So Alice: Madness Returns is getting poor reviews...

I'm still going to rent it; it looks like something I'd enjoy.

jeez all of american mcgee's games sucked. If you did a simple search on the guy you would know his latest game would be awful as well. runbleduck

I'm watching some of a walkthrough of Alice:MR on youtube and it still looks incredibly good, despite the mediocre reviews. It's dripping with dark atmosphere and ambiance, which I love. Music, Graphics, and voice acting all look top notch. I may just have to pull a "Nier" on this one and ignore the reviews.

Here's the walkthrough if you wish to see it (SPOILERS, obviously) - http://www.youtube.com/user/ILLZEBRAlol#p/u/25/o8OM68THkt8

Master_ShakeXXX

[QUOTE="Master_ShakeXXX"]

I'm watching some of a walkthrough of Alice:MR on youtube and it still looks incredibly good, despite the mediocre reviews. It's dripping with dark atmosphere and ambiance, which I love. Music, Graphics, and voice acting all look top notch. I may just have to pull a "Nier" on this one and ignore the reviews.

Here's the walkthrough if you wish to see it (SPOILERS, obviously) - http://www.youtube.com/user/ILLZEBRAlol#p/u/25/o8OM68THkt8

siLVURcross

In B4 everyone defends a relic from a past era even though they bashed the **** out of Duke Nukem! Oops too late!bobbetybob

I'm getting it for only 45 bucks, so I'm going to try it out. At least it comes with the original game, so I'll definitely play that through.

To be expected, still going to pick up Alice at some point though.

To buy/not buy games based off of reviews is madness. Heil68

I knew it wasn't going to be that good anyways.

[QUOTE="goblaa"]

The alice games are a great example of a good idea in the wrong medium. They are NOT good games. Controls are awkward, combat is shallow, and the puzzles feel tacked on. But, the characters, story, and setting are wonderful.

Simply put, they shouldn't be games. There's no reason for it. If you have a great idea for a setting/story, but can't make a fun game...then make a great movie/book/comic istead.

StealthSting

I never played the original, but I disagree.

All I see here is a case of taking Lewis Carroll's work and giving it a dark edge. The first game is praised for having awesome atmosphere, due in part because of the art style of the world and creative level design. It's gameplay isn't its strong point. Why is this not a good example of a decent game?

Games don't just have to have great gameplay to be a successful and immersive experience. You're getting into territory of what should make games, games. To me, games is the concept of creating a virtual world and having the player experience what it offers. Games are evolving beyond their old definitions of the arcade games.

Give me a good level design team, and I don't see why the universe of Alice cannot be made into a successful experience, or why it shouldn't be interesting to explore it within a virtual environment.

I'd much rather explore the absolutely mad like world Lewis created in a virtual world, than see it in a Tim Burton movie--I guess it's a matter of opinion.

Actually, I don't think we disagree. "Give me a good level design team, and I don't see why the universe of Alice cannot be made into a successful experience" is completly true. But they didn't. They had a good idead for a cool setting and characters and petty much just flaked over the game part. If that's your intention as a game developer, save us all the trouble and make a cool movie.

The sad thing is, that's not an uncommon problem.

The PS3 version landed a 7.0 here. I liked Kevin's review, I think it sold me on it. Especially since new copies come with the original game.

To buy/not buy games based off of reviews is madness. Heil68

Not at all. If a game is getting consistently bad reviews, then it's perfectly valid to avoid said game.

If the reviews are mixed, then personal judgment can come in. But if a game gets horrible scores across the board, there's no way I'd buy it even if I thought it looked cool.

Wait for more reviews. It might get into the 70% range which is enough if you like the premise of the game.

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]But, seriously, that seems a mite silly.Cherokee_Jack

They criticized:

Bland textures and seams in the environments.
Lack of animation for some of the enemies.
Lack of "chilling moments" later in the game.
Overly difficult platforming in later stages.
Mini-Games, some overly simple (like the puzzle one), others they simply insulted without explanation.
The simplicity of the combat.
Out of place, generic enviornments later in the game.

They applauded:

The originality of the weaponry.
The variety of the weaponry.
Alice's model and animations.
The contrast of controlling Alice inside and outside of Wonderland.
Early enviornments that referenced the story.
Good Writing.

I'm playing the game right now and it's great. The only complaint I have about it is that some invisible walls are quite annoying. So far this game is at the LEAST a 7/10 if you must require a number. I think going by reviews is stupid, everyone has there own opinion, for instance, I bought the game NIER for ps3 a bit back and loved it. It scored a 5 here.

EDIT: The textures aren't exactly amazing, but so far all the characters are animated well. As for the difficulty, recent games have caused gamers to go soft. I always play games on the hardest difficulty setting possible, yet why is it that Hard from 2011=Easy from the 90's? A more difficult game is a blessing these days, not something to critisize.

Bah and i thought this game looked fantastic fun at E3 :o

I'm getting it next week. Looks sick.

[QUOTE="CaseyWegner"]

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]

Apparently it has too many puzzles. Kind of a stupid thing to knock a game for.

DarkLink77

key words...too many.

the original wasn't a game based around puzzles. they were there but there was more to it. they obviously felt it detracted from the experience.

Its not surprising American McGee is sadly not a good developer oh he had some gems here and there but about the time he made a sequal to a game that wasn't wanted is the time I gave up.
I played his original alice game I liked it it wasn't horrible but it was just good, then I waited paitently as he teasted American McGee's OZ and like almost 10 years later we get Alice 2? what the hell I dont want Alice 2 I want a new game out of you.

I would have played scrapland and Bad Day LA but those games received such venom from Critics I didn't feel it was worth it *specially bad day LA...My god critics hated that game*

Honestly I thought this game looked pretty lame, so the reveiws are not surprising.

i will stil be getting it but not on day one

Honestly I thought this game looked pretty lame, so the reveiws are not surprising.

alienlegion

Well, it got a 7.0 here so i' dont think it is lame, i think is perfect for the target audience which it is fans of the original and people who is looking for some great art design.

[QUOTE="Cherokee_Jack"][QUOTE="DarkLink77"]But, seriously, that seems a mite silly.Seiki_sands

They criticized:

Bland textures and seams in the environments.
Lack of animation for some of the enemies.
Lack of "chilling moments" later in the game.
Overly difficult platforming in later stages.
Mini-Games, some overly simple (like the puzzle one), others they simply insulted without explanation.
The simplicity of the combat.
Out of place, generic enviornments later in the game.

They applauded:

The originality of the weaponry.
The variety of the weaponry.
Alice's model and animations.
The contrast of controlling Alice inside and outside of Wonderland.
Early enviornments that referenced the story.
Good Writing.