Examining American McGee's Alice Series (Including Alice: Asylum)

[Music] since its release in late 2000 there haven't been many other game series quite like american mcgee's alice taking the well-known property of alice in wonderland and giving a darker twist there are few titles that can compare to it in regards to its themes and its delivery so much so that fans have pushed hard for a third game even if it's been over 11 years since its last release and although ea has the final say on that putting together this video i've become a bit more hopeful that may just happen even if years away in this video we're going to look at not only the two titles in the series what's being put together for the planned third title in the series alice asylum because there's plenty that's there that's ready to start development should ea give it the green light with that let's dive into the world of american mcgee's alice american mcgee why was the game named american mcgee's alice instead of just something like alice and who is this american mcgee yep american is his real name his mom was a bit of a free spirit hippie he's had a bit of a rough life he had a number of stepfathers growing up at the age of 16 he came home from school to find out his mom sold the house for a couple plane tickets and to cover her girlfriend's sex reassignment surgery he only had a few of his things left behind including his computer he dropped out of high school and worked odd jobs by chance he lives in the same building as john carmack programming wizard id software whom he would befriend he would eventually be hired at id you could really feel that id dna on a number of fronts in the first alice title he'd work on numbered titles like doom 2 and the first two quake games he was fired in march of 1998 john carmack says work wasn't living up to expectations it's thought that tim willis it was the cause of the firing he gave american bad level design advice on purpose american would eventually end up at ea as a creative director in 1998. he wanted to move away from the kind of games he made at id inspired by the works of lewis carroll and his own dysfunctional childhood he set on the rural valleys in wonderland and gave it a dark twist there's already a solid foundation to work off there and it's in the public domain plus the works of lewis carroll are known by many ever since the release of its first book alice in wonderland was published back in 1865 many myself included were introduced to his works through the classic 1951 disney film it's sad to think that some poor kid and their introduction to alice is through the live-action disney films from the 2010s now if you've been to any of the disney theme parks i'm sure you've gone on the rides younger boulder punch did do too well with spinning teacup ride when spun too fast i'm sure you've heard the term follow the white rabbit many times throughout your life in a number of circumstances the naming of american mcgee's alice something that america himself was against was mostly due to marketing and trademarks it wouldn't exactly be easy to trademark something as simple as alice american would work with rogue entertainment to create alice rogue entertainment had neighborly ties with id working in the same building they did a couple mission packs for the first two quakes they also made strife the last title using id tech 1 or the doom engine game that was a bit ahead of its time doing things that deus ex would do a few years later now i haven't played strife although i've watched the great episode of ross's game dungeon covering it for alice they'd be using a modified version of id tech 3 or the quake 3 arena engine this came courtesy of the developers of heavy metal fact too so with that let's dive down the rabbit hole and see what this game is all about starting with its stellar presentation please don't dawdle alice we're very late indeed over 20 years later alice is still such a visual treat one of the many cases where strong art direction outlasts graphic fidelity not that this was a bad looking game when it came out on the tech front it takes wonderland a familiar place to many and twists it to give this a dark atmospheric world [Music] you'd make a handsome dish i'm not edible well darker reading the books for this video there's quite a number of dark elements involved in the story but here it ramps it up not in the way that ever crosses the line what i call edgy melancholic sure violent absolutely but hits that right bounce of creating one of the better atmospheres and games look dumb it's what's the name from the neurotic ward nurses favorite lunatic oh yeah scrawny ain't she who let her out then they'll blame us most likely she'll need more medicine strong medicine but the real standout here is the sound design the soundtrack in particular my goodness this soundtrack if you said hey boulder punch i think american mcgee's alice has the best soundtrack in any game you would not get any corals from me this was composed by chris farena who has played drums with nine inch nails in marilyn manson speaking of manson he did initially do some scoring for the soundtrack early on although those tracks never made into the game i am curious to how those sounded although they've never been released chris worked on the soundtrack for quake with 9-inch nails another soundtrack that if you said was the best in any game i'd have no issues with it's through that time they got to know the people for mid and american would bring him in to work on alice chris spent time scouring ebay thrift shops and antique stores for various toy instruments to chop up and sample hauntingly beautiful melancholic childlike hypnotic it's this incredible bled that just fits perfectly what the game's going for there's nothing really else like it i find but let's listen to a few samples instead me yabbering about them so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] i could play soundtracks with the sample all day but let's move on to the gameplay as i mentioned earlier american mcgee's alice wears a design philosophy on its sleeve with a number of tweaks this isn't first person but instead a third person title you have a number of weapons to cycle from well not weapons they're toys from the vorpal blade to throwing cards a croquet mallet jacks these toys take the commonalities of fps weapons but gives them a wonderland twist each weapon has a secondary attack as well some weapons with either primary secondary attacks will serve like a shotgun or a grenade or a railgun each will have their own strengths and weaknesses based on the enemies you're fighting some can also make use of a melee attack like the vorpal blade and the mallet on the no of the blade its alternative fire tosses the knife which has a brief cool down it's super satisfying to take enemies heads off with it [Music] all your weapons come from a common ammo pool called strength of will here which we can refill by killing enemies or find them amongst the levels the last fifth or so of alice really amps up on the combat with how much it throws your way to be honest i wish they did more of this for the whole game these later levels are structured more like something of doom or quake more maze-like and finding a key to open the way forward it's here where i find the game at its best you're swapping back and forth between weapons using the vorpal blade when you're short on will jumping back and forth between primary and secondary attacks it's got that classic id feel not as tight however this is still the early days of third person shooters where they're still trying to get a good feel for it so it does have a bit of a rough around the edges feel while the game is also fairly generous with aiming as a result are also platforming elements which are pretty spotty this is another aspect where plc third-person shooter was still trying to figure this out it feels quite awkward compared to madness returns which has wonderful platforming although platforming is not the main focus here the game will show you where you'll land if you pause for a moment this is handy but feels like one of those abandoned on the bullet wound solutions there's just something about her gem that feels floaty and janky still the game keeps platforming mostly to a minimum in the sections where platforming is pushed to the forefront they're over fairly quickly some levels are more straightforward while others as mentioned like the maze play more like a level of a nid game so let's go through alice here with some of the game's highlights a fire happens in alice's home when she's off in wonderland she ends up being the only survivor of her family this sends her into asylum into a comatose state there's more in the manual here about her time in the asylum how many years have passed how many different types of treatments occurred with no success some of them fairly gruesome at long last she makes a return to wonderland where much has changed it's a reflection of what she's gone through you've gone quite mangy cat but your grins are comfort and you've picked up a bit of an attitude still curious and willing to learn i hope this version of alice has a large following for a reason and if not there may be more than one way to skin a cat if you're part of the expression most unpleasant metaphor please avoid it in future heavenly brandy no i've only my wits she had any meat on her she'd make a delectable dish despicable grotesque and smelly louts i'll fill your bellies all right have you never heard that punctuality is a virtue you and my dentist's assistant have much in common the voice acting is fantastic here especially with alice and cheshire cat the two we'll be hearing from the most there's a lot of personality in alice from her body language like having her hands behind her back when she converses with others i really love the loading screen progression to make way further into the game further you get in the more the map of the world gets revealed it's a nice sense of progression one of those little touches but adds a lot to the title when we're playing the game to get footage it occurred to me just how much the school level reminds me of grout's mansion vampire the masquerade bloodlines i haven't really made that connection before now that i have it feels like bloodlines was inspired by alice in a number of ways the gymnasium should be safe guards never exercise can't afford to lose the weight i never cared for sports at school i don't have to put on a penny do i you know this mention of pennies by alice i haven't thought about pennies in years i don't know what it was like for you but i hid in gym class when you play games would be shirts versus the pennies and you got the penny felt like such a loser shirts always seemed to win as a result one of the game's lesser sections is the leaf ride during the veil of tears there is a bit of frustrating platform with a bit trial and error luckily it's over very quickly this is one of the major differences between this title and madness returns here most sections are short before moving on to the next one again very much like how short doom and quake levels can be the greatest vlog madness returns our levels overstaying the welcome but we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here to know in swimming it's mostly fine here except those bloody fish they're some annoying little [ __ ] you can only use your vorpal blade in the water one of the worst sections of the game is near the end when you're rising up water and have to deal with them one thing that's quite enjoyable here for the most part are the boss fights they can be a lot of fun to try and figure out their weakness in evading their attacks well the only one they really had an issue with was the centipede the issue i always have with is the damage feedback always felt a bit iffy alice does offer a few sections of switching things up like the chess puzzle navigation they don't bog the game down don't take too long and are nice pallet cleansers the journey of alice through wonderland is one of healing not just for wonderland but herself coming to terms with her guilt her pain and suffering and pushing onward it's bleak and dark with tinges of hope that keep her going not many game series have done as well of a job as looking at the inner turmoil of characters silent hill being one of them there's much mixed in here of her time in the asylum with wonderland as much as i enjoyed the voice acting here something about the griffin's voice never really sat right with me with gears springs levers and mechanical gizzards he seeks an impossible precision like a watchmaker obsessed with infinitesimal fractions of seconds or a mathematician who tries to square the circle imagine a griffin sounding a bit more majestic compare that to the jabberwock when he brings up alice's past about the fire getting under her skin it hits hard i can't wait to kick his ass your family was expecting you to come to them weren't they perhaps they thought you might warn them of the danger being close to the source as you were but they waited in vain didn't they and died for their trouble we were all asleep it was an accident i selfish misbegotten and unnatural child you smelled the smoke but you were in dreamland taking tea with your friends you couldn't be bothered your room was protected and spared while your family upstairs roasted in an inferno of incredible horror although the griffin talking to alice on his dying breaths after the second jabberwock fight has always stuck with me i'm not sure i know how to lead do your best alice you can only do your best you can always do best [Music] now that i work my way through the script i did mention earlier i wish the rest of the game was more like the maze sections during the end stretch where combat is really dialed up i'm not 100 sure about that now if the entire game were like this i think it might overplay its card and be a bit exhausting to get through variety is the spice of life after all that jabberwock staff that we now have access to is just awesome to use although be careful with that secondary attack [Music] right before the final encounter with the queen of hearts there's a bit of a pad section with three mirrors and switches that in a way a bit of a preview of what's to come in the sequel however the game makes up for it with an amazing final boss with the queen of hearts it's not a super challenging fight but see some being greater than its parts the atmosphere the design of the queen the combat arena the music the talk she gives before where she just lays into alice i rule wonderland alone your interference will not be tolerated this realm is for grown-ups raw well-ordered ruthless careening on the jagged edge of reality self-pitying dreamers are not wanted here they cannot survive here you fear the truth you live in shadows your pathetic attempts to reclaim your sanity have failed retreat to the sterile safety of your self-delusions or risk inevitable annihilation if you destroy me you destroy yourself leave now when some hollow part of you may survive stay and i will break you down you will lose yourself forever bioboss is key to the lasting impression a game leaves on you here alice knocks out of the park with one that's memorable for all the right reasons overall american mcgee's alice is an amazing game taking that it formula and giving it a twist with great success it wouldn't be until a decade later until alice would return the sequel that takes a very different approach in how it plays this unmitigated disaster is your doing yet it will get worse your train keeps a healing get moving time waits for no one the change has begun the train is perfectly capable of terrifying me cat you should find another job is there really so little hope there's even less and if fear paralyzes you we are lost ten and a half years is a long wait for a sequel much would change in the ten and a half years that passed between american mcgee's alice released in late 2000 and alice madness returns in mid 2011. in the year 2000 the playstation 2 was enjoying its first year on the market the xbox and gamecube were still a year away in mid-2011 the playstation 3 and the nintendo wii were approaching their fifth year on the market and the xbox 360 its sixth year in 2000 large budget pc exclusives were common by 2011 they were next to none consoles were now first priority with pc ports being mostly afterthoughts in that timeframe ea would require a number of studios some notables include black box games criterion mythic entertainment pandemic studios and bioware and also in that time frame ea would kill off a number of studios some notables include bullfrog westwood studios origin systems and pandemic studios this was that time frame when ea gained that reputation of being a studio killer plans for a movie based on american mcgee's alice were made but never came to fruition the late wes craven was attached to direct sarah michelle gellar a fan the title had the rights the film adaptation was hoping to star in it and what about american mcgee he would alleviate after four years due to creative stagnation as ea wasn't looking to develop our original properties something that of course still occurs to this day he will work on various projects and some consulting on a number of fronts including directing music videos during this time he would end up spending a lot of time in hong kong and shanghai seeing the growth in the gaming scene there he had found spicy horn shanghai in 2007 in 2008 they released american mcgee's grim an episodic series based on the work of grimm's fairy tales in 2009 they announced that me making a sequel to the alice series madness returns mostly gone is the dna that made up the original instead madness returns pulls heavily from the world of platformers like mario with a combat system that pulls heavily from the zelda series just like the original alice madness returns as another example strong art direction leading to far longer shelf life than graphic fidelity steve idtech madness returns makes use of unreal engine 3. during a time frame when the engine was known mostly for brown and greys madness returns as anything but the amount of care and love put into this world is simply staggering the game is just full of creativity that's mostly disappeared from large budget titles especially ones under the ea umbrella although i will note mirror's edge did camo 3 years prior under ea another title where it's art direction has helped that age like a fine wine character models are very burdenesque yet it doesn't fall into the trappings that the tim burton 2010 house film did this is very much the world of american mcgee's alice it's not just retreading the style of the original game with prettier graphics it expands on that style the first game had without deviating too far away from its foundations fitting in with the victorian era some scenes are done with these incredible animations with paper cutouts of characters it's a fantastic showing of the technology changes in the 10 and a half years between the titles and what they did with it i can't think of any games that have a stronger more confident art direction than madness returns it plays such a key role in helping build out that incredible atmosphere found within regards to the atmosphere i found the visuals here did more of the heavy lifting compared to the music whereas it was the opposite in the first title the music is still great here it's dark but can be surprisingly calm at times it fits well for the tone of the game but it is a step down in the soundtrack from the original chris redna would only return to compose one track for the game and this track does stand out for being a lot more out there [Music] the rest of the tracks feel more straightforward in the time frame of 1875 in which the game takes place fewer toy or odd instruments are used with much more emphasis on strings it's not like these tracks are bad far from it they're well ranged and memorable the issue is that the first alice to me has won the best game soundtracks of all time so it does fall quite a bit short there's also something about these drums used during combat music that never really sat right with me to me they always felt something more fitting for the old god of war titles as opposed to wonderland while the first title pulled heavily from that id game design madness return would take a more platforming collect-a-thon approach when i first came across one of these slide sections that one track from mario 64 popped into my head [Music] [Applause] nearly all that dna is absent here between the release of both titles the id style had mostly shifted away towards the cod military style shooter for a brief moment i wondered what would happen if the game had a two weapon limit and a cover system thank god it went with the platforming approach whereas the platforming was a bit spotty in the original madness returns it's received a great deal of care and what a difference it makes alice controls incredibly well here platformers live or die on how well the character controls how it feels to control them and here alice controls wonderfully i haven't played a ton of platformers in recent years but you just know when something controls well madness returns is a great example there are a few core elements that madness returns has in regards to its platforming there are invisible platforms that become visible when alice shrinks down in which they're visible for a short time there's something really endearing about the hiccups she has during these their elma moments finding those pig noses to shoot to open up further paths listen for those snorts to seek them out sometimes we'll need to put a bomb down on a platform while we are under a time limit to walk the path forward there's sections later on where one platform will send while the other descends as we try to get our timing right madness returns will mix matches throughout our time playing i have to commend the game at times for showing how progress opens up and how the camera falls back to alice it can be common in platformers to unlock something just for it to cut back to the player may spend a bit of time wondering about going wait where did that happen that's not the case here it's a small detail but a greatly appreciated one like any platformer madness returns has a number of collectibles the key items narrative wise are the memories collecting these play a little audio blurb of a past memory some come from the lawyer of her family some come from her nanny and the most notable ones come from her own family most of these are tucked away on the optional paths and they're a nice incentive to explore as they help flesh out the story in particular the ones with their family especially her sister lizzy give key revelations to the main had stolen his heart trifling with his affections creepy sword touching me told the part to never invite him to tea again bottles are another collectibles to unlock artwork and character biographies so whereas the platform ring here pulls heavily from mario the combat pulls heavily from the zelda series what goes for here combat wise it mostly pulls it off however it does fall short in other areas while it's more polished than the first game i did prefer the more chaotic nature that the combat the first game could deliver one of the greatest enemies that you will encounter madness returns will be the camera itself sometimes locking on something will throw things all out of whack i also did have struggles with the default control layout so the last game i played that had somewhat similar controls was elden ring there were a number of times i found myself hitting buttons through the alden ring control scheme as opposed to madness returns there is a smaller weapon roster here and the secondary attacks are removed we could collect teeth to upgrade our weapons in total we have a couple of range weapons and a couple melee weapons we also have a bomb that helps distract enemies and umbrella for deflecting projectiles like the first dallas once we unlock all these there's plenty of fun to be had switching back and forth here the game will mix and match enemies there weak against certain weapons one disappointment in regards to combat is the lack of boss fights there's one boss fight at the end else it's mobs of enemies and some mini bosses which is too bad as the final boss is well done and they were well done in the original there's one bit earlier in the game where it seems like you're about to have a boss fight which the game pulls the rug out from under you [Music] abandoned photo forget the past the damage is done let the madness begin resume the following oh [Music] from what i understand bosses were cut due to time constraints it would be nice to have them some mob encounters here can be repetitive and drag on a bit too long speaking of things dragging too long one common complaint and one i agree with a hundred percent is that madness returns is too long of a game with the way it's designed and structured it's a 12-hour game that should be around eight to nine hours the first title we're hopping from here to area on a fairly quick basis it was also a shorter title instead mattis return six approach a fewer chapters but much longer sections as great as these levels look how they feel the level design i found most of them would stretch on a good 20 to 25 percent longer when i was ready to move on to the next chapter there are six chapters in total with the last chapter being very short in between chapters we'll get some down time to explore london the london sections are mostly narrative bits before we return to wonderland they are very enjoyable and full of atmosphere and at times i was hoping for them to be a bit longer before heading back which is something that they plan to do initially but were cut due to time constraints there's two sections in particular that i find best demonstrate how the chapters in matters returns get stretched out too long new second chapter dilute depths there's a bit where we have a combat section we then follow the slide as we do some platforming to reach the end it's a well-designed section however you end up doing this three times even though one was more than enough other comes from the game's third chapter oriental grove this level is a bit of an outlier with weaker ties to the whole idea of wonderland but this was mainly due to spicy horse being based out of china and wanted to give the game a bit of an eastern flair like the rest of the game it is beautiful but it stretches on too long we have these beautiful 2d platforming sections they're a great palette cleanser however we end up doing three of them when again one was more than enough this happens a number of times throughout madness returns doing something two to three times and one was sufficed there were times when they checked the pause screen which shows how many collectibles you've collected on a level they're a good indicator of how much of a level is left there'd be points whereas about halfway through whereas ready for the game to move on to the next chapter if they did chop down on the runtime of chapters and added another chapter i don't think this would have been such a glaring issue or if they made the london sections longer i want to be clear that because i wish the game were shorter that's not a knock on the gameplay for what it goes for eight to nine hours would be great there's a lot of interesting discussion regards to game length for single player titles i've always been the camp of have a game that's not padded out but be very replayable resident evil series is a perfect example of this others prefer a longer title where they say well i paid 60 dollars for this game so i want to get a lot of mileage out of it even if they're full of filler turned to checklist simulators like most open world titles do for example as much as i love the first resident evil i wouldn't want to be doubled in length it's the right length it doesn't wear out its welcome for another game i've covered on my channel that wears out that's welcome is alien isolation it's a phenomenal game at what it does but it's about 20 longer than it needs to be if i wanted to i could fire up the first alice title no problem and enjoy myself any day madness returns i'd be a bit more hesitant to play through it again so with that let's dig more into the highlights and noble bits and madness returns because there are plenty throughout it's been a year since the events of the first game while the first title ended on a happy note maybe a bit too happy alice has been struggling since sure she was able to overcome some of her demons and return to society but many demons still remain this is made clear right off the bat with her session with dr bumby wonderland has been dead to her for some time i'm trapped in my bust [Music] [Music] discard that delusion forget it go to wonderland i'd rather not doctor my wonderland shattered it's dead to me your preference doesn't signify girl now alice where are you dr bumby's methods are also a bit questionable he's pretty blunt with his next patient after alice it's my turn to forget alex now charlie your power was hung for killing your ma who beat you let's forget that shall we the past is dead charlie something that's noble early on when it comes to the fire is that alice has an older sister lizzy she wasn't mentioned or shown in the first game she's not in the family photograph you could say this is a retcon however it could also just be a case of alice's trauma blocking certain aspects out also in the first sentence of alice in wonderland it does mention her sister the book also mentions she has a brother but he's not present here while she's now of her comatose she's still trying to piece together what happened with the fire while she still has many internal struggles to deal with she has many external ones as well she's living in a home for wayward youth in london amongst orphans who aren't overly fond of her i deserve my bitter tears want some one of her caretakers from the asylum extorts money from her on the money front radcliffe who is the family lawyer for her father is mucking with her inheritance her former nanny is now working as a prostitute being sent to run some errands alice begins to see hallucinations and eventually falls back into wonderland this is such an incredible moment [Music] [Music] very upsetting journey but i'm rid of priss or whatever she's become all brief the game had a bit of time to breathe before returning to wonderland the slow descent the beautiful scenery the calming music cheshire cat is waiting for us as we begin our new journey don't try to bully me i'm very much on edge when you're not on edge you're taking up too much space you're no help at all but you know i can be what's really great about madness returns are returning voice actors even though it's been over a decade it's the same voice actors here for alice and cheshire cat and something i learned while writing this is that roger jackson the voice of cheshire also does the voice of the mad hatter and the jabberwock in the original what's also different about madness returns is that alice will have a different dress depending on the chapter we're playing there are dlc dresses as well because of course you have to put those in for more money as they do while the whole game is stunning it really puts its best foot forward here with the veil of tears it's much more relaxed less dark than the prior game although that will change as we progress forward that's also something to note about madness returns its difference in its atmosphere and tone while it's still a very dark tone it feels less bleak than the first title it feels more melancholic for what the game goes for it pulls it off wonderfully entering further into hatter's domain there's a noticeable shift in the environment and while i did talk about how the game does drag on too long its stunning atmosphere the visuals and enjoyable platforming does greatly help to diminish that flaw in our journeys while there are many optional memories to collect there are these fire doors for key memories on the critical path these are key scenes in regards to what really happened that night with the fire diner saved my life i survived because she showed me how to escape i didn't leave the lamp in the library and dinah didn't knock it over the lamp and diner were upstairs when i went to bed dinah was in the room with me when the fire started [Music] the number of characters that were frozen the first title like the duchess and the mad hatter instead are allies this chapter introduces nearly all the elements of platforming that we're going to come across and madness returns one other way to have made the pacing better is to have a few more elements to the platforming madness returns also has a few palette cleansers with some slide puzzles and chest puzzles you are given the option to skip them should you wish i won't lie the last sliding piece puzzle in the game got the better of me after each chapter we return back to london for a time after chapter 1 alice gets pulled out of the river as she comes too which leads me to wondering what was she like wandering london when she's in wonderland but before we know it we're back into the world of wonderland after alice has knocked out this is one of those levels where i just take the time to take the world in the more i review footage and writing the script the more i come to appreciate the art direction mass returns takes it really is something else there are a number of optional areas we could come across on our journeys through these shell-like doors completing these challenges will increase our health i did enjoy the riddles although the combat gauntlets weren't very enticing we already have enough combat gauntlets to go through on the critical path as far as palette cleansers go i did enjoy the gradius inspired ship sections [Music] we have to help the carpenter here put together his upcoming show although he doesn't have a ton of screen time he's quite memorable with that vocabulary usage of his most vaccinationists no doubt would address that monstrosity directly that's to say eventually now let's intermediate more important matters due to a lot hysterical foul up some of the show's requisites need to be gathered there's plenty of rule three happening here as i mentioned earlier do this three times do that three times again it's one of those cases where one time was sufficed as the other two are mostly the same there's this bit here of helping these singing fish that i honestly thought was going to turn to a bit of a musical moment not that i'm against that but as this takes place underwater i had flashbacks to sections in kingdom hearts 2. you've played kingdom hearts 2 you know the section i'm talking about the one that when you were playing your dad walked in to watch anyways the show doesn't exactly go the way you were expecting heaps of grief and shame so if you are sued by accident you want someone to blame fire played in strange disease drowned murdered or if you please a long fall down the basement stairs non-unexpected no one cares i often must work very hard sweat running down my skin after the dance i then must rest and the eating can begin the third chapter oriental grove starts off with tons of promise i love how it cuts from london to the veil of doom this is the midsection of the game it's the longest level or at least feels the longest you know when you get the hunk ring to replay a game and you remember that part that one that causes you to think twice that's this section the game platforming is still great still gorgeous the wasp enemies are fun to deal with but it just keeps going thankfully chapter 4 queensland sees return to form as the highlight of madness returns navigating our way through these skies with cards flying in and out is very peaceful music here is my favorite track in the game which really adds to that tranquility there is a stark shift in tone once we arrive at the queen's castle there is a nice change up in running away from the executioner an enemy that's invincible for the time being he adds a lot of urgency to the section to keep things moving the platforms that rise and fall when we step on them or place a bomb on them are a nice addition at this point some changes to the platforming are welcome i did enjoy these chess puzzles they're well put together again the game gives you the option of skipping them but there is a nice sense of accomplishment in completing them and even if it happens in the cutscene it's very satisfying for alice to eat the cake turn to giant squash the executioner has been pursuing us like a bug the section afterwards of giant alice doing her best godzilla is really fun and a nice way to cap off the level with our talk with the queen he once rejected my attempts to control our lives forcefully now you've allowed another to succeed in my role i won't miss your tentacles get your minds off the gutter you discord degenerates returning to london alice hallucinates being back in the asylum this is a very messed up section remember all those things that they did to alice that you could read about in the manual of the first game if it isn't what's her name from the idiots ward yeah it's honest uncle's prize lunatic the instruments are gruesome but a hole in the head gives the troubles more space just the thing for your stone of madness some mental conditions are relieved by bloodletting doctor thinks it won't be affected against your symptoms but i am at the end of my tether and these leeches need the work a baker's desert nurse let me put them on here now on the final stretch the dollhouse is another great chapter if again suffering from being a bit too long these poor kids have fallen victim to the doll maker the unstable are more than merely mad they have other parts the doll maker will deprive them of what remains of their deranged souls they need care i know their pain i would assist but is sanity required for the job a limited quantity you're not mad enough to be rejected so let's circle back to the story the dollmaker it's dr bumbry who's treating alice at the beginning of the game he's been taking the children at the wayward youth home under his care to forget their memories to be sold as sex slaves he's been attempting to do that with alice as well but he has another reason for it he wants alice to forget about the fire because he was the one that started it and why did he start this fire he was a student of alice's father he took a liking to alice's older sister lizzy who didn't like him so i mentioned that the memories you find of lizzie are the most notable ones in regards to piecing things together flame had stolen his heart trifling with his affections creepy sword touching me told the part to never invite him to tea again lizzy hated locked rooms her room was further from the fire than mine smoke could not have killed her she never locked her door and besides she knew another way out of the house out of the window someone incapacitated or killed lizzie then locked her door then took the lamp downstairs and started the fire to cover up their crime this hand was slimy alice like an eel from the isis and his name won't help bumby if he ever qualifies his bedside manner will require improvement i had a role in my family's demise but i did not start the fire centers don't live in oxford but a certain doctor did i saw him a preening undergraduate now i remember him that key belongs to lizzy's room as greatest voice acting has been throughout the series susie brand really knocks out the park here where she confronts the doll maker in wonderland bumby in london about this it's absolutely heartbreaking oblivious i live in a training ground for prostitutes my mentor is an abuser and purveyor i've been complicit with my sister's murderer and the killer of my family as he corrupted my mind i sought relief from my pain and you turn me away from the truth children wearing their names around their necks as if they're breeding livestock a declaration of their pedigree you could use one they're proud to display their provenance can't remember who they are or where they're from how many minds have you twisted into forgetfulness not enough there are a few games that tackle this kind of delicate subject matter silent hill being one of them for good reason you need very strong writing in order to pull it off with grace and madness returns is more than up to the task bumby is one of the most despicable villains i've come across in the game in regards to what he does to others around him the final boss well the only boss in the game is against the doll maker and shows they had the right idea in regards to boss design with this combat system it's just too bad they end up getting cut for time and the death of bumby is one of the more satisfying ones in regards to the death of a villain you monstrous creature such evil will be punished by whom by what psychotic silly [ __ ] your madness will be punished now leave i'm expecting your replacement [Music] [Music] [Music] oh with that alice walks off into a world of wonderland and london overlapping for her story to continue another day before we look at what's being put together for alice asylum i want to compare the first two titles a bit more i ran up on which game people preferred with around 1700 responses while i wasn't surprised that madness return won i was surprised at the difference that being 31 to 69 for myself i do prefer the original but i can see where people are coming from when they prefer the sequel sure alice can have awkward platforming but i did prefer its combat the first title may have the better soundtrack but madness returns art direction feel stronger more confident both have great stories while give the edge to the sequel and what it dives into while it may be a bit rough around the edges the first alice was all killer no filler madness returns while more polished suffers from some pacing issues and some levels that overstay their welcome as i mentioned earlier if picking between the two to replay it's the first game if madness returns i'll remember that middle section that really drags and not be as enthusiastic while i do enjoy platformers i do find myself enjoying games in the vein of doom or quake more so that also plays a factor in the decision of me preferring the first title however i can 100 see where people are coming from when they prefer madness returns with that let's look to the potential future of the series that being alice asylum as of writing the script in july of 2022 it's now been over 11 years since the release of alice madness returns the stretch of not having another game in the series is now longer than the 10 and a half year stretch between the first two titles something that makes me feel old and i'm sure it does for you too but that's not due to a lack of trying it's anything but american mcgee and his team have put a lot of work of shaping of what to be the third title in the series that being alice asylum so where does the problem lie well that's what the owners of the rights to the alice games that being ea over the past 11 years ea has greatly changed their market cap was around 7.8 billion dollars when madness returns was released in the june of 2011. as of writing in july of 2022 it's 34.4 billion ea has gone to acquire many more studios like pop cat games respawn entertainment and cone masters they've also killed off many others such as mythic entertainment black box games and visceral games due to a number of controversies they were both the worst company of america in 2012 and 2013. it's hard to keep count of how many controversies they've had over the last 11 years from loot boxes to micro transactions to games as a service this is all well documented in how customer unfriendly they can be many youtube channels have made careers of devoting their time to dunking on ea and despite how shitty they can be they can't really hear you over how much money they're making nearly three-quarters of their annual revenue comes from live services dlc and microtransactions around 30 of their annual revenue comes from fifa ultimate team so i ask you dear viewer does mr loot box himself andrew wilson ceo of ea look like the man who would green light a third title in the series one in which american mcgee does not want to stuff with microtransactions and loot boxes well hold that thought for now while spicy horse shut down in 2016 american and small team have been working on design materials of alice asylum through crowdfunding if you go to his youtube channel or his patreon there's plenty design materials that you could go through one notable recent update is the design bible which currently sits at 235 pages and is still ongoing the design bible has received very positive feedback from the game development studios that has been sent to one called it by far the best design bible they've ever come across reading through it i can see why the end goal is to get enough traction free to give that green light for the game to happen so even if ea does eventually give that green light it will still be a number of years before we get to play alice asylum perhaps by then george rr martin will have released wins of winter maybe star assists and will be released or joseph anderson will release his video on the witcher 3 where he spends 10 hours reciting the plot but back to alice what does the design bible look like for alice asylum inspired by exploring the stages of grief alice asylum will play similar to the past two titles weapons will once again have alternative attacks like the first title number of weapons that we could use in the first alice will make a return numerous boss battles will make a return i'm hoping this means there'll be more of a shift back towards some of that id design approach this style has had a bit of a revival in recent years from the indie scene with boomer shooters and from id themselves stealth will also be an option to take while still a work in progress the design bible gives a detailed guide of how they see the game playing out of course should development happen things can change features may be cut but they have a very strong vision of what they want the game to be there's also a narrative outline which you could read through depending on how you feel about spoilers i won't talk about them here i will say that the game ends on a very satisfying note and a fitting end to the trilogy it's a very open process with how they're putting things together next nothing is locked behind the patreon paywall and there are frequent updates hell i ended up pitching in as i went through it on that note here's my shameless plug for my patreon or youtube memberships so reading through the progress of alice asylum i do grow more hopeful that we will get to see the game come to life there's also something recently that gives me even more hope in late january of 2022 it was announced that tv series based on the world of american mcgee's alice is in the works the series will be written and produced by david hayder yep the solid snake guy he's done number screenplays like the first two x-men movies and it looks like american mcgee will have some input into the series as well how much is left to be seen and no streaming service or broadcaster have acquired the series yet i will note that there is a possibility that the show won't be picked up but seeing the kind of crap that gets picked up these days i'm not too concerned about that happening it was all the pre-production work on alice asylum that got their attention of radar pictures to make a show this of course will bring more attention to the franchise the hope is that successful show will lead to finally receiving the green light from ea for the third title speaking of va madness returns returned to steam after several years of absence shortly after the announcement of the tv show so that's potentially promising of course we have to consider how adaptations of properties have been handled in recent years there is a reason the netflix adaptation meme exists as of writing the script the resident evil show just came out in well it's a perfect representation of the whole netflix adaptation meme i'm usually a cynical son of a [ __ ] when it comes to these kind of things and i don't get my hopes up that often but i do feel fairly optimistic about this one despite how much of a dud the resident evil netflix show is it's not like the game series is going to stop but now a show that does well can have a great impact on whether or not yea decides to move forward with green lighting alice asylum and i will also know that despite ea mostly focusing on live service titles there have been a few expectations the last few years star wars jedi fallen order was a single player title with no micro transactions that ended up selling over 10 million copies the dead space remake set for release in january of 2023 will be single player only and no micro transactions it's sad that i have to mention no micro transactions but we know what to expect from ea so despite not releasing many of them it's not like they're 100 opposed to releasing single player titles but i guess we'll have to wait and see besides it's been just over 11 years since madness returns released what's a few more now i'm not a huge fan of old series returning after hiatus sometimes it's just best to leave things as they are silent he'll be an example we didn't get the kojima treatment and i don't have high hopes for the rumored return of the series the teams that put together these masterpieces are long gone but with alice it's tied very much its creator american mcgee yes many worked on the titles and as mentioned american wasn't a huge fan of having his name on the title but it's very much his creation and seeing what he's put together for alice asylum it's clear just how much he cares about the series just like all the fans have come to care about the series even with just a couple of games released it's remained a very noticeable franchise for over 20 years it seems that even being set in a well-known property there's still nothing quite like the alice titles and it deserves its ending even if that may still be some time away so if it's been a while since you made the trip down the rabbit hole i hope this video has inspired you to give the games another replay and if you haven't already done so why not take the plunge thanks for watching if you've watched us long and haven't done so already do the stuff the algorithm likes consider becoming a patron or a youtube member i hope to see you again soon [Music] oh [Music]

Channel: Boulder Punch

Views: 1,222,137

Keywords: american mcgee's alice, american mcgee, boulder punch, alice: madness returns, alice: asylum, american mcgee's alice series, american mcgee's alice review, alice: madness returns review, alice: asylum preview, american mcgee's alice series review, madness returns review, alice madness returns, alice madness returns review, alice game review, alice pc game, american mcgee's alice playthrough, american mcgee alice, american mcgee alice series, american mcgee alice review, alice

Id: ei4-s2F8hI0

Length: 51min 33sec (3093 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 27 2022