Alice: Madness Returns (2024)

Alice: Madness Returns
Profile
Developers	Spicy Horse
Publishers	Electronic Arts
Directors	American McGee
Designers	American McGee
Composers	Jason Tai Marshall Crutcher Chris Vrenna
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platforms	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release Date	NA: June 14, 2011 EU: June 16, 2011 JP: July 21, 2011
Genres	Action-adventure Platform Hack and Slash
Modes	Single Player

Alice: Madness Returns is a video game directed by American McGee and developed by Spicy Horse and published by Electronic Arts on June 14, 2011 in North America, June 16 in Europe, and July 21 in Japan for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Madness Returns crosses genres such as action-adventure, platforming and fantasy horror.

Madness Returns is the second installment in the Alice series and a direct sequel to American McGee's Alice. A third game called Alice: Asylum is being proposed. There is a sequel to Madness Returns called Alice: Otherlands, although it is currently two animated short films and artwork.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Madness Returns are bundled with a remaster of American McGee's Alice for free. On PC, however, it is only possible to obtain this remaster of American McGee's Alice through a Madness Returns bundle called "Alice: Madness Returns - The Complete Collection" on non-Steam digital distribution sites, or unofficial means. The Xbox 360 versions of both games are also playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility.

Madness Returns focuses on a nineteen-year-old Alice Liddell after her release from Rutledge Asylum a year ago. She was currently living in Victorian London in the late 1875 under the medical counsel of a psychiatrist, Dr. Angus Bumby. Referenced by her former nurse Pris Witless in order to keep Alice off the streets and from becoming a prostitute, Alice has received a job and a room at the Houndsditch Home for Wayward Youth where she assists Bumby in caring for the orphans as a maid and errand runner.

Plot[]

Although a year has passed since Alice was deemed sane enough to return to society, the traumatic childhood memories of the deaths of her father, mother, and older sister in a fire continued to haunt her. Alice still had fits of violence and mad ramblings, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, survivor's guilt, schizophrenia and hallucinations. Wonderland became destroyed and corrupted again until it was shattered and dead to her. With no family or friends, even her imaginary animal friends from Wonderland, Alice became very lonely.

One day, after her session with the doctor was over, Bumby sent Alice to pick up medicine at the pharmacist. On her way, Alice became side-tracked with following a stray cat. Upon entering a dark alley, she experienced a hallucination of several monstrous figures with Jabberwock heads surrounding her, until it was interrupted by Pris Witless, who had found her wandering around. Alice was not very happy to see the old woman as Witless was using Alice's "confession" to blackmail her in order to get money to buy alcohol. In return, Witless would not report Alice's "confession" to the police. Alice was surprised to hear that Witless might have information about her missing rabbit toy, a sentimental object to Alice as it was the only item that survived the fire. Witless then brought Alice to her rooftop, where Alice had another hallucination of Witless transforming into the Jabberwock. The fear Alice had from seeing Witless turn into a monster triggered an even greater mental breakdown, and Alice fell into Wonderland again.

Alice landed in the Vale of Tears, and found Wonderland appearing to be much more peaceful than when she was in Rutledge. However, greeted by her old friend Cheshire Cat, he told her that there was a new ruler in Wonderland and Alice's sanity was at risk once again. After traversing through the Vale of Tears and watching it fall apart around her, she entered Hatter's Domain again, and found the Mad Hatter in pieces, after the March Hare and Dormouse turned against him and took over the factory. The Mad Hatter informed Alice about the changes Dormouse and March Hare made to the factory. Alice agreed to reconstruct him in exchange for information about the source of Wonderland's corruption.

After recovering his limbs, Alice and Hatter broke into the main hub of the factory, and Alice witnessed the sight of the Infernal Train leaving the factory and heading into Wonderland, which several Wonderlanders considered the cause of all the corruption. Upon the departure of the Train, Dormouse and the March Hare lifted the Hatter away with a giant hook and confronted Alice in a mechanical robot controlled by the both of them. However, the Hatter freed himself and dropped a teapot upon the battle robot causing it to fall apart and eject Dormouse and March Hare on to the floor in front of Alice. The Mad Hatter's factory began to fall apart around him, Alice, and the corpses of Dormouse and March Hare.

The Mad Hatter suddenly slipped into a delusional state and began conversing with Dormouse and March Hare, claiming he only wanted another tea party. Alice urged Hatter to give more information about the Infernal Train, but the Hatter quickly turned down Alice's questions and returned to drinking tea with his dead friends. Alice pleaded with the Hatter only for him to be crushed by the debris of the collapsed roof of the factory. Alice scoffed, claiming he deserved to die from not keeping his end of the bargain by helping her and was quickly overwhelmed by a sea of tea and drowned.

Alice woke up in the real world to find two fishermen who pulled her out of the River Thames and planned on raping her, but she told them off. She navigated the docks to find Nan Sharpe, her former nanny, at the Mangled Mermaid, a whorehouse. Inside, she interrupted a possible assault between Nanny and Jack Splatter. Alice ordered Jack to leave Nan Sharpe alone but was knocked unconscious by him, triggering a return trip to Wonderland.

Waking up in Tundraful, she met Mock Turtle again, the former stationmaster of the Looking Glass Railway and the current captain of the HMS Gryphon. They both go underwater to the Deluded Depths, but when Alice questioned Turtle about the Train, he was unable to give her information, as he was too terrified to speak of it after being replaced as stationmaster. Mock Turtle gave Alice a ticket to the Carpenter's show, urging her to use it. Traversing the depths, Alice arrived at the Carpenter's show, and performed several errands for him in exchange information about the train.

However, Carpenter betrayed her and trapped her in a ghost-filled cemetery. Alice managed to make it for the start of the show, where Walrus started eating the Oyster Starlets and other citizens of Barrelbottom. Alice became angry with Carpenter for his actions, but he told her that he was only trying to hide Wonderland from the Infernal Train. As the said train came crashing in, he implied that Alice was partially responsible for the train and that someone was misleading her. His last words of advice to Alice was to seek Caterpillar.

Alice woke up to find that Splatter had set the Mangled Mermaid on fire. Her nanny, unwilling to talk about the fire that killed the Liddells, escorted Alice to Wilton J. Radcliffe, the Liddell family lawyer so she could ask him questions and collect her rabbit doll, but after Radcliffe voiced his suspicions regarding Alice's role in the fire, she had a psychotic break. Alice arrived in Wonderland in the abandoned house of Radcliffe. She exited the house and into the twisted and corrupted Vale of Tears now called the Vale of Doom.

After traversing the disjointed Vale of Doom, Alice came to a small pool with a tiny mountain reaching out from the middle of it. Caterpillar surrounded her in smoke, shrinking her into Oriental Grove, the Caterpillar's domain. While going through the area and dispatching the vicious Wasps, she recovered a repressed memory: she remembered that Dinah was in her room with her on the night of the fire, and the only lit oil lamp in the house was upstairs serving as a hallway night-light, so it could not have been Dinah that started the fire. Upon reaching Caterpillar's temple, Caterpillar led her to the bottom of the temple where he was encased in a cocoon.

Alice was distressed about saving the world, doubting her ability when she cannot save herself. Caterpillar answered that by saving Wonderland meant she would also help herself. He also mentioned that the train was Alice's creation, and that she must seek out the Queen of Hearts, whom Caterpillar described as "someone she once knew and loved." The mountain began to crumble and shake as Caterpillar broke free of his cocoon and flew out of the mountain and into the sky as a butterfly. Alice was exposed to the blinding sunlight which beckoned her back to reality. She saw the fluttering silhouette of a butterfly on a window.

Alice woke up again, this time in gaol, where the police brought her in after she had a hysterical fit in the middle of the street. Upon leaving gaol, Alice quickly fell into another fit and entered Cardbridge, a land high in the sky of Wonderland consisting of numerous platforms made of playing cards which moved randomly. After leaving Cardbridge, she descended from the sky to the rotting remains of Queensland. Cheshire Cat conversed with Alice about her triumph over the Queen and urged her to proceed forward.

She reached the entrance to the palace to find it blocked by the defeated White King. He informed her that after she left, the Queen took over and imprisoned him there. He also mentioned that destroying him will allow her to move forward. Before Alice killed him, the White King warned her of an "out-sized killer," revealed to be the Executioner, patrolling Queensland and discouraged Alice from fighting him. Soon after, Alice met the "out-sized killer" himself and escaped with her life. Cheshire appeared saying the Executioner did not normally chase after those who escape him but Alice was his only exception. Through her trek through Queensland, the Executioner found Alice and either tried to kill her or send her to different parts of Queensland.

However, while Alice made her way through the Red Queen's courtyard, she was pursued by the Executioner and found a cake labelled "Eat Me." Alice ate a slice and grew to enormous size to stomp on the Executioner, killing him. While looking for the Queen, Alice deduced that her older sister, who was found dead but unburnt, had not been killed by the fire, but had been killed by the real arsonist. However, she still did not know who the arsonist was. When she reached the center of the castle, the Queen angrily chastised Alice for allowing the train to run amok and not seeing what was around her. The Queen wrapped Alice in her tentacles and consumed her, sending her into a nightmare.

After seeing a vision of Dr. Wilson, and Nurse Cratchet, Alice went on a surreal walk through Rutledge and had been incarcerated there. However, it turned out to just be another hallucination mixed with her memories of her time in the asylum. She saw Tweedledum and Tweedledee and Orderlies before she entered the waiting room where Bumby, Nan Sharpe, Nurse Witless, and Mr. Radcliffe rumbled about Alice's resistance to forget from their point of view, declaring that she either conformed and forget or go back to Rutledge forever. Alice soon broke free of the hallucination and found herself in Hyde Park.

She encountered a mortally wounded Insane Child bleeding to death on the ground. She had been bisected, and the lower part of her body was unseen. With her dying breath, she implored Alice to help the other children. Alice stated that she did not think the children were in danger anymore as the Queen of Hearts had been defeated, which symbolized her failure to recognize and act upon the abuse happening to the orphans she lived with at Houndstitch. The little girl then told her that though their enemies come and go, a new evil reigns, worse than the conquered Queen. The child then died, leaving Alice to find a burning premonition of her home. Alice then proceeded into the Dollhouse.

Within the wasteland of abandoned toys, Alice met the Insane Children. Their leader asked for her help and offered a very cryptic explanation for what was going on, saying that "parts" of the children were being taken from them by the mastermind behind the Infernal Train and the Ruin monsters, the Dollmaker. However, the Insane Children were forced into hiding before they could explain further. After traveling through the Dollhouse, Alice came to realize that the person on the night of the fire, started said fire, and as a result, was responsible for the eradication of the Liddells was none other than Dr. Angus Bumby. It was confirmed when she met the Dollmaker, who greatly resembled Bumby, and he essentially bragged about what he did. The Dollmaker captured Alice and made her into a doll. She was able to break free from his hold moments later.

Almost immediately after this confrontation, Alice, in reality, confronted Bumby at Moorgate Station. Alice called Bumby out on his actions, and for exploiting and abusing children and destroying their innocence, memories and identities for his own monetary gain. He bragged about his abuse towards the children placed in his care, making them forget everything and turning them into prostitutes. He casually confirmed her accusations, and admitted he was trying to break down Alice herself into a mindless sex slave too, but she proved too stubborn and too powerful, even in her insanity, to allow herself to forget. He even called Alice a "beauty", implying that he may have been attracted to her as well. Bumby claimed Alice was "mad" like her sister, claiming Lizzie was a tease who pretended to despise him, and that she got what she wanted in the end, hinting at his molestation of her.

At the same time, in Wonderland, Alice made her way through the Infernal Train, and along the way talked to Hatter, Caterpillar, and the Queen. The Hatter rumbled in delusion about Alice's quest for the truth and mentioned in a very roundabout way that forcing herself to forget was not her solution but the source of her confusion. Next, Alice confronted Caterpillar, who said that because Alice was so consumed by her own pain, she became oblivious of Bumby's motives with the children, and that she perhaps deserves punishment for not realizing this before. She also talked to the Queen, who told her that her sister was not talking in her sleep the night of the fire, making Alice realize that Bumby, who was obsessed with Lizzie, had raped her before starting the fire. The Queen told her to make her survival of the fire mean something or Wonderland and herself would all be doomed. At the end of the Infernal Train, Alice confronted the Dollmaker.

After Alice destroyed the Dollmaker, she finally stood up to Bumby in the real world and threatened to tell the police about his crimes. Bumby was not scared of her words as he knew that no one would believe a madwoman and he implies that he already covered up his tracks by destroying all evidence and traces of his crimes. Bumby called her a "psychotic silly bitch" and simply told her to go away. Alice felt so much animosity and hatred towards Bumby, and was looking at the source of her family's deaths, the one responsible for stealing 10 years of life and putting her in mental hell, and abusing children. Knowing that Bumby would unlikely be convicted and that she may never have another chance to seek revenge, Alice made a choice. As she was about to leave, Alice hesitated and, in her Wonderland dress, turned back and pushed him in front of an oncoming train, killing him.

As she exited the station, Alice walked into Londerland, where Wonderland and London had woven into one existence. Cat said, "Alice, we can't go home again... Only a very few find the way, and most of them don't recognize it when they do. Delusions, too, die hard. Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as the measure of worth. Forgetting pain is convenient, remembering it... agonizing. But recovering the truth is worth the suffering and our Wonderland, though damaged, is safe in memory... for now."

Gameplay[]

Combat[]

Madness Returns plays very similar to that of its predecessor, as in most of game consists of the player exploring Wonderland, fighting enemies, and navigating the environments along the way. All of the enemies that Alice has to face have weak spots and/or have weakness to certain attacks and weapons, and it is up to the player to find out the weaknesses and use them against the enemy.

In this installment, Alice's health is represented by Roses and there is no Will bar, as she can use her weapons without requiring willpower. When Alice's health drops on her last Rose, she can use Hysteria, which is similar to Rage from the first game, where her attacks become extremely powerful for a limited time in addition to invulnerability. Alice also has a Dodging ability, which turns her into a fast-moving cluster of butterflies to evade attacks.

Throughout the game, Alice gains six weapons to use against foes, as well as to use when navigating the various environments, which include:

• The Vorpal Blade: A melee knife which deals quick slashes to the target.
• The Pepper Grinder: A long-range, machine gun-like weapon which sends a fast round of pepper corns straight at the target.
• The Hobby Horse: A heavy, melee hammer which deals slow, but strong attacks.
• The Teapot Cannon: A powerful cannon which shoots one arcing projectile at a time, but has a large splash radius when the projectile lands.
• The Umbrella: A defensive shield use for deflecting projectile attacks.
• The Clockwork Bomb: An explosive with a timer, used for distracting enemies and blowing them up as well as certain obstacles.

lice can obtain Teeth throughout Wonderland to upgrade her weapons, excluding the Umbrella and Clockwork Bomb. Each weapon can receive up to 3 upgrades, which will change their appearances and improve their power. There are normal white Teeth, as well as rarer golden Teeth which amount to 5 white Teeth. Both Roses and Teeth can be found in breakable boxes, as well as dropped by enemies upon their defeat.

There are four difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, Hard and Nightmare. Unlike American McGee's Alice, Madness Returns features adjustable difficulty so the player can change it anytime in the menu.

Platforming[]

Madness Returns is heavy on platforming elements. Alice is able to triple jump mid-air and float to navigate from level to level between long distances. Alice can also ride bursts of steam which will lift her upwards; she is able to turn around while suspended. Many sections of the game involve Alice locating and using various switches to open doors or move platforms. Pressure Pads require Alice to use the Clockwork Bomb as a weight so she can proceed to solve a puzzle while the Bomb lasts.

Early in the game, Alice is imbued with the power of Shrink Sense which enables her to shrink at will. Shrink Sense has three uses: to locate keyholes to find hidden items, to see hidden messages and platforms, and to be able to use Shrinking Violets.

Collectables[]

Throughout the game, the player has plenty of collectables and unlockables to find. While some collectables can be found along the linear path, most must be found down hidden paths or by using shrink sense. The types of collectables include:

• Memories: Fragments of dialogue from people who have had a great impact on Alice's life, represented by glistening, crystal-like objects.
• Pig Snouts: Large pig snouts that can be found flying in the air or mounted on walls. To collect them, Alice must season them using the Pepper Grinder. When full of pepper, the snouts sneeze and disappear. When they disappear, hidden paths open up to lead Alice to other collectables, or reveal baskets of teeth and roses.
• Bottles: Glowing white and gold bottles. Finding every bottle in a chapter will unlock pieces of concept art relating to that said chapter.
• Radula Rooms: Secret rooms in which Alice must perform certain tasks. Completing the tasks result in Alice gaining Paint Pots. Four Paint Pots complete a Rose, which is added to Alice's health bar to increase the maximum amount of health she can have.

Mini-games[]

Madness Returns features many mini-games. These are small quests that Alice must accomplish in order to continue her journey in Wonderland. Various kinds of mini-games are available in several areas and the player can choose to skip them. Some mini-games, however, must be played to further explore the area.

Achievements and Trophies[]

By meeting certain criteria in the game, the player can unlock achievements and trophies in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, respectively. While there are some that are easy to achieve, which simply involve completing chapters and playing through the game on different difficulty settings, some require the player to find collectables, or to kill a number of the same type of foe in a certain way.

Downloadable Content[]

Alongside Madness Returns, a DLC pack titled the "Weapons of Madness and Dresses Pack" was released. The pack contains four special weapon versions, and 6 new dresses which, like the six dresses already in the game, have special powers that can change the player's experience. The PC version comes with this DLC, though it is set to false by default in the game's .ini file. When set to true, the content becomes available.

Weapons[]

• Vorpal Cleaver: A larger version of the Vorpal Blade, which reduces damage from enemies by 50%.
• Octo-grinder: An octopus version of the Pepper Grinder, which has an increased ammo limit and provides double the ammo.
• Knightmare: A skeletal version of the Hobby Horse, which restores Alice's health with each hit.
• Catnip Cannon: A Cheshire Cat version of the Teapot Cannon, which increases the amount of damage Alice deals to enemies by 50%.

Dresses[]

• Caterpillar: Stylized after the Caterpillar and gives Alice black eyes. In this dress, shrink sense is always active.
• Checkmate: Designed with red and white chess pieces, and gives Alice aqua eyes. This dress deals out double the damage for all weapons.
• Cheshire: Designed after the Cheshire Cat, giving Alice a bony cat tail, cat ears and amber cat eyes. It disables all Health Rose Drops from enemies.
• Fleshmaiden: A dress made from monstrous flesh which gives Alice silvery white eyes. It allows Alice to use Hysteria at any time.
• Hattress: Designed after the Mad Hatter; in this dress, Alice's hair is cut short and her eyes are golden-brown cogs. In this outfit, the player loses teeth instead of health.
• Late but Lucky: Stylized after the White Rabbit, with rabbit feet worn around the waist and gives Alice purple eyes. It allows Alice to constantly regenerate health at the rate of using Shrinking Violets.

Related Media[]

Soundtrack[]

Main article: Alice: Madness Returns Original Soundtrack

On May 17, 2011, the game's original twenty-two piece music score was released by EA Recordings, titled Alice: Madness Returns Original Videogame Soundtrack.

The music was primarily composed and performed by Jason Tai and Marshall Crutcher, with an additional track performed by Chris Vrenna, who composed the soundtrack for American McGee's Alice.

The soundtrack is missing many pieces which the Alice: Madness Returns Unreleased Original Soundtrack contains. The Unreleased Original Soundtrack is an unofficial gathering of the game's music by fans.

Storybook[]

Main article: Alice: Madness Returns Storybook

A month before Madness Returns was released, on May 20, 2011, Spicy Horse released a free-to-download application for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. The app is an interactive book, and was made to promote Madness Returns by acting as a type of prequel, covering the ten-year period that Alice Liddell was treated in Rutledge Asylum, finishing around the time of her release and move to Houndsditch Home for Wayward Youth. As well as covering the events that happened during American McGee's Alice in Wonderland, it also showed what happened to Alice in the asylum.

Artbook[]

Main article: The Art of Alice: Madness Returns

Spicy Horse released a 184-page hardback art book entitled The Art of Alice: Madness Returns through the publisher Dark Horse. It features an introduction by American McGee, and full-color, official promotional pieces and concept art for Madness Returns, with notes from the game's artists.

Development[]

Rumors of a sequel to Alice first developed shortly after the original game was released to critical and commercial success, though at that time, the development team behind the original were working on the ultimately-cancelled spin-off, American McGee's Oz. With a movie adaptation of American McGee's Alice in development at the time, interest at Electronic Arts rose in a remake of the game and work was started on a sequel. However, when the movie adaptation fell through, plans for a sequel were shelved, and remained so for nearly a decade.

At the February 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit, EA announced a sequel, which at the time had the working title The Return of American McGee's Alice. Two pieces of concept art accompanied the announcement, along with the information that the original game's writer and executive producer would also return for the sequel. In November of that year, a fan-made trailer (with the title "The Return of Alice") was mistaken by gaming news outlets as an official teaser for the game, in which Alice is in therapy after a relapse nine months following the events of the first game, and appears to hallucinate an image of the Cheshire Cat in place of her doctor.

At EA's Studio Showcase on July 20, 2010, more details about the game were shown, including its current title, Alice: Madness Returns. In addition to further pieces of concept art and actual, in-game screenshots, the first official teaser was released. Despite (or perhaps because of) the fan video eight months prior, it also portrays Alice in therapy: after being hypnotized by her doctor in a bizarre office filled with dismembered arms hanging from the ceiling, as she opens her mouth to speak, large amounts of blood and teeth pour out. As the game title appears, a whispering voice is heard saying, "Alice... what have you done?"

During the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, new assets, including a second trailer, were released. Alice is seen strolling through a London street, and eventually approaches an area littered with toys and a toy store window, which contains a set depicting the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse and the March Hare taking tea. Suddenly, she sees an image of her deceased parents in the window's reflection, but turns around to find no one there. The window begins to burn and the silhouette of the Queen of Hearts appears before it explodes in flames, and the Queen's tentacles drag Alice into the inferno. Like the previous trailer, it ends with a voice saying "What have you done?"

On February 14, 2011, MSNBC's "In-Game" website unveiled the third teaser trailer as well as a brief interview with American McGee regarding the game. The third teaser depicts Alice wandering around an initially beautiful Wonderland, eventually coming across the Caterpillar, who transforms into a giant, menacing butterfly as the landscape is attacked by fiery phoenixes and turned into a nightmarish world reminiscent of the original game's landscapes. Alice finds herself sitting at a tea party with the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse. The Hatter sends a robotic teapot to kill Alice, who in turns stabs it to death in the eye with the Vorpal Blade. She grins eerily as a voice asks "What have you done?"

A fourth trailer, showing gameplay footage for the first time and entitled "Beautiful Insanity", was released on March 4, 2011. The trailer featured possible gameplay in Victorian London, new costumes and weapons for Alice, the reprized roles of some of the voice cast from the first game, and the appearance of old and new characters including a resurrected Jabberwock and the Dodo; after the trailer the Cheshire Cat says "Now it's time to put your blade to work". The player can also hear Alice's Vorpal Blade being equipped as the title card comes up.

GameSpot released footage of a gameplay demo whilst interviewing an EA executive producer Joel Wade in April. In the video, numerous details about the game were revealed. Wade explained story wise after Alice left Rutledge Asylum, she is an orphan and now lives in an orphanage, and the home's director is helping her to escape her insanity. Gameplay showed Alice can unlock and use several weapons, which can be upgraded by collecting teeth throughout the game. Weapons including the Vorpal Blade, the Pepper Grinder which acts as a projectile machine gun-like weapon, the Clockwork Bomb, the club-like Hobby Horse, and the explosive Teapot Cannon. Alice also collects "memories" that are part of her quest to recall forgotten memories from her past. Enemies are described as having "puzzle elements", namely their weak point which the player must figure out to defeat them.

On May 20, 2011, a prequel to Madness Returns, titled Alice: Madness Returns Interactive Story, was released as an app exclusively for iOS. A port for Android (mobile phones) phones is in development. The app plays as a book that requires you to interact with illustrations and at many times allows you to play mini-games. The story covers the events even before the original game all the way to the events directly before Alice: Madness Returns.

On June 3, 2011, a final launch trailer was released. This showed some bosses, Alice fighting enemies, the Cheshire Cat giving Alice hints, and more.

Reception[]

Alice: Madness Returns received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions both getting 70/100 on Metacritic. The PC version was given a slightly higher 75.

GameSpot gave the game 7/10; the reviewer stated that "Playing Alice: Madness Returns is not as exciting as looking at it, but you'll still enjoy getting lost in this twisted fantasy adventure."

IGN gave the console versions of the title with a rating of 6.5/10, stating that "On one hand, Alice: Madness Returns presents a fantastically imagined vision of Wonderland full of secrets, collectables, and wondrous areas of classic platforming to explore. But through questionable level design, graphical inconsistency, and repetitive gameplay, I was pulled out of the experience more than I would have liked. Alice: Madness Returns is a memorable peek through a flawed looking glass."

The game's physics and particle effects, especially Alice's hair and how it can react to wind, were praised. The emotional and dark story, art direction and music were generally well received. Also praised was the "adjustable difficulty system" in which the player could adjust the difficulty at any time instead of restarting the whole game over if they found it too easy or too hard.

Regarding the story which was written by R. J. Berg, Madness Returns contains a surprisingly dark story, especially the events of the Dollhouse level. For example, Madness Returns contains a lot of dark themes such as mental illness, grief, trauma, the pain and loss of innocence that comes with growing up, the situations many unfortunate children have to deal with, homelessness, prostitution, poverty, and child molestation. A major theme deals with cognitive dissonance and how that despite that one may prefer to look away from the truth, it does not change what the truth actually is or what has happened, or is happening.

As for criticism, many players felt that the game suffered from pacing issues and that the levels overstayed their welcome the more they played. For example, the player takes 2-3 hours in a factory setting, 2-3 hours in an underwater setting, 2-3 hours in an Asian setting, etc. It is possible Spicy Horse, knowing EA, knew they were probably only going to get one shot at the game and crammed as much as possible into it. Some disappointment was due to the lack of time in London, as many players wish they could spend more time in London and wish it was more open world instead of 5 minutes in a linear hallway per every 2-3 hours in Wonderland.

Players also noted the lack of defined boss battles, with the exception of the final boss fight. The lack of a "mecha" fight was also criticized because the cutscene hypes the player for a boss battle, only for a random teacup to destroy it, and has been seen as a bit of a mean joke and a cruel tease which disappoints the player.

Some players of the PC version experienced bugs and glitches. One glitch related to the umbrella not working because the keyboard binding was broken, requiring the player to use a controller or fix the binding. There were no patches for the game, as the concept of patches was not as widespread in 2011. Also criticized was the fact that the PC version was capped at 31 FPS, while a simple change in the game's files would uncap the framerate. The PC version was also criticized for lacking achievements. However, this does not necessarily mean the PC version is the inferior version, as it is generally regarded as stable and is the only version which supports 60 FPS and PhysX.

Beta[]

Main article: Beta Content

Three gameplay trailers of the Beta version of Madness Returns were leaked online. They show many story and combat features that were ultimately cut from the final product. For more information, see the Beta Content article.

Sequel[]

Alice: Otherlands[]

American McGee has stated that he had envisioned theAliceseries as a trilogy. In May 2011, McGee reported that a story had already been created for a potential third game, but stressed that it would only be produced if the audience desired it.

In June 2012, McGee reiterated his intention to develop a third game, titledAlice in Otherland. McGee revealed that the game would bereleased episodically, and stated that it "would allow Alice to go into the minds of all these characters she encounters, and it opens up the possibility where you could play as Alice and you can enter into a player's mind, change the landscape, and then basically psychologically adjust the character in doing so. Imagine an MMO where the missions aren't locations, but they're people." However, he said that the game was unlikely to be produced soon due to a lack of interest fromElectronic Arts.

On March 14, 2013, McGee posted on his Facebook page that he would have the opportunity to discuss a thirdAlicegame with EA during theGame Developers Conference. He did not specify whether or not this would follow the desired plot ofAlice in Otherland, but claimed that the funding for the project would most possibly be done throughKickstarter.On July 15, 2013, McGee announced that a campaign for the production has begun on Kickstarter to help fund the project, titledAlice: Otherlands, a series of animated film shorts. To help promote the campaign, McGee released a video on his personalYouTubeandVimeoaccounts, explaining the concept ofAlice: Otherlandsand how the funds will affect the production of the film.^[35][36]The video can also be viewed on its Kickstarter website.

Alice: Otherlandssuccessfully reached its Kickstarter goal on August 4.On August 21, McGee confirmed that the campaign has achieved its "stretch goal" to secure Susie Brann's (Alice's voice actress) andRoger L. Jackson's (the Cheshire Cat's voice actor) involvement on the project with an extra $50,000.To award the backers who donated to the project, McGee gave special merchandises, such as autographed posters, digital copies of the DVD and art book to those who donated $500 or more. Additionally, all backers had their names added to the credits of the film. Due to legal constraints,DVDsandBlu-rayswere available for backers only, while the short films was distributed digitally for the public for free on various digital formats.An art book titledThe Art of Alice: Otherlandsis was also developed by artist Alex "AlexCee" Crowley.Originally,Alice: Otherlandswas set to be released sometime in December 2014, but has been pushed back due to production delays.On October 30, 2015, the digital assets forAlice: Otherlandswas released on various streaming platforms, such as YouTube and Vimeo, and is available for download on the official site.

According to McGee, Alice, now 20 years old,will enter the minds of twofamous historical figures,Richard WagnerandJules Verne,and discover the horrors of the human subconscious. Alice will learn of an "insidious evil lurking in every corner of Victorian London" with the intent of capturing its inhabitants in a nightmarish "prison of the mind". The two film shorts vary in length, have their own unique animation style, and a different soundtrack composed byChris Vrennaand Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys.

In several interviews, McGee expressed his desire to makeAlice: Otherlandsinto a video game as originally planned, but stated that will depend entirely on the overall success of the animated shorts.He also stated that EA have recently started to show more interest in making anAlicesequel again, but it all depends on the success ofAlice: Otherlandsand Spicy Horse games.

Alice: Asylum[]

On September 3, 2017, American McGee announced on his blog that he is working on a proposal for the third installment of theAlicefranchise, tentatively titledAlice: Asylum. McGee explains that his proposal will consist of "artwork, design outline, and financial/business model" which will be sent to EA once it is completed. He encourages fans to sign up for the mailing list for the project to show their support and lend financial support for the pre-production throughPayPalon his blog.

Although the planned sequel, Alice: Asylum, was ultimately canceled, an independent creator called Anri Gveras (@anrigveras) has undertaken the development of a fan-made version inspired by the original concept and its design bible.

Trivia[]

• Madness Returns is noted for its use of the PhysX engine, which is only present in the PC version. Such effects include rubble upon using the Hobby Horse, smoke from the Pepper Grinder, ice from Ice Snarks, interactive liquid from Ruin enemies, objects scattering into glass, and feathers when Alice jumps. In addition, some areas in London include interactive clothing and newspapers.
• The game was developed in Shanghai, China. Some of the alleyways near the office inspired the alleyways seen in London. The previous game was developed in Dallas, Texas in America.
• During development, one of the game's designers asked American McGee what should be seen if the player looks up Alice's dress (i.e. whether or not she should have visible underwear). McGee was annoyed and disgusted this was even a question, especially in a game about perversion, the sexual abuse of children, and considering how Alice is almost raped during the game, and her sister was raped. In the final game, peeking up Alice's dress results in fade-to-black. It is also notable that all of Alice's dresses are non-sexualized and lack breast jiggle. In her video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, video game critic Anita Sarkeesian praised the game for presenting Alice in a non-objectifying way.
• In a presentation, Ken Wong stated that the development team did not actually like the name Alice: Madness Returns and that they were happy with simply Alice II or American McGee's Alice II, however, EA got to make the final call on the name. He also said that EA made the final call on the box art which they also were not fond of, especially due to the fact that Ken thought the two Vorpal Blades in the title conflicted with each other.
• Madness Returns establishes a few things about the main canon compared to its prequel:
  • Alice's surname is now Liddell after the real figure, she has a sister named Lizzie, and her hair color is black instead of brown.
  • The fire is blamed on Bumby, however, Dinah seems to be seen causing the fire in the intro of American McGee's Alice. This is never explained, leaving one to assume Dinah was a secondary source of the fire, or the scene was in Alice's imagination. Another explanation is that the intro of American McGee's Alice has been retconned as Dinah knocking over the lamp is not explicitly seen. The chain of events would likely be that Bumby entered the room which woke up Dinah, threw the lamp, and Dinah knocked books off that did not knock over anything.
  • Alice's mother is heard in the intro of American McGee's Alice telling her to escape, but a memory in Madness Returns shows Alice's mother begging Alice to save her and don't abandon her. The reason for this contradiction is unknown, although it is possible this is a false memory Alice created from her guilt.
  • Several Wonderlanders look vastly different, mostly Mock Turtle and March Hare, due to the "hard reboot" of Wonderland imposed on Alice by Bumby.
• In the London scenes, Alice can examine her surroundings and the player will hear her thoughts, feelings and opinions.
• Madness Returns is the first Alice game to include strong swears - although they are used sparingly.
• In Chapter 1, there is a store named "The Flaming Stallion" in London's streets. It is synonymous to Spicy Horse, the developers of the game.
• At the very end of Chapter 3, before entering the Caterpillar's temple, there are two statues on the left and right. Going behind the one on the left while shrunk reveals the Spicy Horse logo on it. This also earns a trophy/achievement.
• In Chapter 4, there is a skeleton set up as a reference to Razputin Aquato from Psychonauts. Tim Schafer, who was the head producer on Psychonauts, is specifically named in the Special Thanks section of the credits. Psychonauts also deals with themes of mental health. One character in particular, Milla, has a similar backstory to Alice involving loved ones die in a fire.
• In Chapter 4, inside the Queen's castle, the floating platforms here look like the Weighted Companion Cube from the Portal series.
• In Chapter 5, there is a jar containing three blind mice which have canes and black glasses, a reference to the nursery rhyme.
• In the Dollhouse during Chapter 5, the player can find various little in-series Easter eggs such as a wooden Hatter doll, and storybooks titled Jabberwock and Humpty Dumpty, who had a small appearance in the first Alice.
• The game contains a few typos. For example, "Dynah" instead of "Dinah", "Hide Park" instead of "Hyde Park", "Hieronymous" instead of "Heironymous", and "Mr. Kook" instead of "Mr. Krook".
  • It is possible that "Hyde Park" was purposely misspelled "Hide Park" to represent Bumby hiding his criminal acts or Alice hiding from the guilt.
• In 2016, Madness Returns was delisted from Steam; McGee speculates it was due to EA wanting to make the game exclusive on their storefront Origin. Only those who purchased the game prior could download it. On February 28, 2022, it returned to Steam, likely due to the addition of it to "EA Play", a subscription service by EA offering access to select games in their catalog. The Steam version does not require EA or Origin DRM.

Electronic Games

Through the Looking Glass (1984) • Alice in Wonderland (1985) • Märchen Maze (1988) • Wonderland (1990) • Alice: An Interactive Museum (1991) • Alice in Wonderland (2000) • American McGee's Alice (2000) • Alice in the Country of Hearts (2007) • A Witch's Tale (2009) • Alice in Wonderland Video Game (2010) • Alice: Madness Returns (2011) • Ravenlok (2023)