Alice: Madness Returns Review Round-up - The Sequel That Wasnt

Alice: Madness Returns has met with a medium reception upon its release. Videogamer.com calls the game "an imaginative romp through a world that's clearly been designed by some incredibly creative minds." However, Eurogamer was less kind to it, telling gamers to "look elsewhere for their moody thrills."

9.2

gamingexcellence.com review
Alice: Madness Returns reminds me a lot of classic N64 platformers like Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie in the best of ways. By mixing a dark reimagining of a literary classic with stylish combat and rock-solid platforming, EA and Spicy Horse have created a gaming experience quite unlike any other. At any rate, its miles better than the lacklustre Tim Burton movie released last year. This is one rabbit hole worth tumbling down.
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9.2

gamerevolution.com review
Throughout Alice: Madness Returns, there’s a whole lot of platforming. With the addition of a mighty jumping and floating ability, it’s less of a nightmare than Alice’s last trip to Wonderland (though perhaps it was only that difficult because I was 11). However, many of the platforms are invisible and only stay visible shortly after using the Shrink Vision ability. This can be frustrating but is mostly challenging in an enjoyable way.
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8.0

gamereactor.se review
No Synopsis Available
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7.8

cheatcc.com review
Madness Returns is an interesting beast. It's obvious that a lot of effort, love, and dedication were invested into building an experience that is as beautiful as it is frightening. The team at Spicy Horse has made one of the most unique games I've had the pleasure of playing in a long time, but unfortunately there are a few issues that keep this game from being the follow-up many of us so desperately wanted it to be.
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7.8

meristation.com review
No Synopsis Available
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7.6

everyeye.it review
No Synopsis Available
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7.0

gamespot.com review
If you grab the game on the used market, you can still purchase American McGee's Alice separately, though you shouldn't assume that Madness Returns is a lesser value without the inclusion of the original. It's fun to move through Wonderland as if carried by a summer breeze, bringing a touch of beauty to its contorted imagery. It's a shame that the game never expands its fundamentals. Looking back on time spent with Alice: Madness Returns is like remembering a vacation from your childhood: you remember where you went, but not what you did. Yet Alice's broken psyche is so tortured, her waking nightmare so vivid, that you're tempted to push forward to see what deliciously morbid sights yet await.
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7.0

videogamer.com review
I'd have liked the adventure to have been trimmed of fat, the combat is at times extremely irritating, and the art design far exceeds the technical prowess on show, but at its core Alice: Madness Returns is an imaginative romp through a world that's clearly been designed by some incredibly creative minds. If you miss the classic 3D platformer and like games with a heavy dose of surrealism, you could do a lot worse than give Alice: Madness Returns a shot.
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7.0

joystiq.com review
There is plenty in Alice: Madness Returns that is worth experiencing, especially when the game's slowly unfurling story and mesmerizingly macabre style are able to shine through. It's just a pity that a title inspired by some of the most outlandish and inspired works of literature has to live with some of the driest tropes that the game design textbook has to offer.
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7.0

gamepro.com review
Inspired art design and a rich, twisted world carry Spicy Horse's Alice, but awkward pacing, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of polish keep it from soaring.
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6.5

ign.com review
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.
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6.0

oxm.co.uk review
It's not an unpleasant game to play, for the most part. Picking up Alice's memories gives you a fractured number of one-line insights into her life, and when the script does get the mood of Lewis Carroll right, it fizzes pleasingly around the bottom of your brain. The problem is, it's a furry platformer with combat that suffers through repetition. Just like the first game, Alice doesn't quite match up to its own grand ambitions - let alone the classic stature of the source material. After 11 years, they should have got it right by now.
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5.0

eurogamer.net review
If you are in love with the look and theme of this game, it is in no way inconceivable that you could happily go frolicking and slashing your way through it in a relaxed, mindless kind of way. Everybody else should look elsewhere for their moody thrills. Alice? Let me tell you - she's got problems.
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