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Hmm…
Who would of thought of turning Lewis Carroll’s (a.k.a.
Charles Dogson) sweat cup of tea, into a morbid third-person-killing
machine. Its morbid, it’s strange, and its one of the
best games to come out this year. As the name suggests, this
is American MaGee’s Alice, NOT Charles Dogson’s
Alice, the sweet and wacky wonderland of his books has been
turned into an onslaught of horror and hated.
This is
the sequel to the books. An accidental fire claims the lives
of Alice’s family, and this drives her to insanity. She
gets locked in a dark asylum, soon after the White Rabbit
calls her back Wonderland. It seems she’s not the only
one having problems, Wonderland is under the tyranny of the
Queen of Hearts, who has transformed it into a epitome of
hated and despair .It is up to Alice to destroy The Queen
of Hearts and bring back Wonderland to it’s former glory.
Characters from the books make constant appearances here,
The Bull-Turtle, The Chameleon, The Chester Cat, Dwetaldee
and Dwetaldum, The Mad Hatter, the list goes on and on. Unfortunately
most have been twisted by the Queen’s evil, and most
will try to kill you. Thankfully Alice is equipped with "toys"
to protect herself with.
The "toys"
have an original flare to them compared to weapons in most
shooter games but they are a bit unbalanced. The first weapon
she will attain is the Vorpal Blade, A basic kitchen knife
that can be melee or thrown. The second weapon she’ll
get however is the Slicing Deck of Cards, they are the equivalent
of a machinegun… a very week machinegun. It eats magic
up so fast that it useless in most fights, forcing you to
use your knife in the first four levels in the game. Finally
in level four she get her first real weapon.. The Bird Mallet!
You can bash a enemy with electricity or you can throw electric
charged ball into their faces! A rather interesting weapon
is the Jack in a Box, it’s the equivalent of a big grenade
and it goes BOOM! And if you like freezing stuff the Icewand
is right for you, it works kind of like a flame-thrower but
with ice! (Did that make sense?) My favorite weapon however
is the Eyestaff, just charge this big baby up and aim at your
enemies, let loose the trigger and a huge ball of flame will
be hurled at your whim! Of course if you don’t want to
fight alone, you can summon a demonic minion using the demon
dice to do your evil bidding! (hey that rhymes!) Just don’t
use it when you are alone, if you know what’s good for
ya!
This game
hands down has the best graphics I’ve ever seen in a
shooter game! Each level looks like it was made by a architect
instead of a level-designer. The level of detail is so astounding
you might just get killed while staring at the graphics. The
Quake III engine has been taken to the limits! Curves and
faces have never been though such a workout! Detail textures
and wonderful model design fulls every nook and corner of
this world. It’s so dense graphically that second play
through is mandatory, and trust me, you will want to play
through this game again.
The Level’s
themselves are a little too linear in design, witch is kind
of disappointing, compared to most games, you never will get
lost (except in the garden mazes). Don’t get me wrong!
The levels are ingenious, just a tad to linear. It never feels
repetitive, and there is always something new and exciting
around the next corner. You will ride a leaf through the Pool
of Tears, jump your way out of a huge clock, ride the smoke
in a gloomy factory, and even escape a institution filled
with child experiments.
Music
for the game was written by ex-Nine Inch Nails band member
Chris Vrenna. It has a very chaotic feel to it and does very
well to set the mood of the dark wonderland. Sound is crisp
and clear, in the institution where you hear the haunting
sounds of experimented children, in the Pool of tears you’ll
hear the splashing of the water, and card guards will grumble
unrecognizable words while walking around. The voice acting
is top notch, Alice has a proper English axcent and the Chester
Cast has a sly and wise tone to his voice, its not Emmy material
but it is good, nether the less.
The weakest
part of game is the enemy’s A.I which is dirt stupid,
they are suicidal! I’ve seen them get stuck in doors,
run off cliffs, get stuck in invisible walls and do many other
stupid things! I’m also disappointed that the ending
in the game is pre rendered, the quality of the movie is bad
compared to the awesome in game graphics, It’s a good
ending, just a pixilated good ending.
Overall,
this game has beautiful graphics and wonderful game design.
This is a worthy addition to any gamer’s library!
-Chip
Scheppel
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The level design is awe-inspiring!
The weapons are cool but unbalenced.
Inside a HUGE clock
Geting transformed into a chess piece
Every level has eye poping graphics.
Ride the steam like a gryphon in flight
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