User Reviews (31 - 41 of 190)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Interesting but flawed

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Alice is a game with tremendous potential that seems to have slightly missed the mark. The dark-yet-childlike world of Alice evokes the mysterious but the game play simply doesn't drive it home. In this sense, it is a very frustrating game. Why put all the effort into amazing graphics and environment and then let it go to pieces by not balancing the game play? Too much jumping, too little action, and definitely not enough mental challenge.

That said, I find it is one of the few FPS (technically, third person shooter) games that have really captured my attention. Perhaps it is the due to the tremendous graphics (giant swirling backgrounds and chess boards seem to dominate) or the wonderful sound (I can't get enough of the Cheshire Cat's voice - even if his cryptic messages border on melodrama). And Alice is a very sympathetic protagonist.

I only wish more attention was paid to the actual mechanics of the game. It is too bad that this game doesn't ship with MOD tools. I bet the players could build additions that would rival the original.

Interesting, definitely worth playing, but just not five-star quality.

A dark game to just love

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: October 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When I saw an ad for this game, something just drew me to it. I don't know if it was just the twistedness of my mind, or the game just looked good. We have the story of alice who is a few years older with a darker hair color to match her dark persona. She may have returned happy from wonderland before, but now she survived a fire that killed her family and is a local at the mental instatution. She is called back to wonderland and wonderful it is not as the queen of hearts now rules with an iron fist. All the old characters are back in a twisted way and the errie music that accomponies this game truly sets the mood. A good game but kinda hard to control at first. I would love it if this would be a movie (an interesting concept actually) but a game you should definately get and a deal at the price nowadays.

Beautiful but annoying

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 21
Date: December 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The character and landscape models and textures are beautiful, no doubt. But the AI is often brainless, the character movement is awkward and sometimes gets stuck, the character animations are avg to stiff, visual glitches are more common than they should be, and overall gameplay is just disappointing. Looks like another product was rushed out the door for those infamous Christmas sales figures, and quality be damned.

If you're expecting what the Alice theme implies.. clever puzzles, witty prose, novel adventures, and so forth... look elsewhere. The *idea* of this game is excellent, as is the artwork, but the gameplay is no better than a pointless B-grade 3rd person shooter.

Disappointing, because I really had such high hopes for this game.

beautiful & disturbing masterpiece!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most visually & thematically striking games I've ever seen. The incorporation of the Lewis Carrol novel material is exhilarating. It is very challenging, especially @ the higher levels.

For Lewis Carroll Aficionados

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was interested in this game because I am interested in Alice in Wonderland, rather than because I am an experienced gamer--which I am not. And I have no regrets about becoming involved with the game, though the connection with the Alice books is not always direct. The atmosphere is certainly true to the underlying nightmarish quality of those classics. The graphics in this game are truly remarkable, and while the action is sometimes frenetic, it is exciting. It is well worth your while to learn to use the customizable features. Not only can you choose your game level and decide what key or mouse clicks you want to use to perform actions, but you can call up the console and enter code: If the fog is messing with your graphics, turn it off! If you can't figure out how to kill something, practice in godmode, where you are invincible! (Or cheat, and use godmode in order to move along!) If more than one person is playing the game over time, you can even save personal configurations so you don't have to change the settings each time. There is a large online community willing to help you learn to do these things and to give you hints if you are stalled. The game-saving feature is a little clumsy, but you can use quicksave and quickload to keep the action going. I have just enough computer to run the 64 RAM install; in fact I have only a 450Mhz processor and an 8 mb Voodoo graphics chip, but the game runs well anyway. (I did have to install the new drivers that are included on the CD.) I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who is interested and has a little time to put into it.

What's promised is what's delivered: Good Mindless Fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If you've done a bit of reasearch you should know before you buy whether or not "Alice" is your thing. Only those who leap before they look will be disappointed.

Alice is a fairly straightforward game in a fantastic, unconventional setting. While the gameplay is fairly linear, the places you'll go and problems you'll encounter are utterly unpredictable. One moment you're flying over thermal vents in an underground factory to reach your objective--the next you're reduced to the size of a pebble and are following a tortoise (sans shell) through an underwater paradise--and not too long after that you'll be converted to a knight in a black and white "pale realm" of battling chesspieces. Each level offers its own set of stunning vistas and strange sights--the only sad part is sometimes you're moving too fast to take it all in.

Most of the arguments against the game are neither here nor there, in my opinion. If you want a strong story/plot, get Deus Ex or The Longest Journey. If you want multiple outcomes, get a sim or strategy game. But if you just want to sit back & hack & slash your way through an accutely imagined wild, weird world, "Alice" is just the ticket. The game's even more entertaining if you've read the original "Alice" books upon which the game is based--nearly all the major characters make some sort of appearance, often in surprising ways.

My problems w/Alice are relatively minor. It's true that Alice's graphic-processing needs outclass those of a lot of machines. My computer's got a hardwired 3D accelerator that won't accept fogging effects, which meant that all moving objects on several levels appeared as blank outlines. After flailing about for a solution for several days, I finally turned to a customer chat board on EA Games' own site for the (rather simple) solution.

The puzzles are relatively simple in theory (which is fine by me; I'd rather not spend several days trying to figure 'em out) but in execution can be hard, esp. the many various leaping & jumping trials. You'll want to liberally use the quicksave feature to get through them.

Finally, the enemy AI's pretty lame. For the most part everyone just comes running at you, pell-mell, into your vorpal blade or whatever, the moment you come into view. Ah, well.

But otherwise--I'm enjoying the heck out of this game. Nuff said.

This is not a game... it's a movie, and you're the lead!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've just read over most of the reviews here, and thought I'd add my two cents. I just completed the game, and as is the case with successful games, I'm ... wired?

I was very tempted to give this game a 5 star rating, but there were a few points that were unnecessarily frustrating (the leaf ride, for example) and struck me more as some tacked on "console-itis." However, they were few and far between and didn't really detract from the overall experience.

To sum the plot up... Wonderland exists only in Alice's mind. The original Wonderland stories were told to the little girl when she was a child by her uncle (also the author), as I understand. Well, this is the story of that little girl... fictionally extended. In this plotline, young Alice has been reading her favorite book (guess which one), with her favorite stuffed rabbit with her. Her pet cat is in the room with her, as well, and the cat knocks over the oil lamp she was reading by... resulting in a fire. Alice leaps to safety, but the rest of her family dies. Only Alice and her stuffed rabbit survive the fire.

Move ahead some five to ten years... Alice is a late-teenage girl, confined to a mental institution, effectively catatonic, but if you look closely you can see that her wrists have been slit recently. One of the nurses finds the rabbit, and gives it to her before bed, hoping that it will stir something in the zombie of a girl.

And Alice's fractured mind reacts... taking us into a Wonderland that is CLEARLY representative of her fractured psyche. The entire game is not about killing monsters, at least not in the traditional sense. The monsters that Alice is fighting are the horrors in her own mind. The goal of the game is to fight back to some semblence of sanity.

Each and every scene in the game is a reflection of something that was both in the original books and ALSO in Alice's bedroom the night of the fire. One example would be the "Fortress of Doors" (Alice was unable to get the door open to get to her parents).

If you want a random techno-slaughterfest, pass this game by. Like you'll read in other reviews, the gameplay is linear, and all the architecture is symbolic (which to some people is "unimaginative?"). If you get a thrill out of killing people on the 'net... don't waste your money.

If you enjoy FICTION, however, and like to imagine yourself as the hero/heroine of that story, this is definitely your kind of game!

Next summer, the "Alice" MOVIE will be coming out. We're all used to movie-tie-in games... and we've seen some cruddy "movies from games" in the past... but this one will be different. This IS a movie, and it always was.

So go turn the lights out, and prepare yourself for immersion into the subconscious of a traumatized mind. And bring Alice back to real life...

...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is one of my /favorite/ computer games. The morbid re-make of Alice in Wonderland was a admirable idea. {I also heard that they're making a Wizard of Oz one??} Alice is definately a memorable and unique character. Her reactions to things are not what you'd excpect and that's what I like most about her, besides of course how completely disturbed she is which puts a very necessary spin on the game. I definately reccommend this game because it is VERY fun.
One thing I did not like about this game were the game controls. Use 'w' to walk forward? Why not just the arrow keys? And I sometimes lost my little aim dot and ended up being killed. But I do understand that this game is six years. About a previous review that stated when you die you have to watch the scenes again I'd like to point out that this is not a true statement-if you don't feel like watching a scene you can press Esc and it will take you out of it but not to the main menu unless you press it twice.
Overall if your looking to spend a few bucks and try something fun and vintage I suggest this game. =)

Surreal and brilliant!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

When I first read aboiut this game I was intrigued. I've always been a fan of fairy tales and other folklore. This bizare and violent sequel is a far cry from the fun, and slightly demented, original story. Luckily, I also enjoy more twisted versions of fairy tales, too, and Alice does not disappoint!
The gameplay is rather linear, and the controls can be somewhat cumbersome in certain situations, especially during jumping obstacles. However, the graphics and sound are outstanding, even on my 500mhz P3 with 192megs of RAM and a 64meg Geforce2 video card.
So if you like twisted and very dark games give this one a whirl, for this new price you just can't go wrong!!!

Flawed

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: December 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The game Alice is a morbid twist to the beloved nursery story told to children ages' from four to six worldwide. The creator of this game decided to add an addition to that storyline, a sadistic addition about the very girl in Alice and Wonderland. The creator starts off the story by implying that while Alice is in her dream world she accidentally sets the house on fire which will kill her parents and burn down her home. What follows is a sick but entertaining sequence of events that will leave you spell-bound at times.

Here is the basis for the grade that I have given to American McGee's Alice:

Game Play: Though with wonderful graphics both technologically and artistically. The wonderful scenery looks like a hippie on acid having a bad trip. Also the creators threw in a lot of variety for good measure. At one point of the game your play chess, now how cool is that. The creators did blunder with this, instead of moderating to give us a break from the constant run and kill world they loaded almost every level with puzzles, or something of that sort. The game at some points would become tedious; it felt more like work than play. This is inexcusable: (4/5.)

Music: The music had a nice gothic melody at times that well suited the game, story line, and scenery. At some points it would become repetitive or the music was not good enough to catch my attention. In some points in the game I actual turned on the radio because the music was just not cutting it for me, I wish they could have kept the good score of music in every level not just in some. (3.5/5.)

Storyline: Not only original but very well crafted. It had just the right amount of twists and worked well with that nursery story we have heard some point or another. I believe this is the strongest part of the game and kept me committed to finish the ghastly amount of levels presented with this game. (5/5.)

Sound Effects/Graphics: The sound effects were poor; the nice touches the creators did with the graphics were absent with the sound effects. The absence of footsteps, and certain other functions that you expected to here were just never programmed into the game. The developers obviously did not stress sound effects. The graphics though were pretty much just the opposite of the sound effects. Everything was sharp, they added nice touches like when Alice runs her bow on her dress flies up. The graphics are visually stunning. (3/5.)

Weapons: Original but stupid. You will mostly use just three out of ten to beat the game and an additional three in rare instances. The creators should have worked on the other weapons and made them more useful. (3/5.)

Alice is a wonderful game with a lot of potential but just falls short. The puzzles make it seem more like work than fun. The sound effects and music are either uninspired for the most part or just lazy on the creator's part. The total uselessness of most of the weapons makes the game repetitive. (3.7/5 C+)

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions