Video Game Review: Visually Striking ‘Alice: Madness Returns’ Almost Works But Falls Just Short

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CHICAGO – We’ve all played games that start frustrating but eventually find an engaging rhythm. And we’ve all played games that start off successfully but fall apart over time. Rarely has there ever been a game that straddles that line for more of its playing time than “Alice: Madness Returns.” I regularly felt like the game was about to click into place and live up to its immense potential but then those feelings would fade. It’s far from a complete disaster but this long-awaited sequel is the definition of “almost works.”

Video Game Rating: 3.0/5.0

The biggest problem with “Alice: Madness Returns” is an abundance of repetition. What starts promising fades as you face the same annoying enemies over and over again across multiple chapters. The world of “Alice in Wonderland” is so ripe with potential that one would think that different chapters of a new story would have different enemies. There are some new bosses and some new backgrounds to mark progression but, for the most part, you’re fighting the same bizarre creatures known as the “Ruin” ad nauseam. It got to the point that when a new Ruin enemy would pop up, I’d roll my eyes. They’re boring enemies that often take too long to kill to be entertaining. It’s not that they’re difficult, but that they’re dull, the worst thing one can say about an action game.

Alice: Madness Returns
Photo credit: EA

To be fair (and here’s where we get into that aforementioned balance of pros and cons), the combat in “Alice: Madness Returns” can be surprisingly fluid once you master it and the weapon variety is clever and well-designed. Switching from your knife to a pepper grinder to a giant hobby horse that you can use as a club, along with some very smooth dodging mechanics…it’s easy to get swept up in the actual combat of the title and ignore the flaws. That’s the overall feeling you’ll have with the game — sometimes the flaws can be covered up by the adrenalin of the combat, but you know they’re still there.

Alice: Madness Returns Photo credit: EA

“Alice: Madness Returns” picks up immediately after the action of the beloved “American McGee’s Alice” (which was released in 2000 to high acclaim and is included with the new game although it’s a one-time only download to discourage people from buying this title used — but you can always buy it for $10 on Xbox Live or PSN). The legendary Alice lives in Victorian London and has seemingly come to terms with the mental issues that served as the foundation for the first game. Of course, “Madness Returns” pretty quickly after Alice meets with a doctor and dredges up memories of the fire that killed her family and made her crazy in the first place. Before you know it, Alice is off to magical lands, but the story keeps flashing back to London between chapters, making it clear that these worlds are merely the dreamscape of a tormented girl.

With the potential of Lewis Carroll’s creation plus the world of dreams, the visuals in “Alice: Madness Returns” are sure to be strong and the game does feature some memorable set pieces and nightmarish level design. It’s just that it never develops a consistency in that department. The first chapter of the game feels the most like Carroll’s novel with the Mad Hatter making an appearance and Alice bouncing off giant mushrooms while talking to the Cheshire Cat. From there, however, things get a little funky. The second chapter is underwater and subsequent chapters are heavily based on old-fashioned platforming — jumping from place to place and avoiding the abyss. Despite the inconsistency, there are some striking graphics in “Madness Returns” that nearly make it worth playing on their own. I just wish they were more coherently connected into the overall experience.

I also wish they were more consistent within levels. At one point, you’ll be stunned at the beauty of a room you just entered and the next you’ll be surprised at the generic backgrounds at which you are looking. The game is heavily based on collection as Alice can shrink to find hidden rooms with collectible items but even finding those can be frustrating. Sometimes they’re so obvious that they might as well be under flashing neon signs while other times the graphics make it look like something should be there but isn’t — almost as if the game is incomplete at points.

Every problem with “Alice: Madness Returns” is simple enough that they could be easily overlooked if the game didn’t commit the ultimate sin of the action platformer — repetition. If you’re annoyed by an enemy, trust that you’ll be annoyed again. If a graphic doesn’t look right, you’ll probably see it again. And the game’s puzzle structure — find a lever, press a button, kill an enemy — gets tiresome after awhile. Alice’s world should be one that we can’t wait to revisit, not one that we feel we’ve been to before in better games.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]