Alice: Madness Returns - The Game That Never Ends

phantomfriar2002

phantomfriar2002

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Haven't seen many impressions of this one so I thought I'd throw in my two cents:

I'm in the "third chapter" and I've gone from being spellbound by this game to being completely, totally pissed off by it...so much that I'm ready to trade it in.

The art design is great, and the first few hours are terrific -- but the damn levels are so, SO long, that the whole game basically collapses from tedium. More jumping, more combat, more cheap deaths, more of the exact same stuff you've already done a million times already...I just feel no compelling reason to keep going because I've reached that "point of no return" already in these levels where my interest level is nil. I want to see what happens in the story, but at the same time, it's been a long time since I've played a game HOPING the end of the level was coming...and it never does.

The Kotaku review of this game basically nailed it -- there's a lot of throwback stuff in this game that initially feels refreshing, but the longer you play, the more obvious it becomes how deficient -- and repetitive -- it is. Someone could've literally cut the levels in half and it would have been infinitely more satisfying.
 
That's unfortunate. I got it but started w/American McGee's Alice last night before doing Madness Returns. Now I feel like I won't want to play A:MR after beating Alice. Hm.
 
Yeah, I'm only on chapter 2 and I'm having my doubts. I wouldn't mind long levels if it wasn't so tedious. I'll keep playing, but I don't know if I have the will to see it to the end.
 
Many reviews (even the positive ones) have echoed your sentiments. Shorter levels and more of them, with greater variety please.
 
Couldn't have said it better OP. The first Alice was one of my all time favorite games back when it first came out, so I was extremely looking forward to Madness Returns.

However, the teduim of this game was just too much. The levels were beautiful to look at, but it was basically the same level over and over with a new paint job. I pretty much had to force myself to finish the game, and after the "ending".... I ejected the disc, got in the car, and traded it in.

If the effort put into the visuals would have also been put into the gameplay, we could have had a classic here, disappointing.
 
I'm playing through the original first, and am a few hours into it.

Nearly every review of the game has said what you mentioned. And since I don't usually keep focus in really long games, that's a bit worrisome for me. We'll see if I stick with it.
 
I just finished this game and i have to agree that the levels are really long. I am talking 3 hours it takes to beat a chapter, which is pretty much one level.

I thought the game was really cool, i wouldnt mind playing it again, but like its already been said, i kind of dont want to knowing how long each chapter is.

Things i didnt like... the game felt unpolished. Just little things here and there.
- When trying to target with LT and shoot with RT, sometimes it doesnt shoot because you press it too fast? So i have to release RT and press it again.
- Sometimes i get stuck on some invisible barrier when im trying to go through a door or key hole, among other places.
- Evade sometimes doesnt work, or maybe im just not good at doing it?

Another thing that was a little annoying was the pop in textures. Seemed to happen more than enough, where i could sit there waiting for the ground to load, or even when you look at the different costumes in the main menu, you pick one and have to wait for the textures to pop in.

Then there were some spots where the game would stop and you would have to wait for it to load up. Really?

Sometimes the game had cheap tactics that i didnt like. For instance when there is a giant enemy, surrounded by those little leach enemies. Often my character would auto target the damn leaches instead of the giant enemy.

Some of the mini games were just stupid. I never understand why games like this throw in the guitar hero button mashing games. You know some people are not good at that and its stupid to add it to a game like this where you have to ace it to actually get further in the game. There was another mini game that i didnt really care for and that was where you had to roll the baby head through some pinball type maze. That just got annoying.

Other than those complaints i thought it was a good game, and i liked it. But it could have been better. I didnt mind the side scrolling mini games, though one part really was pissing me off. Also the puzzles where you had to move squares to create the picture were okay, i kind of like those.

According to Raptr it took me about 14 hours to beat the game on easy.
 
Picked this up again for about $10 and I'm getting back into it. An hour into Chapter 3 and it's growing on me. I love the style. Some combat issues but it's good enough for a playthrough.

Tried a little of the orginal but I just couldn't get into it. Don't think I'll be playing it.

BTW I have a extra online code for the orginal game. If anyone wants it just let me know.
 
I'm in the middle of it as well. Starting chapter 4 tonight. Would love to complete it before Christmas, but don't see that happening. I played through American Mcgee first when I bought this for $30 and to be honest, unless you're a completionist, I recommend skipping it and going straight to Alice Madness Returns. The story seemed a little on the barebones side in McGee, and if you skip it, a few things may not make sense concerning some of the characters, but not sure how big a deal that would be. Madness Returns is definately better on all fronts. Sure, it's to be expected considering it's not 10 years old, but it was just a huge sigh of relief when I finished McGee. Parts were definitely more frustrating, while with Madness Returns, it just feels more fun. A fresh adventure in a sense.
 
hmm when I played through it I enjoyed every minute of this game. But then again it was the middle of the semester and I was doing alot of drugs...I remember the scenery being very vivid, and encouraged me to get through the platformer stuff to see new areas of the game. The nightmarish/bad trip atmosphere combined with alice's insanity and troubled past really resonated with me. I'm interested in what mcgee does next.
 
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It is a beautiful game, flawed in how long each level is, but still a decent game. The fact Duke Nukem sold 100x more than this game and Shadows of the Damned makes me sad.
 
Finally beat it. Kinda confussing story but a great looking game. It's nice to playing something off-beat. Might not be a perfect game but I had fun with it.
 
I played through and beat this when it first came out....it is indeed the longest game I have every played.
 
It's actually kind of strange that these days a game being too long is a complaint. That said, there are definitely stages that just get monotonous. I think overall it was worth the playthrough. I enjoyed it.
 
I got 1000 in this game, really enjoyed the atmosphere and art direction and the basic gameplay, but I agree with all of the OP's complaints too. Each level was about twice as long as it needed to be and it was ridiculous how they repeated the same ideas (albeit good ideas) over and over and over again. The MANY texture hiccups throughout the levels also made the game seem low-rent when you noticed them.
 
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