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Alice: Madness Returns Review

Alice battles her own warped Wonderland in an attempt to restore sanity. Clever combat and simple platforming ensures Alice doesn't lose her head.

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Platforming is the biggest component in Madness Returns and thankfully it proves to be very slick. Alice easily jumps on moving platforms and can gracefully float long distances. She can perform agile double and triple jumps to gain distance and height. She can move along invisible platforms which briefly become visible after shrinking. Jets of steam allow her to float high above and continue on her way. Clockwork bombs placed on pressure switches permit Alice to make a timed dash over a temporary platform and targets can be destroyed to open up pathways. As she moves throughout Wonderland she can also collect items and memories.
 
The upgraded Hobby Horse has a brutally satisfying final swing
The upgraded Hobby Horse has a brutally satisfying final swing

No platformer would be complete without the collectibles Alice can pick up along the way. Teeth are sparsely distributed throughout the world and they provide currency for weapon upgrades and a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. Hidden memories reveal more about Alice from characters around her. Alice uses roses for health and they recharge excruciatingly slowly after shrinking inside flowers. Health and teeth can be collected from containers and enemies although you won’t get teeth drops when in hysteria mode. The number of maximum health roses is upgraded after completing a range of side tasks. Fortunately the game provides frequent save points should Alice happen to fall.

The game is very generous with checkpoints so there is no need to be too careful when jumping about. Falling off a ledge will take you only a few jumps before your demise or, if you are lucky, one jump ahead. This helps the jumping segments progress quickly and smoothly. Jumps during the last few chapters are trickier but not frustrating, involving weights and longer, hasty triple jumps. Controls are smooth and responsive with both the 360 controller and keyboard. When in combat the game prevents you from falling from platforms if you move near an edge. Combat and platforming elements are reused but rarely do they get too monotonous.

Variety comes in the form of new themed enemies and vivid, fresh worlds to explore. An efficient use of Unreal Engine 3 provides a healthy balance of crazy, logical and artistic landscapes. Not a lot of the design is crazy but the final chapters are more outrageous. Alice visits frozen tundra, an Asian themed mountain and ventures along the bottom of the sea. Music did become very grating during my journey. Most of the music consists of a few dull chords repeated frequently enough to wear me down mentally, thankfully music can be muted. Throughout these locales Alice can shrink to find hidden areas or participate in short activities to keep things fresh.
 
2D platforming is just one of the diversions for Alice
2D platforming is just one of the diversions for Alice
 
Some of the hidden areas are lazy single rooms while others consist of fun platforming sequences. Certain unexpected, brief puzzles or gameplay variations help break up the pacing. These variations might see Alice sliding down long ramps to collect teeth and avoid obstacles akin to a racing game. She can solve sliding puzzles, move chess pieces about and participate in some neat 2D platforming among other ideas. None of these side tasks remain around for long, some should have been used more, but they are refreshing diversions.
Comments
Alice: Madness Returns
Alice: Madness Returns box art Platform:
PC
Our Review of Alice: Madness Returns
77%
Good
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
Alice: Madness Returns is ranked #697 out of 1957 total reviewed games. It is ranked #69 out of 103 games reviewed in 2011.
696. MotorStorm: Apocalypse
PlayStation 3
697. Alice: Madness Returns
698. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
PlayStation 3
Screenshots

Alice: Madness Returns
24 images added Jul 2, 2011 06:18
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