Alice : Madness Returns (aka American McGee's Alice 2)

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"Alice....what have you done!"

"Madness Returns will once again take players back into Wonderland and also into the real world of London, where Alice will have to use the fantasy Wonderland as a weapon to fight her enemies and her own madness. "

Due 2011, PC , 360 and PS3

IMAGE(http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/1114/1442986-amr_04_super.jpg)

More screens here (including decaying undead skull-faced card guards )

Not much info to go on as of yet. The original game had it's flaws but there was some neat gameplay stuff in there and I totally dug the art style (and it had the best Cheshire Cat EVER). Might be worth keeping an eye on it.

Also Teaser Trailer here. :O

I'ts ok...I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight anyway...

EA really need to get their head around offering their back catalogue on DD. They could be selling the original right now to tie into this announcement.

Ok. This is looking very very very cool. I never got a chance to play the original *slaps self across face*. Does anybody know of a way to buy and download the original?

Edit:

Scratched wrote:

EA really need to get their head around offering their back catalogue on DD. They could be selling the original right now to tie into this announcement.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Oh American McGee, you so crazy.

The original had a neat premise and some interesting art, but gameplay-wise it was pretty bland. Art direction only takes a game so far.

wow...just had a look on amazon.com to see if it's still available:

new copy of the original boxed version is currently at $194.99 :O
the budget re-release is at $84.99 (used).

needless to say - it 'aint worth anything like that amount of money

amazon.co.uk on the other hand has the budget re-release at £14.99 used, which is a little more...sane.

There's a pretty comprehensive SA 'lets play' of the game here that might be of interest (probably more entertaining to watch than to actually play to be honest).

Also , no American McGee's Alice thread would be complete without...

IMAGE(http://my-blackberry.net/wallpapers/18/m/American_McGee%27s_Alice%2C_Cheshire_Cat.jpg)

That is one crazy cat. Naaaa... I refuse to get the original game until someone releases a downloadable form where money goes to the publisher/distributer/creator. I'm not going to give some jackass a ridiculous amount of money to play this. Someone will get a digital version going before long.

muttonchop wrote:

The original had a neat premise and some interesting art, but gameplay-wise it was pretty bland. Art direction only takes a game so far.

I think that's a fair observation of a lot of older games when viewed through modern gaming eyes. Because it was so easy to make a corridor and no one really cared that it had to be very complex, there's a lot of corridors to chew through that only consume time. People whine "where are my long games" but rarely realise what they're asking for.

Scratched wrote:
muttonchop wrote:

The original had a neat premise and some interesting art, but gameplay-wise it was pretty bland. Art direction only takes a game so far.

I think that's a fair observation of a lot of older games when viewed through modern gaming eyes. Because it was so easy to make a corridor and no one really cared that it had to be very complex, there's a lot of corridors to chew through that only consume time. People whine "where are my long games" but rarely realise what they're asking for.

In any case, the sequel will be a different game made in a different era. I don't know if it's accurate to predict how the sequel will play out based on the gameplay of its 10-year-old predecessor.

stevenmack wrote:

Also Teaser Trailer here.

I hope you don't have dendropophobia.

Thirteenth wrote:

In any case, the sequel will be a different game made in a different era. I don't know if it's accurate to predict how the sequel will play out based on the gameplay of its 10-year-old predecessor.

I'm not making any predictions about the new one, I'm just saying the first one wasn't very good.

stevenmack wrote:

wow...just had a look on amazon.com to see if it's still available:

new copy of the original boxed version is currently at $194.99 :O
the budget re-release is at $84.99 (used).

needless to say - it 'aint worth anything like that amount of money

As an eBay vintage games seller, I can confirm that there really are people willing to pay that much (or close to it) for boxed copies in good shape. Mind you, those people are insane.

muttonchop wrote:
Thirteenth wrote:

In any case, the sequel will be a different game made in a different era. I don't know if it's accurate to predict how the sequel will play out based on the gameplay of its 10-year-old predecessor.

I'm not making any predictions about the new one, I'm just saying the first one wasn't very good.

Thought you'd say something like that. Fair enough.

Can't remember much from the first, but one thing that always comes to mind when I think of it is that I loved it.

KillerTomato wrote:
stevenmack wrote:

wow...just had a look on amazon.com to see if it's still available:

new copy of the original boxed version is currently at $194.99 :O
the budget re-release is at $84.99 (used).

needless to say - it 'aint worth anything like that amount of money

As an eBay vintage games seller, I can confirm that there really are people willing to pay that much (or close to it) for boxed copies in good shape. Mind you, those people are insane. :)

I was going to offer up my old copy to someone here, but damn, that's a nice selling price

Scratched wrote:
muttonchop wrote:

The original had a neat premise and some interesting art, but gameplay-wise it was pretty bland..

I think that's a fair observation of a lot of older games when viewed through modern gaming eyes.

I'm afraid it was bland (and annoying) at the time, not just with modern eyes. But it sure was nice to look at!

I enjoyed the game quite a bit; the casebook that came with it (I still have it somewhere) was interesting as well. I remember it also as the game that finally forced me to upgrade my beloved Voodoo3 2000 PCI card to a shiny new Geforce something-or-other. I still have the figurines on my desk of the Cheshire Cat and Alice.

American McGee must be the worlds greatest bullsh*t artist to keep convincing people to fund his games. Everything he's touched since the mediocre first Alice has been garbage at best.

Dear god, yes! America McGee's Alice is one of my favorite 3D platformers ever. Let's show Burton how a dark and twisted Wonderland is supposed to look.

I've got to say that I liked the original and it had some creative game play moments, such as the chess section.

I'm sure that the new game is what they were shooting for with the art style of the first, but I got a much more cartoony and less Gears of War / goth feel from the original that made it more light hearted.

Why can't games be crappier? Then they would be better.

Sinatar wrote:

American McGee must be the worlds greatest bullsh*t artist to keep convincing people to fund his games. Everything he's touched since the mediocre first Alice has been garbage at best.

I enjoyed Alice, although there were some really frustrating (and almost boring) parts near the end.

He didn't have much of a hand - if any - in development, but Scrapland was interesting too. I never finished it, however, so maybe that says something.

Personally, I really enjoyed the first one. I find it interesting how many people complain that games should have longer, more intricate stories, better gameplay and art, and yet only cost $5 or less. You are forgetting the menu rule of game design:

Storyline -- Gameplay -- Art -- Low Price <-- Pick 2 (at most)

Luggage wrote:

Dear god, yes! America McGee's Alice is one of my favorite 3D platformers ever. Let's show Burton how a dark and twisted Wonderland is supposed to look.

Wonderland already is dark and twisted. McGee and Burton just attached giant neon signs saying "HEY LOOK THIS IS DARK AND TWISTED".

muttonchop wrote:
Luggage wrote:

Dear god, yes! America McGee's Alice is one of my favorite 3D platformers ever. Let's show Burton how a dark and twisted Wonderland is supposed to look.

Wonderland already is dark and twisted. McGee and Burton just attached giant neon signs saying "HEY LOOK THIS IS DARK AND TWISTED".

I believe it was Old Man Murray, the Original Gamer With a Job, who said "You took the opium-fueled ravings of a Victorian-era pedophile and made them f*cked up? Way to go!" That's essentially my take on it too. That said, I'll rent this for the hellubit.

The art's nice. Now the waiting game of whether this can be a decent game, at least, or ignored like McGee's other red-headed step-children.

stevenmack wrote:

wow...just had a look on amazon.com to see if it's still available:

new copy of the original boxed version is currently at $194.99 :O
the budget re-release is at $84.99 (used).

Crap, I'm sitting on a gold mine. I just stumbled across mine a month or so ago

Gamespot has a quick video interview with the producer and American McGee if anyone is interested.

I'm really looking forward to this. The original Alice blew me away with it's visual style and creepy atmosphere. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

I tried playing it recently. It hasn't aged all that gracefully, but the visuals are still incredibly unique.

I'm still surprised this game is being made at all. I'm not sure how the original did commercially, but I do know American McGee's other games haven't fared well. Hopefully EA will supply the resources needed to really hit this out of the park though. It's already looking mighty impressive on the visual front, but could be kicked up a notch I felt. It's still fairly early, so we'll see what happens.

I remain cautiously optimistic.

muttonchop wrote:

The original had a neat premise and some interesting art, but gameplay-wise it was pretty bland. Art direction only takes a game so far.

This is exactly how I feel and with graphical expectations these days I don't see how a similar game could hold up.

I also don't see what's so great about American McGee that his name has to be included in the name of his games.

mrwynd wrote:
muttonchop wrote:

The original had a neat premise and some interesting art, but gameplay-wise it was pretty bland. Art direction only takes a game so far.

This is exactly how I feel and with graphical expectations these days I don't see how a similar game could hold up.

I also don't see what's so great about American McGee that his name has to be included in the name of his games.

It always makes me think of the McGee and Me shows I was forced to watch as a kid... Ahhhh the terribleness of growing up in a conservative Christian environment...

I loved the original, can't wait for the sequel.

I'll have to dig out my copy now and see if I can get it running on Windows 7.

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