A #Nerd Rant! American McGee’s Alice

#Talk Nerdy To Me Lover’s Aaron Fitzgerald

Designed by American McGee and using the Quake game engine, “Alice”, is an enjoyable romp through an insane world.  Alice is being kept at an insane asylum and dreaming of a world inside her warped mind.  Along the way she meets an array bizarre characters and villains as she journeys through Wonderland in hopes of defeating the Red Queen and restoring peace to her world and her mind.  A twisted take on the popular book, “American McGee’s Alice”, should be delightful fun for any avid gamer.

The game play is pretty straightforward.  The maps are strictly linear in nature and there is no roaming around as in games such as, “Everquest”, and, “World Of Warcraft.”  Instead of health Alice has sanity and magic instead of mana.  As you journey through the levels you find weapons which are referred to as toys.  There’s a knife, cards, croquet mallet, jacks and ice wand to name a few.  My personal favorite is the ice wand, which unfortunately needs magic to work.

The boss fights have different strategies and are all pretty challenging.  I found the Jabberwocky to be the most difficult.  You travel through some pretty amazing and unique levels throughout the game.  From a demented school to a wooded area and an ice cavern.  The artwork is probably the game’s best attribute.  It has incredible three dimensional art and beautiful texturing.  The cut scenes are long enough to get a sense of the story and short enough so you don’t get bored.

A sequel to the game is due out in 2011 and it’ll be interesting to see how Alice gets thrown back into Wonderland for a second time.  If anything the new one will be gorgeous to look at and a joy to play.  Check out Amazon to purchase a copy of the original.  I believe used copies go for around thirty five bucks and an unopened version is in the two hundred range.  Give it a spin and enjoy your journey through a twisted Wonderland.