Alice: Madness Returns

 

     Alice: Madness Returns is the long awaited sequel to 2000’s American McGee’s Alice. The original game was widely hailed for its advanced graphics, its innovative take on the classic Lewis Carroll stories, and great gameplay. Sadly, it looks like 11 years haven't been kind to the Alice franchise. 
  
    Madness Returns takes place 11 years after the original game, mirroring the time span between the two games. Alice has been out of the insane asylum and under the care of a psychiatrist who has been trying to make her forget the horrible memories of the fire that claimed her family. However, she begins to hallucinate again, returning to a broken Wonderland and dredging up those repressed memories.

   While Alice: Madness Returns sells itself as an action/adventure title, the primary gameplay mechanics are platforming. Alice has the ability to shrink herself, allowing passage into tiny paths and revealing invisible plaforms and hints. Alice can also float, jump, glide, dodge, and re-jump multiple times in mid-air. These abilities account for most of the gameplay in Madness Returns. Most areas involve traversing numerous visible, invisible, and moving platforms. There are also mushroom caps that propel Alice far into the air and steam vent upon which she can float indefinitely. Unfortunately, the platforming makes up the vast majority of the game. Getting through the five chapters feels more like an exercise in lather, rinse, repeat than a dynamic, challenging game experience.

   There are some small (oh so small) sections that vary the gameplay. The Dollhouse chapter features a doll-head-rolling Marble Madness-type minigame that you get to play a few times. The East Asian chapter features a Paper Mario-esque 2D paper section. Between each chapter, there are also small sections in which you wander the streets of a highly stylized Victorian London. These sections and minigames are brilliant, but make up less than 5% of the total game.

  The enemies shift some from chapter to chapter, staying fairly varied, particularly in different combinations. Ruins come in various forms across all chapters. They slither, walk and fly, and the Colossal Ruin just tries to mow you over. Individual chapters get their own enemies like the Card Guards in the Red Queen’s court and the evil creepy dolls in the Dollhouse chapter. However, the chapters don’t feature ending bosses, they just…end. This makes each chapter feel rather anti-climactic when it draws to a close. Fortunately, there is a final boss for the game, giving the much-needed sense of accomplishment in the 11th hour.

  The visuals in Alice: Madness Returns are a conundrum. On the one hand, the art direction and style are phenomenal. The Tim Burton meets Lewis Carroll on LSD design is dramatically different from anything out there. The Victorian London scenes are stylized in such a way that they echo the madness in Alice’s mind and make you question reality at every turn. On the other hand, the graphics are sub par for an HD console.

  Alice: Madness Returns is a fairly long game for its genre. There are five chapters and each took me 2-3 hours, plus more time could be spent in exploration to gather all the bottles, memories, and pig snouts hidden in the game. Upon completion, there’s also a New Game+ feature that allows you to choose a costume (all of which grant different bonuses), and start the game with all your weapons and upgrades in place. Individual chapters can also be replayed to try and get any collectibles you may have missed. Finally, new copies of Madness Returns come with the Online Pass, but the only use for it is the free download of the console version of the original American McGee’s Alice. So, you actually get two games for the price of one.

For: PC, XBOX 360, PS3

                                                                                    Game Ranking:
                     75.09%

Battlefield 3

                                   
   Prepare for full-scale war with Battlefield 3, the third major evolution of the long-running online battle franchise. Using the power of Frostbite 2 game engine technology, Battlefield 3 delivers superior visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations. As bullets whiz by, walls crumble, and explosions throw you to the ground, the battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before.

   In Battlefield 3, players step into the role of the elite U.S. Marines where they will experience heart-pounding single player missions and competitive multiplayer actions ranging across diverse locations from around the globe including Europe, Middle-East and North America.


    Online multiplayer is the main draw for any military shooter, and Battlefield 3 seems to recognize that very quickly. The number of modes in competitive multiplayer is a bit disappointing, with only six (but really just three) different multiplayer modes. Conquest and Conquest Large are like capture the flag with three different flags. Team compete to control any and all of the positions for as long as possible. Rush and Squad Rush use points to defend and destroy, advancing to new points if and when the first ones are destroyed. Finally, the old and always great Team Deathmatch and Squad Deathmatch make their return. Any of these modes can take place on one of nine very well-designed maps. These vary in size and atmosphere, but all offer great opportunities for ranged combat and close quarters, as well as the trademark destruction of the franchise. Buildings and cover can be demolished if applied the appropriate amount of prejudice (and ordinance), dramatically changing the layout of the map and the tactics used therein. Vehicles are also featured on nearly every map. Some smaller ones may only offer a Humvee or an APC, but larger maps will also offer up tanks, helicopters, jets, and more.

The most impressive aspect of Battlefield 3's online multiplayer is the way the game rewards you for teamwork without shoving it down your throat. Laying down suppressive fire on enemies will blur their vision and decrease their accuracy, even if you're not hitting them with a single bullet. If your teammate kills that enemy while they're in this befuddled state, you'll net yourself a nice XP bonus. Assists are granted based on how much damage you did to the enemy before their demise. Even spotting an enemy for your teammates will grant you a benefit. Each multiplayer class in Battlefield 3 also has gadgets that can be used to support your teammates such as throwing down med kits, reviving fallen comrades, or repairing damaged vehicles. Military shooters can't usually walk the line between going all commando on your enemies (Call of Duty) and working as a team (MAG), but Battlefield 3 really finds the balance, making players of either orientation feel like they're competitive and having a good time.

    DICE knew what the majority of their players would gravitate towards and obviously focused their efforts accordingly: delivering a lackluster solo campaign, but an uncompromising multiplayer masterpiece. The Battlefield multiplayer isn't for everyone. It's more realistic, the bullets have more punch, coordinated efforts mean more than running and gunning, and knowing how to use vehicles and destruction can be just as key as accurate aiming. These things that may make it not for everyone are what make it great, though. The varied maps, vehicles, and destruction make for changing tactics every match, even if you're replaying the same map with the same people over and over again. Battlefield fans, the game you've been waiting for has arrived in truly rare form. If you've never played a Battlefield game, Battlefield 3 is certainly the game to pop that cherry on.

For: PC, XBOX 360, PS3
  
                                                                           Game Rating: 
                       84.46%