Game Review:
American McGee's Alice 
Wednesday, December 6, 2000

Ever wonder what Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland would have been like if Alice had a bad childhood and ended up in an asylum? Me neither, but apparently someone over at Rogue Entertainment did, and that’s good news for us.

In American McGee’s Alice, you get the chance to take Alice through this twisted version of Wonderland. As in the original, your foremost goal is to follow the white rabbit. To do this, you will meet others who can help you in your journey, but only if you help them first. You’ll meet the very interesting inhabitants of Wonderland along the way, and all the classics are here to – the Mad Hatter, the bong smokin’ centipede and the Cheshire Cat (who is actually your guide).

 

Alice fights her way around by means of some very unique and interesting weapons. Each weapon has two types of attacks, a melee and ranged. Like the big knife that Alice starts with, it can either be used to slash at your enemies, or it can be thrown. You also get weapons like a deck of rapid firing cards, and a wicked crochet mallet. I won’t ruin the surprise of some of the more powerful weapons, but let’s just say that the developer’s imagination gets more interesting and wicked as you gather weapons. Each weapon has limited “ammunition” that is controlled by the amount of “mana” Alice has (indicated by the blue bar on the right of the screen). Alice can gain mana and health by picking up red and blue diamonds or by killing her enemies.

As mentioned before, Alice hasn’t had a great childhood. But despite the jet-black hair, bloodshot eyes and blood on her dress, she’s quite charming. Alice is voiced by a British actress and it sure is effective. The character of Alice becomes very British, with the accent, mannerisms and grammatical quirks that make British women (Liz Hurly) so appealing. I think Alice works so well in this game because she accepts her dementia; she is not worried about going nuts, because she might already be there. 



In addition to the wonderful job done on Alice, is the wonderful job done on Wonderland. They say this game uses the Quake 3 engine, a point I often questioned; because Quake 3 never looked half this good. The worlds are amazing. They are huge, they are inside, outside, underground and everything in the world is alive. From the bizarre school to the levels where Alice is small and must battle ants and bees – the views are breathtaking. You really do believe that this version of Wonderland exists. Screen shots from this game look great, but they don’t totally capture the atmosphere, for that you must step into Alice’s heels and go for a run.

The special effects and enhancements built into this game made me pause the game several times just to write down the words “WOW” for this review. The swimming level, and the view looking up from underwater, must be seen to be believed. I still don’t think this is the Quake 3 engine. Kudos to Rogue for the job they did with it. Oh ya, then there’s the Ogre Duchess. This mini-boss has the coolest special effects I’ve ever seen on an enemy, and I’ve played a lot of games in my life. Her running is a mix between the Tasmanian Devils’ dust storm and the motion blur of the Flash. (Editor's Note: Sorry, no pictures, we don't want to ruin the surprise).

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