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.

Posted by Ben Thomas on July 2, 2011 - 6:47am EST

When in combat the repetition is reduced because the game throws different enemies types at you. You will be fighting slugs, dolls, wasps, crabs, card guards, sailors and some who use crockery for shields. Very few of the enemies are frustrating due to obvious counters. Drifting Ruin, flying doll faces hidden in black goo, were my most hated enemy type. After being shot down they occasionally landed on unreachable platforms completely avoiding the taste of my Vorpal blade. Enemy combinations are mixed so you can’t just rely on one tactic and will need to prioritize or distract creatures.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a Daimyo Wasp

Alice: Madness Returns is a smooth platformer with engaging combat and at 15 hours you are going to be doing a lot of jumping. Spicy Horse have created healthy, repeatable combat and made the platforming simple but elegant. This adventure does play things a little too safe with working mechanics that rarely change from the first few hours. Being a bit more daring with design may have resulted in a great adventure instead of just a good one. Madness Returns has enough tricks to keep you amused until Alice finishes with her own bizarre Wonderland.

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Our ratings for Alice: Madness Returns on PC out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)

Presentation

Good art and balanced level design although not technically impressive. Alice's hair and dress physics look great. Many levels have atrocious musical themes.

Gameplay

Combat remains interesting as you use specific weapons against unique enemies. Platforming is free flowing although a tad clinical in some sections.

Single Player

The 15 hour journey of Alice through her own mind gets more interesting toward the end. There are long sections without story and some laborious exposition. Merging of fantasy with reality is infrequent but refreshing.

Multiplayer

N/A

Performance

(Show PC Specs)

CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 @ 3.2GHz
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB
RAM: 4GB DDR3
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Fast loads with very few bugs. There are a few camera issues in combat, button configuration problems and some strange pauses.

Overall

Madness Returns is a slick platformer with involving combat. Sensible design helps it flow from one jump to the next. Enemy idiosyncrasies get the most out of Alice's weaponry. This Wonderland is a place worth visiting.