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American McGee's Alice: A surreal violent journey

I sure many of you have read, and enjoyed Lewis Carrol's 1.8K surrealistic classic, Alice in Wonderland. Many of the characters in this supposedly children's tale, have made their way into history as expressions, code names and songs. Examples include the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat. And it seems odd to have a hookah-smoking caterpillar.

Movies have been made, including a successfully animated Disney Film titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as well as its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. And all these characters are found in American McGee's Alice. As one would expect of a game based on a children's story. But prepare yourself. This game is not any classic fairy tale. And its definitely not for children.

The very notion of Alice toting knives. Or wearing a dress adorned with occult symbols. And sporting a tiny skull as a sash-bow may seem odd to some. Perhaps after you struggle your way, you might get think that Gothic rock star Alice Cooper served as inspiration for a surprisingly gruesome action/adventure. But you will feel let down if what you expected was brain-twisting riddles or hair-pulling puzzles. They exist, but only as interludes between some really bloody combat.

Nor does Alice follow the book plots. It just draws on them for the cast of bizarre and interesting characters. Carroll's writings had undertones of darkness and dementia. But seem real tame compared to the game's violently psychedelic world. Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" was inspired by the wonders of psilocybin and lysergic acid (LSD). Alice now finds its origins in an blend of belladonna and nightshade, with a little moonshine for that rough edge.

The story is of redemption. After Alice's parents died in a fire, her subconscious guilt has dragged her into a comatose state. To regain her sanity she must return to Wonderland. Here the Queen of Hearts has begun the "Off with their heads!" approach. Accompanying Alice on this surreal journey is the Cheshire Cat. The Cat offers hints that range from the obvious to wickedly obscure; actually useless prattle. It loves the sound of its own voice.

How does Alice save Wonderland from the Queen of Hearts? That simple: fight, jump, swim, run, fight and push levers. Occasionally theres a puzzle like listening to tones made by closing doors (to determine the order of levers to pull 'n push). Or knowing how a knight moves in chess to avoid being impaled by deadly spikes. The biggest obstacle is deciding which direction to head next. Usually this is pretty obvious. However on some levels deciding the right path to fruitful reward can be tricky.

American McGee's Alice was created with the Quake III engine. And it shows in the mind-bending effects. There are corridors that wind and corkscrew in dizzying fashion. Narrow walk ways snaking over deadly precipices. Spiral stairs, and all. The uneasy feeling is significantly enhanced by a haunting soundtrack. This consists of minimalist compositions constantly repeated that hammer home a feeling of dread(ful) anticipation.

Individual levels aren't very large. But to compensate there are a lots of them. Mostly inhabited with some strange enemies. The Card Guards are 2D pike men brought to vicious life. Fire ants spew viscous green goo and fire muskets (what else can you expect of a fire ant) )when Alice hacks at them. Chess pieces whose faces change expression and who even bleed when attacked. And even humanoid emotions; white pieces that cheer after you've slaughtered a 'board full of red pieces. The scenic environments are straight out of the 1920s classic the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Alice features lots of fighting. Even close-quarter hand-to-hand style. There are lots of power-ups to keep Alice (your) ready for the next engagement. The weapons can be disappointing if you were expecting Quake-line ones. Here you have a odd collection of a jack-in-the-box, jacks, or a croquet mallet. There's another problem. Many of the deadly toys are hard to use quickly or effectively. Most drain Alice's "will" (necessary to use most weapons) so fast you're often forced to using melee weapons in close-up combat.

Like the timer-based JackBomb where your target will probably have moved out of its blast radius before it detonates. The Vorpal Blade (aka knife) can only be tossed every five seconds. And the croquet ball doesn't pack a punch, and often misses as well. But these apart Alice is a full-bore platform shooter. And you will most probably be overwhelmed by the surrealistic surroundings, phenomenal animations and immerse design that you won't notice what's missing until you're too disoriented to continue. So why not download the demo and see for yourself (76 MB, http://www.alice.ea.com/alice_demo.html)

G Menon
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