Alice: Madness Returns (Value) reviews

Combat is very well designed, strafing and targeting system make fights challenging but fun. However, if you play the game for several hours combat may become repetitive and annoying. Weapons are all very fun to use, although it is very obvious that specific weapons are designed for specific foes.

Environments or “worlds” are very nice, but often levels last for so long that you may rush through just for a change of scenery. The atmosphere in the game is about as creepy as it could be. Overall, the game is worth the $80, i recommend playing it in short bursts though so you don't become bored or annoyed by some repetitiveness.

If you enjoyed the first Alice game, you will love this. This is no kids game, it is very twisted and even more violent than the first one.

The story around Alice's descent into madness is well thought out and interesting. The gameplay is fun, although the third person view can be confusing at first.

The issues I've had are a) The umbrella will not work if you change the keybind – google the issue to find a solution. b) Some of the monsters and other game mechanics bug out. I've been stuck in the wall, stuck in the air… I've had monsters that are invincible and others that don't spawn. There are many people moaning about this on the EA forums, hopefully the first patch will resolve most of it. If a monster doesn't seem to die, don't worry, you're not going mad like Alice. It's a bug.

The game is a dark psychological narrative with visual asethetics that juxtapose feminine & childhood themes with ominous settings. It is visually interesting uses grotesque cartoon characters and the soundtrack is atmospheric.

The gameplay is more developed than the first Alice game, items can be improved, Alices costume changes as the game progresses and the character has other ability such as shrinking and growing. Still the game is pretty much the same “Alice” game as the first one, with a different narrative. Alice McGee in an interview described this as “maintaining the core gameplay”, I will go through the linear gameplay to explore the environments and see how the story progresses. As they say, curiousity killed the cat.

Wifey got this for me as xmas prez last year & im now playing it again in nightmare mode/ Brilliant art design for alice & all the creepy villians! And all the landscapes you play through are fascinating. Excellent scrore also! Worth the coin! Hope they do a 3rd installment for this series//

If you are fan (or at least remember) how wonderful was Alice some time ago, you are definetely won't miss this one. If you just like interesting, colourfull, sometimes tricky, headspining games this one is definetely for you. Some bugs from developer a little bit spoil the fun expression, but for most of them you can find remedy in google :)

Alice Madness Returns is a visually gorgeous game, with a great variety of environments and characters, all of which are incredibly well designed and interesting.

The story and atmosphere are also great (though the story can get a little confusing at times).

However, the gameplay of the game is, while in no way bad, nothing really new, and combat does not flow nearly as well as it does in other high profile releases in the same genre.

For some (like me), this will be forgivable, or even negligible in the face of the story, atmosphere and visual design, but for others I can imagine this would be something of a dealbreaker. It all depends on what you look for in a game!

I love the original Alice game and have been wanting to get Madness Returns for quite some time. Sadly I do not actually like it all that much. I found it to be fun for a while but I wound up losing interest due to repetitive gameplay and pointless minigames. On the plus side it does have quite a few, very interesting gameplay mechanics.

If you are looking for a game that's a little different, light on story line and easy to pick up and play then this is it. Nothing complex here, just a good old fun game!

I've been looking forward to this game for many years, and I'm delighted to say it doesn't disappoint.

A fun 3D platformer from start to finish, the game took me over 18hours to complete when going for 100% which I didn't achieve, which is fantastic value for money really. There are many collectables and secrets to find, some well hidden, some not so.

The game play (combat/movement) is fun, nice, fluid and satisfying. The environments amazingly crafted and detailed are brilliant to look at and create a memorable atmosphere.

However, the story can be a little bit disjointed. Thankfully the game provides in the menu an option to review all the cut scenes and listen again to the story you have uncovered so far.

One must of course mention the bugs. Unlike the above review, I never encountered any of those bugs. I did however run into 1 or 2 different ones. That's not to say the game is bad, although you do need to take some time before playing to optimize it. Thankfully the internet can provide you with all those answers and helpful tips.

The game also requires activation via EA's online store, but this is easily bypassed.

Certainly not a childrens take, and much better than Burtons recent re-imagining, this game is a true modern day gem from another era in gaming.

Too many bugs. The game became unplayable at the 1st three headed ruin on keyboard/mouse because the umbrella control on the keyboard doesnt work. The only way to continue was to use a controller. Frequent freezes for several seconds also mar play.

LOVE THE GAME!!!! Alice like you never see

I'm absolutely loving this game and is definitely worth buying. The only criticism I have found is the saves are in weird places. I am stuck at one point only 4% in and the save point is 5 minutes previous to this point. Highly frustrating when the section is quite hard to complete. Will try changing the keys around to see if this will help. Would recommend doing this from the start though as holding the Caps key to lock/aim is hard while trying to move around and place bombs. Even though I'm a little stuck, I would definitely recommend the game!