Alice: Madness Returns
(Electronic Arts; PC, PS3, Xbox 360; rated mature)

While most people think of Lewis Carroll’s stories about Alice as full of childhood wonder, game designer American McGee sees them as bursting with nightmares. His Alice is on the brink of insanity, and in this game, a sequel to the 2000 PC game, she’s a young woman haunted by memory and doing everything she can to forget.

The objective of this action platformer is to uncover Alice’s memories so she can discover what’s at the root of her madness. The Victorian London in which the game is set is also full of nightmares—full of prostitutes and criminals, chimneys belching soot into the sky, casting a constant red hue over the city—but it’s when Alice descends into Wonderland, becoming a young girl once again, that Carroll’s bizarre creatures really come to life.

Guided by the Cheshire Cat, Alice meets most of the expected characters as she travels through the dreamlike environments. Equipped with such weapons as a vorpal blade (from Jabberwocky) and a pepper grinder for ranged attacks, she battles things like slithering ruins (wriggling slugs), bolterflies, and madcaps (miniature Mad Hatters armed with cutlery). Alice can jump and float, and she can shrink to access tunnels and secret areas. While small, Alice can see things she wouldn’t otherwise.

The controls and mechanics work fine but the platforming and combat play become a bit tedious after a while. This is a long game that could have been better edited and paced. But with a superb script, some fantastic voice acting, and brilliant art direction, Alice: Madness Returns is a chilling and compelling journey through the looking glass.

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight