Wednesday, August 18, 2010

American McGee's Alice Review

Game:  American McGee's Alice
Year:  2000
Company:  dev. Rogue Entertainment, prod. EA
Engine:  id Tech 3
Type:  Third-Person Shooter, Platformer


American McGee

Who the hell is American McGee?  He's a guy, and that's his real name.  He got his start as a level tester on Wolfenstein, and then worked for id in the nineties on the Doom and Quake games.  Although he did sound effects and other things, he primarily was a level designer.  Now he makes his own games.  For fans of the band Dredg, he directed the video for "Same Old Road."


Plot/General Gameplay

After returning from Wonderland, Alice's parents die in a house fire and she is put in an asylum.  The white rabbit tells her to save wonderland, and down the rabbit hole she goes!  It's more complicated than that, but I don't want to ruin the ending.

The game reminded me of Tomb Raider in some ways.  There's lots of jumping to do, and some simple puzzles here and there.  The graphics are pretty much par for the time, but the water effects stand out.  The scenery and characters are all dark and twisted.  There's a lot of creativity in the look of things.  Level design is very linear.


Audio

The music fit the mood, and wasn't bad.  The voice acting (especially Alice) was great.


What is Unique?

It's a nightmare version of wonderland.  The cheshire cat looks demonic and Alice attacks with a knife.  Taking a children's tale and making it twisted, that's what's unique.

Combat 

Do you like to throw knives?  You'll be using your knife (the first weapon) a whole lot.  I only used about half of the weapons.  The half I didn't use ranged from crappy to completely horrible.  In many shooters, the weapons are balanced, each being useful in its own way, and the fact that it wasn't so in Alice was a downer.

Every enemy drops health and ammo when killed, making things easier.  Some of the bosses are very difficult.


Final Thoughts

If you played this game when it came out and you love it, good.  I thought it was ok but didn't age well.  If you can get this game for free, it'll give you something to do for a week or two.  Unless you're nostalgic, I would not recommend buying this (the cheapest use copy on eBay is fifty bucks).

A sequel, Alice: Madness Returns is due out in 2011.  Checking out photos and a plot synopsis, it looks and sounds like the original, but with better graphics.  I'd wait to hear more before I decide to play the sequel.  And if you're looking for the trailer, there is a short teaser on the EA site.  There is also a fan-made, not official trailer that comes up in searches, so just be sure to check if what you are watching is the real deal or somebody's film class project.

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