DHGF: American McGee’s Alice was one of those games that existed as the definition of a cult favorite. While the game was largely not a hit, the game attracted many fans who remembered it fondly and wished for a sequel in some capacity. Had the game been a console release, it might have achieved somewhat better success than it did; as it was, EA is known for investing less advertising revenue in their exclusive titles than in multi-platform releases, and platformers generally don’t draw large amounts of money on the PC platform, as that’s not really what the market wants. Still, the game had its fans, and American McGee was still puttering around, trying to publish a game that would draw the kind of recognition Alice did (his follow-ups have been mostly poorly received, with the exception of Grimm), so it stands to reason that McGee and EA would get around to that sequel sooner or later. And so, we get Alice: Madness Returns, a sequel to an over-a-decade-old game that’s outside of the window of obvious interest, but exists in an age where the technology available to produce such a game can potentially pay off McGee’s vision. The end result, as it happens, is a game that is conceptually and artistically very interesting, but is mechanically incapable of paying that interest off throughout the game.
Reviewing Alice: Madness Returns almost feels like a rite of passage for me. You see, I'm from the same town as the childhood home of Charles Dodgson, better known to you and I by his pen-name, Lewis Carroll. As such, he's a bit of a local culture icon.
I played Alice: Madness Returns for the first time last year. What an amazing game and adventure. It's a huge shame we aren't getting a sequel to it. It absolutely deserves another game.
oh yeah, I remember this game! I remember liking it, but found the platforming to be utterly obnoxious. Loved the world design.
Good review!
Of course Sunset Overdrive gets a nod. It's Insomniac!
I personally think there's better on gamepass then what was listed. State of decay imo is better then anything listed. Recore seemed alright for what I played on there also.
Replies(1)
Yeah, especially on One X or Series X. It kinda feels like a PS2 platformer, but in a good way. I liked it.
Odd that he specified 'Game Pass Ultimate' instead of just 'Game Pass' just so he could include a relatively weak choice comparably in 'Alice: Madness Returns' which is available with EA Play. SoD was a far better overlooked game to have listed.
Dont know why they keep listing ultimate. Gamepass is the better value....but the reason I think is that ultimate includes online gwg.
I mean, as someone who games both on PC and Xbox, Ultimate makes a whole lot of sense. There's console exclusives and PC exclusives. And, at the end of the day, EA Play is still a perk of having Ultimate. When I open Gamepass, the EA Play catalogue is sitting right there for me. It's as much part of Gamepass as any other title I'm looking at, right?
From Games Radar: "Alice: Madness Returns has been removed from Steam just months after fans fought to get the creepy horror back onto Valve's PC platform.
The sequel was removed from sale back in 2016 following a DRM problem, an issue that kept the game off Steam for a full five years. It was finally reinstated in February 2022, only for fans to notice that, once again, it had been mysteriously pulled again earlier this month.
The game's Steam page says "at the request of the publisher, Alice: Madness Returns is no longer available for sale on Steam", but that's a standard disclaimer that doesn't really tell us very much. "
If I remember correctly, aside from having to change something in the .ini file to unlock the 30fps cap, the game is actually a decent port.
Replies(1)
