old. I enjoyed my play-through of Alice and will likely play it again at some point in the future, using the included Game+ mode. This game played flawlessly with no bugs or performance issues. A few of the puzzles are a bit tedious, and some of the jumping can get pretty brutal, but the presentation and style of the game are so tight it's easy to look past these issues. If you like puzzle platformers like the original Alice, this is a great game.… Expand

This game is awesome. I play it with a gforce 660M gpu, top resolution, it looks great and it runs smoothly. It is a console port, so keyboard and mouse won´t make the best gameplay experience, it´s better to play it with an xbox 360 controller. The controls are responsive, although i am having some camera issues specially when going to close rooms (i can´t rotate the camera in some places). All in all, don´t think twice to buy it if you have the machine and the controller to enjoy it at its best. Very fun, creepy, totally crazy ambient; freaky goth alice and some good fights. More than enough. Enjoy it!… Expand

The sequel isn't as good as the first one. Nothing new and innovative about gameplay, but American McGee's Alice doesn't revolve around that, it's about the atmosphere. Today you can rarely find a game with concept like this. Horror-psychological motives are well executed and quite fun, the intro video especially. I say just for that it deserves a 10.

I am a huge fan of the original and I loved most aspects of this game. While not photo-realistic the art design was fantastic and the physx effects (such as Alices hair) where amazing. The story was fairly well written, though a bit choppy in places and the game-play was a lot of fun. A worthy sequel, that being said I do have a few complaints. The lack of boss fights buged me a bit, the end of each chapter felt a bit weak because of it. Some chapters were a bit long, 3 and 5 in particular tended to drag on a be a bit repetitive. The weapons were decent, though I would have liked to see a larger arsenal. The game was reminiscent of Zelda in that you receive new weapons/tools each level but that stops halfway though (instead you get mini-games, which are fun, but not the same). The ending was a mixed bag, while the writing was interesting I felt it was a bit rushed and had a "wait that was it?" feel to it after all the buildup. Still I recommend this game to fans of the original, anyone who loves a good twisted story, and anyone who loves a good adventure. Still hope they make an American McGee movie, the Tim Burton movie was a bit weak and not nearly twisted enough.… Expand

Great Environments, classic gameplay - good customization.

Alice is not call of duty - somehow, I think that's what people (magazine reviewers) were expecting. However, I played Alice because I loved the first game - not because it was my job. I found it quite fun - I enjoy platformers, and that's what this game is primarily. Anyone who likes adventure games will love Alice madness returns.

I have finished this game and I am confused because I thought it was absolutely wonderful. It felt like a flash back to older platforms with better graphics, great story, and controls that don't get in the way and feel very natural. I see the invisible walls which often bother me in most games but here the world is so very interesting I don't really care that I can't go somewhere that it appears I might be able to. Also they have a great system that shows you important things so if there isn't a hint nearby you clearly can't go there. I wonder it the same people that complain about how formulaic games are getting yet give all the COD games 9-10 scores and give wonderful games like this crappy ones. I only came hear after playing the game because I wanted to see if other people thought the game was as absolutely amazing as I did. I was expecting to see 80s, 90s from all the reviewers and was completely caught off guard by the low marks.… Expand

This game is a piece of art. If you're looking for adrenalin rush, or for a game to be a fine tuned hypnotic machine to make you think you're l33t. This is not that game. It is a fine piece of art for those who want to explore a fantastic world artfully placed between genius and insanity.

Game reviewers these days are such morons. On one hand, they whine like dying cows when outsiders say game isn't art. On the other hand, when a truly artistic game comes out, they complain about gameplay being too repetitive and "irritating" then use that to slap on a low score.… Expand

Good: Really nice and varied environments, good platform based puzzles and game play, and really liked the double jump/glide. Some pretty disturbing parts and somewhat interesting story.

Bad:The negative side of this game is definitely how repetitive it feels, i did not finish it because after the water level i realized that if i kept playing it would be the same repetitive grind of almost the same thing but with different theme on the level.
Make it shorter and cheaper or make it less repetitive.… Expand

The graphics are the best I've ever seen! Because They Are Not perfect, but why is an amazing piece of art! Innovative gameplay up to see, soundtrack and Competent and well fulfills excellant role, but the most demanding gamers to get pros Can get repetitive and there are some bugs That hinder gambling. Certainly it is one of the best games of 2011 and Perhaps the best platform game this year, I recommend!… Expand

Well, first off, I should say that one of the first things I had to do after trying this game for the first time was to find out why my framerate was locked at 30. Turns out, the graphical engine is limited to 30 fps since thatâ

I loved Alice and was hoping for the same experience with Alice Madness Returns... and I almost got it. Both its predecessor and this game have always been essentially a "twisted" arcade game. You might want to look for the quarter slot on the side of your gaming device... BUT that does not mean that its not a fun game. It is pure entertainment with a bit of skill. Hardcore gamers will likely feel a let down, but the casual gamer will like this game. I thought the color and feel of the game was on the mark, although I felt the mechanics of it was a bit off (somewhat difficult to control from a PC). The game feels a bit rushed... not so much do to a lack of development, but rather on a misguided perception that gamers don't to spend too much time for detailed story development and they want to jump straight to the action. This may be true in a traditional FPS, but this game is meant to play more like a interactive story. The bottom line for me is that although the game does not quite make it to the level of story and skill as its predecessor... I do not regret (too much) that I pre-ordered it and paid full price. Do yourself a favor... hunt down an old copy of Alice and then take a swing at this game. Together I think you will find it a nice set.… Expand

Alice: MR is a simple 3D platformer with great environmental design and story pace. Puzzle and combat difficulty wise it's certainly between medium to low. But then I spent 15 hours on it (getting all the hidden stuff on my way) which means it has A LOT of content. The hidden elements reveals why Alice would have constructed such an environment that you're in, which is a very innovative approach.

It's that type of game which would burn some scenes into your mind and let you savor a bit of the psychology/ psychiatry world.… Expand

This is not an innovative game in the sense that it has come up with some brilliant new concept. Rather, the game is something of a throwback to the Crash Bandicoot series but it has taken the same childish simplicity and brought it into a mature context. The graphic designers have decided not to pursue realism, but rather have gone in a similar direction to that of the Bioshock series ââ… Expand

It is an amazing Game. Nothing more to say. Try it and you'll be caught by Alice, Wonderland and other interesting and unforgettable stuff for quite a long time.

A very creepy history on this game, and totally different from most common games in an uncommon way. many physx cool effects graphics are okay textures not so much . Game play is a bit hard with the excessive mouse movement. keyboard controls are okay. the game itself is interesting it will for sure absorb you on it, because it will take you to research some things, in order to achieve them you will have to fight monsters, solve some puzzles in "shrink" mode to go other places, go through hard ways where you will have to use your skills to avoid dying.
I found this game Good enough to recommend it to play or buy. I give this game a 9 because of the weird mouse movement and the lack of quests information that let you sometimes without knowing what to do.… Expand

An amazingly artistic game. Graphics, characters, story and art style are wonderful. I didn't regret for waiting ten years for a Alice sequel after had played this game. It is really shame that critics gave this game only 70 - 80 points. Do not afraid of bugs, most of them handled via patches.

It's not _that_ Alice. She is looking like a Frankenstein's monster in all senses.

That Alice died together with the queen of hearts. Ten years have been passed. She became older, sharper, darker and more... mature. Good news: main characters and some levels still have _that_ spooky madness spirit. The main attractor - great game atmosphere is not lost.
Bad news: game-play is not solid. It looks like a mishmash of quite unrelated parts. If in the first part most of small puzzles were entertaining, in this game they are boring and disturbing. Great art and design. Quite faded game-play. That's why she is good but not one of the best.… Expand

The game is what it is, a platformer with no real surprises from start to finish. It adds in new puzzles, and new enemies as you go along, but there's no real gameplay changes. Overall a VERY fun game, and unexpectedly challenging at times.

Critics got this one wrong, this game has great graphics, originality, and is a lot of fun - user score of 8.6 is about right.. Gameplay reminds me of Darksiders-has shooter, slasher and explosive weapons.......twisted storyline......pick it up on Steam next time it is on sale - well worth it.

Amazing visuals. I believe the visuals alone could tell the story, it's extremely atmospheric, and it handles it self amazingly on all fronts. I absolutely adore A:MR. I hope that they make a sequel.

The graphical style is by far the best thing about this game - it may not be hyper-modern, but it's so cute and imaginative, the environments change completely with each chapter and Alice's outfits and movements are perfect. The combat is hectic, sometimes a bit confusing and quite difficult, but not frustrating. On the PC, controls and camera have some issues. Overall, it's a very good take on the contemporary "platformer game", and it fortunately retains everything that was good about American McGee's Alice.… Expand

Stunning art style, great music and sound design, solid voice acting and story presentation, good platforming and (albeit simple) combat all wrapped up a great 12-15hour package with tons of unlockable costumes and collectables. Not to mention the first Alice game for free (origin release) all together gives you a ton of bang for your buck. The only thing stopping it from 10 status are technical issues and some repetition in the combat. Overall HIGHLY recommended to anyone who likes action-platformers.… Expand

Let me start off by saying that if you liked the first alice, then you'll LOVE this one. The game is simply amazing. From the extensive amount of detail to the art direction it does nothing less than blow your mind. As a plus, if you happen to have an NVIDIA card you'll be enjoying even more in-depth effects from this masterpiece as it takes full advantage of PHYSX. Pages flying in the wind, leaves, small particles moving from your feet, more detail to the animations, destructible floors, volumetric smoke, real-time fluids. Simply amazing. The music doesn't dissapoint either, it's right there with the twisted tunes from the first game. I don't want to spoil the game, but let's just say it's very long, twisted, and diverse as far as the artwork goes. If you want this to be a magical trip to your worst nightmares then this game delivers. I have no idea why it's getting 'okay' reviews from the critics because apart from the lack of multiplayer this game is just pure gold. 10/10 from me.… Expand

If there's one thing I expected with the second game, it was not to be disappointed. And it delivered. It delivered oh so well. Where do I even begin? This new iteration of Alice appears to be bigger and better in every way. There is a plethora of collectibles, bonus objectives, the so-called "memories", etc., but none of them are boring or tedious to get.There is a huge variety of clothing for Alice as well.
The intro cinematic is macabre, moody, dark, pulls you in the moment it starts and sets the mood perfectly.

The music..Let's just say that while I was disappointed at first that Chris Vrenna is only doing one track for the new game, the new composer nails it perfectly and does a fantastic job. Most of the pieces are outstanding in their own, like the main theme, some of the battle music.They do a flawless job of enhancing the atmosphere without being intrusive.
They're errie yet beautiful.They juggle your mood from sadness to hope.The style of music itself is somewhat different from the original game, but the QUALITY is in no way worse.

The controls are fluid and require little getting used to, they just seem natural and aren't that hard to master.The camera is great, rotation is very helpful and the ability to go intro first person is a great touch.Alice's movements are great, her motion capture is very well done, her facial expressions are great.

Mostly every NPc you encounter actually has something to say - not random gibberish, mind you.And Alice often responds.

Which brings us to the next major strong point of the game - the vocie acting and dialogue.
I'd lie through my teeth if I said I didn't expect both to be top-notch, but I was still very, very pleased with what they did.
The dialogue is witty, doesn't feel forced, lines are often cryptic and metaphoric, they perfectly fit with the dark tone the game sets by shrouding a lot of what is said in mystery. The vocie acting..It's just perfect, I can't say much about that.There are fcew NPCs that aren't on par, but the ones who stand out the most are Alice and Dr. Bumby (for me, at least.)

The game has a great variety of characters, all unique, all interesting, all with their separate personalities and you're often left wondering what are their real intentions.

Combat has been flawless so far. I loved how McGee and his team preserved the core original style, but brought much innovation into the sequel's.Weapons are over-the-top, extremely fun to use and original.
What I love even more is that fighting requires tactic - you can't win by just sitting and spamming one attack in one place. The game knows the player wants a challenge and rightfully delivers.
Every weapon, naturally, has its own tactics, much like in the original game.

The graphics, while not being exactly groundbreaking (but who said they have to be?) are quite something - Alice herself, the locations, enemies all look gorgeous and there is extreme attention to detail in a lot of departments. Of course, there are the occasional blurry textures absolutely every game has, but that is is no way adetriment to the enjoyment of how good the twisted, yet beautiful Wonderland and its inhabitants look.Alice in particular is quite detailed, her hair flows around very naturally while jumping/running and her movements are believable and more or less realistic. The game utilizes the Unreal engine and does a very good job at using its potential.

The gameplay is everything I expected and much, much more.
A platforming game in a gorgeous setting with detailed environments and interesting puzzles that seem to find the perfect balance - as in, they're not that hard to figure out, but the game won't spoonfeed you what to do, either. And I love that. And finally, the storyline.
It's just fantastic.Deep, immersive, gritty, macabre, enchanting, depressing.
It's flawlessly paced, flawlessly told and perfectly presented.
Helping Alice overcome her sorrow, guilt and escape from the depths of her madness is something you truly take to heart if you let the world of the game suck you in (which it has no trouble doing.)
In the spirit of keeping this spoiler-free, let's just say that the game offers everything the original did and much more, and does an even better job at doing it.

Overall, this game is more or less a shining gem that every fan of platforming adventure, mingled with tactical combat needs to try out.
It's beautiful, dark, thrilling, and a stunning journey to the depths of insanity.
Perfect score for being a perfect game.… Expand

Fantastic visuals, twisted plot, fun game play. If you liked the original American McGee's Alice, you'll love Madness Returns.

Cute yet creepy environments that are beautifully detailed abound in this successor to the original. The controls are well done, but could be slightly better. Summary, if you liked the first one, you'll love this. Classic platforming at it's best.

Never written a review for metacritic but this game is exceptionally good and unusual and has been really poorly treated by most critics. Like the original this is a gold plated quirky cult classic. If you like alice, creepy victoriana, the film labyrinth, macabre wonderlands or just old fashioned platforming gameplay you'll love this. Writing and art were great throughout - the story, weaves nicely throughout he many wonderlands - broken up by passages in a grisly grey london populated by hogarthian grotesques. It's easy to see why alice prefers to live in her own head. It's big too - i spent 20 hours in there according to steam trying to find all the secrets and memories. Excellent use of cake too, really enjoyed this!… Expand

Alice: MR doesn't bring much new to the platforming genre, but it should stop anyone from purchasing it. The graphics might be a tad dated, but the art is fantastic and I don't think I've seen such uniqueness before. The story is good if not a bit chilling. The only knock I can make on this game is the mouse acceleration is tad overpowering, enough for me to plug in an Xbox controller- but I usually prefer to play 3rd person platformers with a controller. I have no idea how the critic score can not be in the 80s+, they obviously didn't buy the game with their own money or they wouldn't have been disappointed.… Expand

Alice: Madness Returns is a platforming game for platformer fans.

The bulk of the criticism this game seems to receive is due to how "dated" the gameplay feels, and how similar it is to platformer games of the previous years, but is that really a bad thing?

Fans of the first game, and of other platformers to have been released over the past several years (Psychonauts for example) will enjoy the gameplay, as it's relatively the same gameplay we've seen. You traverse through a variety of levels, killing enemies that you come across.

The main selling point of this game is the graphics and art style, which feature a dark, twisted, almost Burten-esque view of the tradition Wonderland from the original source material (not like the CGI movie of his). Each world has a drastically different theme, ranging from steampunk styled castles, to a twisted doll/toybox level.

If there's a downside to this game, it would have to be the minigames that occur in almost each level. Just about each level has their own unique minigames which you'll play several times throughout, raning from a sidescrolling arcade type shooter, to a sidecrolling platformer (akin to the old Mario games), and even a marble blast type minigame in which you control a doll's head. At first these games are quirky and interesting, providing a decent break from the main gameplay, but they become redundant and boring after a while.… Expand

The keyboard+mouse controls are a bit odd at first but you will get used to them after a few combats. The grim/creepy atmosphere is what made the game awesome for me. The graphics are OK, nothing too great but not bad either. The music is also nice. The story isnt so great, and they also rushed the ending in my opinion. I haven't played the first title so I can't compare the two, but its a good game.… Expand

I don't know why people hate it, but I like this game. It is a wicked twist on Alice In Wonderland, and it is better than it sounds. There are many collectibles and "memories" you get throughout the game. There are also a lot of things you can do throughout the game. And it has a decent difficulty too. I have no idea why people are complaining about mouse controls, it's pretty normal to me. I have to say, I did not expect this. I expected non-stop blood and gore, but the story is a treat. The graphics are pretty good, and it's compatible with an Xbox gamepad. All I have to say is that it is a bit repetitive, but that's normal for this kind of game. Overall this is an amazing game, and I don't know what all of the hate is about. 9/10… Expand

This was quite an enjoyable game. The scenery in the levels is quite well done, the enemies are unique and the dark story line kept me playing. The only issues I had were lag problems when too much was going on at once, even on a powerful computer. Also, the occasional poor camera angle, but for a platformer that issue was few and far between. Very enjoyable.

One of the best games of 2011. In times of short and easy action games we get incredible hardcore adventure showed in unique graphic style. It was hard to beat previous Alice but they did it. I cannot wait for next episode of psychodelic crazy trip with Alice.

I have found this game to be really quite fun. The layout of wonderland is always well done, and can go from beautiful and peaceful, to very bleak and empty. I enjoyed the gameplay, although I can see why others may have found some aspects repetitive. The voice acting was very good, with a odd but otherwise fairly solid plot. I would happily recommend this game.

I Don't know how this game can have so high score?!
First - this is the pale shadow of the idea of American MC Gee Alice. The story/dialogue writer is very INCOMPETENT and UNTALENTED. He wanted to be and to make something of this mess, but he could not. No skills.
Boring dialogues, confused, long story without any proper turning point.
As some kind of irony devs put the first Alice too, so you can compare very easy this crap with a masterpiece.

Two - the gameplay is very frustrating - most of the times. Repetitive puzzles and even more repetitive enemies.
On the tech side - this game is half-backed console port. I Don't know why we have to suffer and to be punished without proper savegame, to have some stupid checkpoints, which are extreme rare and vary far if you die. Sometimes half level is without checkpoint, which is madness if you play with keyboard and mouse. Why?! Because no one from the developers had an idea that keyboard and mouse are standard gaming equipment for PC.
Dear developers: IF YOU WANT TO PUBLISH YOUR MISERABLE PORTS ON PC THAN MAKE THEM TO BE PLAYABLE FOR PC!!!
There is no proper video and audio settings too. No depth of field switching off, no motion blur... and there is even no switch for anisotropy. No proper audio options - number of channels, and so on...
This game have only 2-3 interesting levels and that's IT. If anyone out there is a fan of the AMG Alice, than DO NOT buy this port. You will ruin your memory of the firs one and maybe your nerves.… Expand

The new Alice is... wonderful! I hate platformers but this is the best game I've played since... a long time... VtM Bloodlines perhaps? And it's probably the best non-strategy and non-crpg game I've ever played! The music reminds me of Arcanum, the graphic is beautiful, the art direction is ingenious - black & white victorian city, colorful wonderland which manages to be gritty at the same time... I'm sick of retarded reviewers giving **** like all CoDs, BFs, Bioware games etc automatically 8-10/10 while underrating true pearls, like Alice Madness Returns or Tension: The Void. Gaming journalism is a big and gritty joke, it only serves as an additional PR campaign for popular companies. Ignore the reviews of imbeciles who fap to newest CoD or Mass Effect because it has blue alien sex and play GOOD games instead, like this one.… Expand

i love it! the visual effects are amazing with the high physical effects, and the art style is righteous, live on alice! haven't played through it yet but i'm enjoying what i have so far.

Nowadays, gaming companies have been influenced largely by money and greed. There aren't many studios left, that actually put love to their work. But in Alice: Madness Returns, it proves this argument wrong. The effort put into the making of Alice used into a large degree from a small pebble to the stunningly bizarre and hauntingly beautiful world, to the visage of Alice herself, and everything that surrounds her.… Expand

Pure Art. This game is absolutely fabulous. The characters could use a bit of development in terms of writing, but I was in love with her from the start, and the graphics are unlike anything I've ever seen.

One of the best sequels I have ever played. Managing to stay true to the original atmosphere if only a bit more colored, which you will see was not a bad thing, this game delivers like nothing else. Think Mass Effect 2 and The Witcher 2 only without any actual content removed just changed. Along with the genius atmosphere which you have to experience for yourself to understand the graphical engine shows almost no signs of ever being Unreal 3 except for the shiny blood smears and occasional texture clipping (like Alice's hair right at the begining). The characters are spectacular even compared to the standard the first game set (or any other game in the batsh*t insane artstyle). The gameplay is loads of fun with actually interesting secrets to find and well collectibles are collectibles theres only so many seashells/teapots one can break before going mad. The was one thing that kind of annoyed me, the mouse seemed to have a much greater sensibility for left-right than up-down. I have to say the critics reviews as of 16/6/2011 surprise me greatly with their rather low scores as this is certainly one of the top games to come this year. Not that I mind this game remaining a bit more obscure just like the first one, I'll treasure it like my one personal wonderland :)
PS: It comes with a free copy of the first American McGee's Alice. While some might say that is because the game was rushed I hope more games would offer previous titles for free...… Expand

Perhaps it is because I grew up during the era when platform games were king, but I adored each and every moment of Alice: Madness Returns. The game mechanics while simple are a throw back to the days of Mario 64, with fluid platforming and a host of secret areas and unlockables to find. The environments are stunning, the settings haunting yet serenely beautiful all wrapped up with a truly emotional plot and music score. A very worthy successor to the original American McGee's Alice.… Expand

Amazing art and truly an homage to Lewis Carroll classic. The game-play is solid and the diversity of the different chapters delivers an interesting challenge for platforms and actions aficionados. Above everything else that was released this year so far. Similar experience to the Batman Arkham Asylum in a lot of ways, same spirit of dedication to gamers. Hail to Spicy Horse.

A worthy sequel to an already established amazing game.
Manages to be "modern" without falling into design choices which are associated with this era's gaming.

This is one of the best action games I have played so far. It is a mix of such classic games as Conkerâ

1) Art: The amazing art direction is still there. I see a lot of things in Alice: Madness Returns that they probably wanted to do in the original but the technology wasn't really up to it at the time. The attention to detail and the uniqueness of the settings compared to what we often get in most other games these days is pretty amazing. The last few areas in particular are really immersive and quite creepy.

2) Graphics: On max settings, the graphics are actually pretty impressive thanks to the unreal engine. The graphics do not look photo-realistic, but they are not meant to. For the most part, the texture work is quite well done, along with the rest of the art assets. There are a few low resolution textures here or there, but not enough to ruin the experience. One potential annoyance, however, is that the game is by default capped at 30fps. This seems like a strange choice to me, and luckily it can be fixed by editing an .ini file.

3) Physx: Some people don't seem to like physx, but I think these are mostly the people who either don't have a gpu that supports it in hardware, or they haven't bothered to try the game with physx. In this game, the physx adds a lot to the immersion. You get nice volumetric smoke and fog effects, apex destructible objects, cloth and hair physics, dust and other environment particles, fluid simulations, etc. If you haven't seen the game with physx enabled, you are definitely missing out. The subtle physics effects in this game are part of what makes it so beautiful in action.

4) Sound: The sound is quite good and very fitting for the different scenarios. The voice acting is excellent and really gives personality to the characters. The sound effects are well designed and of course everything sounds great in a surround set up. Jason Tai replaces Chris Vrenna this time around for the soundtrack and he doesn't disappoint. The music varies a fair amount, but always has a bit of a dark or sad edge to it.

5) Gameplay: The gameplay is relatively simple as with the original. Alice: Madness Returns does improve on the original in a lot of ways though. Aside from simply having more mechanics, the enemy encounters feel more dire and are more engaging. You do have to use different tactics for each enemy, which wasn't so much the case with the first one. There's more little minigames and puzzles and stuff like that too. Each weapon really feels like it has its place.

6) Story: If you enjoy dark, gothic, Victorian aesthetics, you will like this. It might be said that perhaps because of the nature of the story, the game is more linear than it could otherwise have been, but I don't see this as a real problem. I'm fine with linearity if it's done to support good storytelling, and I think that's what we get here. I will say that I am a bit surprised with just how dark the story turned out to be. They touched on some topics I wouldn't have expected, adding a level of maturity often not seen here.

7) Conclusion: I think that the sequel definitely lives up to the original. Everything about the original is done just as well and often quite a bit better.

As I said, the game is relatively simple, but that's not a bad thing. It's a beautiful game, and more importantly, it's very fun. Just exploring the different environments and seeing the sights is worth the price of admission I think. Some who are looking for more action may disagree and claim that the game is boring, but if you have a bit of patience and an appreciation for unique and inspired art design, I think you will have fun here.

If you're the type of person who likes old-school platformers or the original Alice, I'm pretty sure you'll like this game. The platforming elements are done well, the controls are slick, although I recommend using a pad for this. Trying to do the jumping puzzles with a mouse and keyboard is not as easy.

7) Rating: I don't like giving ratings, but if I had to give this one it'd probably be 9.5/10. One point missing because I feel that there are many other cool ideas that could have been in the game that weren't, but I understand that games have to be published in a given timeframe with a given budget, and I don't feel let down at all by what I've experienced so far. What they did choose to put in the game is great. Indeed, playing this has been one of the more enjoyable gaming experiences I've had this year for sure, and probably longer.

Finally, I hope they release a demo so that people can experience this cool game and decide for themselves. I think a lot of the reviews from the big gaming sites are misleading (I wonder how many of them played and enjoyed the original?) and probably will turn some people away from the game who would really have enjoyed it. If you look back, the original Alice didn't get such great ratings from many places either, but down the road it was definitely recognized as a gem. I think this will be the same.… Expand

i loved the original alice back in the day. i still have the box sitting amidst a few other cherished games on my book shelf. even that original game was more or less your average platformer in mechanics. but it really was a twisted puzzlebox of madness. the atmosphere, the music.. alice's cold intelligent wit, that bastardly tricky and yet wise "mangy cat", the warped revisions of rabbit, the queen of hearts, mad hatter, the insane environments you wound yourself through, with hacksaw like resolve. floating off into lifelike dream/nightmare realms that you swear you've felt or seen before. all reflecting into alice's eyes as she peers into the looking glass ;)
this sequel is all of that 2 the Nth degree.
beautiful graphics,
music, atmosphere, story.
exactly what i wanted to play. and im so glad that it was created for me 2 play it. lol.
i beat it. and now im sad. that its over. and find myself hoping for a 3rd.
or a movie. or something. maybe a graphic novel. XD.
anyway. yea. someone said something about it being not unlike a much darker zelda or banjo kazooie somewhere.. i actually told a co-worker that. its a little more linear than either of those games. but that doesn't really take away from it in my opinion.

overall, it has that same special something that the original had.
and if you enjoyed it the first time,
i imagine you'll enjoy this return to it.
i certainly did.… Expand

It's an absolutely beautiful game. It starts off a little slow and "ugly" when compared to later parts of the game (don't let this put you off!) but it soon becomes a blast of a game bringing platforming elements back into the spotlight in gorgeous environments (I almost sound gay!). Not only does it look good but it plays well too with puzzles and sequences I'd have to have to navigate without my mouse. Also the dodging is super cool with the fairly fun combat thrown in to shake things up (although sometimes I feel like I cheated by stanging behind this rock pillar to prevent this huge monster from getting to me...stepping to the side every now and again to pepper him).

It has fantastic length, doesn't make itself too easy (which is probably why only an idiot will ever rate a game as "0" - we're never going to take you seriously with a score like that you silly little 8 year old) and yet it's absolute fun to play! I'll admit that it does tire one out a little (after 4 hour stretches my mind was saying "enough for now - gimme a break") however it's nice to take a break anyway to come back to this masterpiece (for the OCD friends out there you'll love this one...some objects you'll be hunting for are cleverly hidden in some of the most obvious places that we just seem to overlook).

One more thing - there are these little bits in the game where you enter a painting and play a sort of mini-game - in this mini game it's a side scrolling platformer where you need to control alice again - how refreshing! There is a similar sort of game when you head underwater but I'm not going to ruin that!… Expand

Great game, consisting of a mixture of prince of Persia warrior within and devil may cry. Games of this kind are rare, but on the PC and completely exclusive. Fans of slasher genre and "unusual" action games need to educate.

This is the sequel that i've waited SO long for and it delivered with flying colors!
Darker than ever, Stunning visuals and an Awesome story..
i'm very satisfied and impressed.
10years worth the wait :)

I've already rated this twice, first a 7 then a 5. I haven't finished the game, it is long, but I started enjoying myself much more after getting past Chapter 2. Chapter 3 is much better, and the start of 4 looks promising. Quite an enigma of a game this, as many other reviews will testify. The quality dips up and down but on the whole, it's a good and quite psychedelic experience. The gameplay suffers from repeating the same tasks and puzzles over and over, but when the combat gets going it really is fun - it's a shame that the flow of the game isn't consistent, as there are moments when I ask myself "Gosh, is this really worth it?". The answer, so far, is yes; every time I've been frustrated, exhausted, or just plain bored, there's always been something to make up for it around the corner. Strange game.… Expand

um jogo lindo de se jogar, bem diferente de tudo que estamos acostumados, ótimo para se ter como um segundo jogo para fugir da mesmice de sempre. Muito bom de se jogar,.
Parabéns pela coragem dos criadores em acreditar em um jogo tão diferente de todo

Definitely needs, at a minimum, a major patch. Some custom keyboard controls vanish on reloads (my forward key was mapped to F and every time I die and restart, I have to remap it (even though it still displays as being mapped to F). The camera and movement controls are horrible when in tight spaces (especially in the tiny, secret rooms one finds when shrunk). Combat is clunky and inconsistent and I rarely feel like I'm doing more than dodge-attack-attack-attack-attack.

The first game was among my favorites and this had (has!) the potential to get there, but it's so buggy and unfinished that until it gets a major update, it's a coaster, for me. If it weren't for the potential that I see, I'd give it a 1.… Expand