Alice: Madness Returns (2011)

McGee returns for the sequel to American McGee's Alice; here, we meet up with Alice a year after her release from Rutledge Asylum, which helped her to conquer the fears of losing her family in a huge conflagration that took down their home. Under the care of a man named Dr. Bumby, Alice slowly begins to realize that there is something wrong with her memories: they are broken, and pieces keep resurfacing in order to tell her that there is something amiss about the fire that destroyed her life. Delving back into the Wonderland that she created in order to escape from the hell that her life had become, Alice finds that her imaginary word is slowly being destroyed by a strange train. She quickly realizes that she must stop the train, or lose the truth forever. 

The most memorable aspect of this game is the lush and absolutely insane world created by McGee. It runs rampant with psychological imagery along with just the imagery instilled in the original story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Starting off in a vividly bright forest that eventually follows a path to the infamous Duchess. One by one you will encounter the players from both the previous game and the book, each who do their best in giving Alice the pieces of the puzzle that she must complete to aide her in restoring order to Wonderland: if controlled chaos can be considered order. My particularly favorite level was that of the Queen of Hearts' realm; it's about halfway into the game, and as you have Alice progress further and further, the world around you becomes fractured. 

The Queen's Great Hall doesn't hold a candle to her heart chambers.

The Queen's realm is jagged and shattered, causing Alice to have to jump from nearly falling platform to nearly falling platform. But once you reach any inner part of the Queen's sanctum, the walls transform into the inner linings of organs, with various parts pulsing and moving around you as though you are now inside of a living organism. In fact, it's not unlike the cardiovascular system found within your own body. Each step elicits a squish, bringing the sensory aspects of the environment full circle (and I'm sure that if I could have smelled it, that too would have been appropriate). The Queen will attempt to stop you with ripped up Card Guards as well as her own tentacles. Yes, you heard me right, the Queen has the makings of a tentacle monster. But the effect is both sexual and horrifying in nature, which is unique only to the Queen's level: each preceding and following level has similar aspects that are solely for that particular section of Alice's Wonderland. The overall effect is wonderful and definitely a treat for anyone with a sweet tooth for environmental aesthetics. 

Facing off with Card Guards, Alice brandishes the well known vorpal blade.

Everything is also lined with various psychological aspects that become more distorted as one moves deeper and deeper into Alice's mind. A great example of this is the Doll Land, essentially the playground for the entity who is making itself at home in Alice's head and destroying her memories. When you first enter, the world is filled with eye popping color that outlines various toys that have been mauled and transformed into something that a serial killer might create. Dolls without eyes, toys embedded with nails, blood writing on the walls - it's incredibly in depth. But after a certain point, the entire place flip flops and becomes even darker than previously believed possible. All of the color is sapped from the game, doll heads float in jars, and taxidermy animals combined with other bits and pieces all create the player's level. It's compounded by this incredibly annoying minigame that you have to play at certain sections, where Alice is reduced to nothing more than a doll's head, a pawn in the player's hand, and then you must navigate a maze of moving parts. A good representation of how Alice feels used, no?

Even the enemies of the game are fairly unique, both those that are assisting whatever is causing the trouble in Alice's head and those that are native to each level. For instance, the level that houses the all knowing Caterpillar is populated by grasshoppers and other insects that adopt Japanese aesthetics and are made out of folded paper. Appropriately, the enemies are dressed as samurai, and attack with swords. The enemies that are native in each level are creative and match the theme of each various level; those that assist the overall malevolent force are less so. Globs of tar or perhaps ink, they have empty doll faces floating on their bulbous surfaces and make anguished baby noises when attacked. They have various forms: they can crawl along the ground, float in the air, be massive and breathe fire, and some even hurl projectiles. 

Alice lands a blow on an eyeless, nude baby doll with hooked hands.

Unfortunately, the game is definitely weighed down by some gameplay issues - I was almost stopped completely from finishing the first level when a glitch prevented me from engaging in combat with a boss. After some quick and simple code work, I was able to get past it, but not all gamers are savvy enough to seek out this kind of solution and would rather just wait for a patch; one that was apparently never forthcoming as I could not locate one. On top of that, the gameplay does get a little repetitive. Though some enemies require a varied form of attack, in the end one could essentially take everything out with just the Pepper Grinder. The puzzles are certainly enticing, and I think my favorite were a few chess games that I had to complete in order to make more progress through the Queen's realm. 

Overall, people who enjoy quirky games with a heavy dose of cynicism and riddles should definitely look into this one. If you're a PC player like me, it's available on Steam for $29.99.