Alice: Madness Returns

This game was decent. I originally wanted to play it when I had an Xbox 360, but never got around to it. It is a 3d platformer / hack 'n slash style game. The platforming was kind of difficult at times. Maybe it was just me and my inability to judge some of the jumps... lol. Overall I enjoyed it. I'm assuming there was a game before this one that I never played. It gives off sequel vibes. Ran rather well on my Steam Deck. At some points the game did lag... usually when there was a lot of smoke / particle effects going on in open areas. I tried adjusting power settings, but for some reason it didn't seem to help. It didn't happen often, so it wasn't a big deal. If you catch this game on sale it might be worth a try.

I'm not sure how I missed this game but it's 2025 and I bought it by a complete accident while I was looking randomly old games with really good reviews to add in my collection, i had never heard of it before. Long story short few days ago I decided to install it and give it a go. Needless to say that my jaw dropped from everything this game has to offer. From the visuals to the gameplay, to the music to the voice acting, we live in an age that 9 times out of 10 games are soulless. This game is a golden example that once uppon a time when developers had an art direction and vision and the publishers where willing to provide the necessary tools and resources masterpieces like this game could exist. Its a 10 out of 10 game.

This game's pretty cool. This seems to be the worst version of it because it has no updates, tons of bugs / crashes and no achievements. Story and world is interesting enough to keep playing though and is undeniably the best part of this game. Combat is alright. Its actually pretty bad near the start of the game because you don't have many tools and most of it is waiting until an enemy moves so you can attack them. Eventually you get more moves that greatly improve the enemy interactivity. The game whooped my ass for the first third because of this on the hardest difficulty. Highly recommended game for any Psychonauts enjoyers.

When I played this game 10 years ago, I found it boring and unfinished. But now, compared to everything else that’s come out since, I’d give it a 9.99/10. It almost deserves a perfect score, but I’m deducting 0.01 for still being boring and unfinished.

Nothing could EVER take my psychological gritty fairy tale remakes away from me. I love you Alice: Madness Returns, and will forever pine for an as-artistically-developed version of the Gretel and Hansel flash game.

In 15 hours of gameplay there was never a dull moment. Each level has a beautifully crafted environment and unique soundtrack which perfectly adds to the atmosphere. While the game can be a bit clunky at times, the story is incredible. With each chapter you get another piece of the puzzle until you uncover the truth about Alice's trauma and her "wonderland". In the game this is symbolized by keys gradually assembling on a key ring each time Alice remembers a locked away memory from her past.

I also love the carefully crafted dialogs. My favorite has to be when Alice meets Cheshire Cat for the first time in the
Vale of Tears. She tells him that she's "very much on edge!" and the cat replies "Puurrfect. When you're not on edge, you're taking up too much space."

It's an amazing game and it's a shame Alice Asylum will never be released.

back in 2011 i was a child and this game scared and traumatised me but now i'm an absolute fan of it, one of the most favourite games of all time

When I wake up, I think of this game. When I go to bed, I think of this game. When I daydream, I think of this game. When I focus, I think of this game. When I look in the mirror, I see the game. The walls in my room are made of the game. Every particle of my brain matter is made of it.

In short: the game is a strikingly original and vivid experience. If you were put in a mental asylum in 1800s Britain, you would almost certainly resonate with this game. And when that happens, it will become your very own undulating essence.

Wonderland's waiting, and sanity's overrated anyway

Alice: Madness Returns is a sequel to American McGee's Alice, and like its predecessor, both games are platformers with hack-and-slash combat inspired by Lewis Carroll's story and characters. We play as Alice as she explores a twisted version of Wonderland, now even more in ruins. There, she will meet returning characters as well as new ones, as her mind tries to slowly solve what actually happened during the mysterious fire that killed her family.

Despite its age, I think this game still looks really good, mainly because the stylized, Tim Burton-like graphics and how each level has different style, like there's a steampunk level, an East Asian themed level, and a fleshy castle, among others that keeps it fresh. Though some colors may seem undersaturated and some levels are too same-y, like the Dollhouse. Alice herself has many cool dresses that reflects the nature of the levels, and some unlockable ones which have different effects, most good, some bad.

However, there's a major downgrade in this game compared to the first one; the lack of boss battles. Although almost every area has a character that seems like they could be the boss of the level, in the end it's just a cutscene. It may be funny the first time, but its sad when you realize the first one has many cool boss fights, but here the only true boss fight is at the very end. Having more boss fights would really improve this game, in my opinion.

I should also mention that this game needs a bit of tinkering to enhance your experience. It's locked to 30 FPS, no matter how strong your PC is, so you must change some configurations to allow it to run at 60 FPS. There's also some DLC dresses and weapons you can try out, but in order to fix both these you need to change some configuration files. There's a lot of guides on the Internet so I won't explain in detail here.

If you like platformer games with combat, Alice: Madness Returns is a title you should definitely play, and the previous title as well. Too bad the franchise is abandoned, as I would consider this game one of the most beautiful and unique titles I ever played. If you like the Psychonauts franchise you'd also like this title, as both games explore inside minds and each has a different style. If you never played them, you should, as it kinda fills the Alice-shaped hole in your heart... or head.

I may be about 15 years late to this game, but it is a masterpiece nonetheless.

Yes, there are glitches and nearly game-breaking bugs, but nothing that we can't overcome with the help of the dedicated community.

I won't go into detail about how others have contributed to making the game work in 4K with 144Hz and PS5 controller support—there are plenty of resources available, and that’s how I played it.

If you get stuck on the Chapter 1 umbrella or the Chapter 5 cannon pinball, just search for it. The latter may be less well-known, but keep in mind that the game speed changes with the FPS, so you might resolve the glitch by lowering it to 60 or 30 FPS.

It features a good story, great art direction, mesmerizing music, and a cool concept. Even with its bugs and issues, I’m glad to have been able to run and complete the game nearly 15 years after its release.

Times have changed, and amusingly enough, in its current imperfect state, it is still considerably better than certain so-called "AAA" games with huge budgets.

Alice: Madness Returns is a truly enjoyable and memorable experience, representing what a good game should offer. This was true 15 years ago, and it will still hold true for another 15 years to come.

I love this game sm the ambiance is so good. Amazing visuals, awesome fits, awesome story and the mechanics are pretty fun. This is a game everyone should experience at least once :>

É um bom jogo,problema que é muito repetitivo e muito longo sem motivo algum,mesmo eu não finalizando vou dar um review positivo por causa da arte deste jogo que é um espetaculo,muito bem feito mesmo.
Jogo é bem bugado no pc tbm,procure guias na propria steam para resolver ou tentar diminuir os problemas.

Nota: 6/10

A twisted version of Alice in The Wonderland made for the lovers of Hack 'n' Slash games. The balance between "gore" and "beauty" in this game is beyond immaculate, I've never really heard of Spicy Horse Games, but what I do know is they put in a lot of hard work when developing this title, it's so beautiful, you will agree if you play it. I've completed it so many times, and I will do it again soon, way too good, a 2011 classic, 10/10

Karanlık bir masalın içine düşmek isteyenlere kesinlikle tavsiyemdir. Alice Harikalar Diyarında çocukluğumun en unutulmaz ve sevdiğim öykülerden biri olmuştur. Geçen sene tekrar okuduğumda ise daha farklı algılamıştım, biraz daha karanlık. Sonra sosyal medyada sürekli bu oyunla ilgili gönderiler filan çıkınca karşıma çok merak ettim.

Dediğim gibi asıl öykü de bana biraz karanlık geliyordu ama bu oyun tamamen atmosferi değiştirmiş. Travmalar, kabuslar, derin psikolojik temalar öyle güzel işlenmiş ki oyun boyunca ilgimi çeken sadece dövüş değil hikayeyi de merak ederek ilerledim.

Görsel olarak oldukça etkileyici. Gotik mekanlar, çarpık ama büyüleyici manzaralar, kostümler... Her bölüm ayrı bir kabusa açılıyor gibi. Hikaye anlatımı güçlü. Alice'in içsel mücadelesiyle gerçek dünyanın trajedisi arasında gidip gelirken kendimi onun yerine koyamadan edemedim.

Dövüş mekanikleri sade ama tatmin edici. Dodge atarken ki kelebekler oyunun başından beni büyüledi. Şemsiyeyle savunma, çaydanlıktan bomba fırlatmak... kulağa absürt gelse de -aslında düşününce biraz tatlı da gelebilir- oyunu mükemmelleştiren unsurlardan.

Eğer sıradan aksiyon-macera oyunlarından farklı bir şey arıyorsanız ve karanlık atmosfer/anlatılar ilginizi çekiyorsa bu oyun kaçmaz. Bazı oyunlar biter ama zihinde kalır ya, o da bunlardan biri olabilir benim için.

This game holds a special place in my heart. It is a fantastic title that deserved a sequel, and I am disappointed to learn the creator was denied the opportunity. Nonetheless, this game is truly stunning, from its tight fighting mechanics to the graceful movement and jumping. The character designs, whether for enemies or allies, are remarkably articulate and creative. The story is captivating, building to a wonderful, if revenge-fueled, ending that many players will find deeply satisfying.

The diverse worlds of Wonderland are beautifully rendered, with a vibrant, colorful palette seamlessly blending with the game's spooky, grotesque visual elements. The sound effects are equally impressive, complementing the overall twisted yet beautiful aesthetic. In my view, this is a 10/10 experience that any alice and wonderland fan should not miss.

excellent art and style. Meaningful story. Art.

best old game with occasional crashes but that could be my own laptop's issue

Very, very good game, especially for its age! Unique concepts, and so many interesting ideas all at once. Only downside is that the port is very unstable and keeps crashing. In order to keep the game running and optimize it, users will have to tinker the .ini files a bit. Not too much to handle, but definitely sad, as it shows how little EA cares. Nonetheless, an amazing game!

i love the game its really fun cant wait to finish the game the game did crazy and was a little buggy but i guess you would existed that from an old game so yeah but other than that its a a really good game so far.

Wonderful!!

This game is incredible and one of my favorites, I had already played this masterpiece on the console but bought it again on Steam because of the good price on sale, going back to it is really fun, the only problem is that the Steam version is crashing a lot on me every time I enter the game.

ps: better on controller

Honestly, for nostalgia, absolutely love this game. I can play it over and over again, and NEVER get tired of it. I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a fighting, action adventure platformer!

Seriously, get this game.

Thanks EA for deciding to sit on American Mcgee's Alice IP forever!

We really love y'all for ending a very talented man's career in the video game industry because ''oH wE doNT tHInK ThiS wiLL MaKe uS MoNEY, BuT aLSO No YoU cANt HaVE It BaCk''
EA is a terrible company and I wish people would stop supporting them, we can't keep letting them get away with this.

Before someone gets mad, I know that he has since moved on, but it is really sad to see EA ending so many talented people's careers because of GREED.

Super imaginative, love the way it twists what we know but still ultimately staying true to the core themes of the story and different retellings. I love the little occult and esoteric references that are sprinkled throughout. Overall if you are looking for a fun action platformer this isn’t a bad choice, I recommend using a controller though. But if you want to use KB&M controls it should work pretty well.

My absolute favorite play, the perfect picture of the horror side of Alice in Wonderland. Good flow of story and amazing levels.

It's ass but I did like the story recap I watched on YouTube

Amazing game, glitches a bit from time to time but nothing major. Definitely worth playing

There is a bug on the umbrella scene that it wont work and even the coding have smth wrong with it. I tried to re-write the coding and its still didnt work. But overall I gave the game play 8/10 because some of the side character doesnt have a sub title. But the game play and the scene were actually really good. Ill probably give this a good rate if they fix the bug

I got a steam card from a friend who has no idea what steam even is and got a bunch of games. Fun, brainless stuff on a budget. And Mass Effect (never played it and it was 8 bucks, what a thing *that* is). However- This has got to be the best dollar I've spent hands down. Incredibly fun gameplay. The weapons feel great once you get used to them (I play on controller). Solid platforming. Not very difficult, but definitely just challenging enough so you can play it or noodle around while you are listening to a podcast or something. Really visually stunning. The art style and palette really make it fun to look at as you jump around a clever and shifting steampunk puzzlescape or engage in really fun fights where teapots somehow bleed when injured and the tar monster that killed Tasha Yar got a couple of creepy baby masks and is coming for you. One other thing- Triple jumping. The most absurd game mechanic ever conceived of is tripled down on here. It's glorious and holding the jump button in air slows her fall in a cloud of blue butterflies. The game is tons of fun to look at and a total trip.

Warning- It crashes on me (QTD) the first time I try to load a save every time I play. I fire it up again, and instead of using the controller, I use the mouse to navigate my way until actual play begins. It seemed to crash more often when I used the controller. With the mouse it always loads on the second attempt. It is stable during gameplay using the controller in case you're worried about that.

I'm pretty sure you'll love this little underrated gem. It's a buck. You cannot go wrong.

UNDERRATED GEM

Such a gem! Don't let this game pass you by!

I've played this game a million and one times across multiple platforms. It is one of my all time favorite games! but screw EA for not letting American McGee finish the franchise off with Alice Asylum, thinking that the game wouldn't sell and that it was no longer relevant. But I would recommend this and the first Alice to anyone that loves Alice in Wonderland with a sick twist.

One of the best art direction till this day. Fuck EA for cancelling Alice Asylum

Great artstyle and narrative, combat feels rather clunky in todays perspective.

Would recommend putting PhysX on low (most newer GPUs, especially AMDs dont run PhysX well anymore). And change the FPS to 60 in the Ini. Dont put anything above 60 tho, since that will make a few things behave weirdly. The pig-snout hitboxes are especially buggy with 144 FPS.

Would def recommend buying and playing the game, especially since its only a Euro on sale.
A shame that EA killed Alice Asylum.

sadly does not have steam achievements (I wish that to be possible)
Beautiful game considering it's year 2011.
Made a huge difference playing these days on 4K locked at 60fps, comparing when I was playing 1st time as a kid with dual core 2 and gt460, overall a really great experience, ONLY if you put time on this game to run well on W11, steam community is offering great tweaks and bug fixes in order to properly enjoy the game

7/10

reasons for reduction

- Game have total 6 chapters ( 5 chapters actually where the last chapter is all about confronting everyone from wonderland and a stupid boss fight )


- Every chapter is divided into 2 phases where the first phaase is exciting and 2nd phase is like someone is forcing this chapter to be big for no reason

- Lack of boss fights , as i said each chapter is divided into 2 phases where the 2nd phase is boring as hell however this could turn good if the 2nd phase had boss fight for example all of the past bosses trying to take revenge from alice for the past incidents

- Game is 30 fps lock by default

- i would have like to explore more about family background of alice for example her aunt then the lawyer and more

good game, very broken tho, tried on 2 diff pcs and its just nonworking half of the time

Got the box copy of this when it first released and finally got the Steam version recently.

Amazing characterization, voice acting, world building, story telling, and gameplay variety all set back by worst camera focus and clunkiest combat mechanics in gaming history.

Several fight sequences are designed in ways to punish the player repeatedly with a broken camera system while trying to fight very difficult combination of enemies, the worst of them being the utterly useless camera and enemy focus system: not being able to land any hits on nearby enemies if focused on the wrong enemy in a huge group of enemies. Not being able to responsively exit focus lock to dodge mobs properly.

Game then resets the player back a few ways, forcing repeated platforming and backtracking to pick up already collected collectables. This also occurs after constant in-game crashes, so be prepared to replay sequences and bosses over and over and over again because of unforgiving bugs.

This game is amazing and so fun the hair graphics are a bit behind and she has a case of spaghetti head but overall the story is immaculate

Follow a Guide to get 60fps and the game is much better.
Its a platformer I don't play many of these. But I like this one.
Story is dark.
Love the Aesthetic
Because the graphics are stylised while its aged , it doesn't feel like its aged badly .
Got it for like 1.49 CND solid deal for an oldie I probably wouldn't have played normally.

The sad thing about this game is it feels like its got mixed messages on the Story/Gameplay age demographic.
Some things make it feel E for everyone some things I heard in the story are definitely M and its probably why they stopped making these sadly.
But one thing is for sure its Unique.

HOLY HELL. It's such an underrated gem. Good platforming, very cool art style and a unique horror story. The game deserves its Very Positive rating.

Runs super rough on Steam Deck. I was really really looking forward to this one, but I was experiencing so much lag, that I could barely play through an hour. Here's hoping for a remaster of sorts.

I hope EA changes their mind about not developing the third game of Alice. This game is still a classic and would be cool to see under a new light with new technology. Other than that 10/10

The game is really good. I hope I can play the others games of Alice one day. Something that I don't understand is that the game crash for some reason. I know is not my pc. But overall, it's a very good game

it's a really cool and has an awesome game play and story, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like anything dark like blood.

It’s goated

I remember so many lets players doing this one

Alice in wonderland but a bit more edgy

Fun abilities etc

I would like to finish this game

if only they made more

Bought this game as a joke because "haha I share names with the main character". And, after my annual burn-out on multiplayer games, I decided to sit down and play some single-player games from my library, this being one of them. And oh my god am I happy I did.. and depressed as EA killed off the sequel.

The game looks absolutely amazing even with modern standards thanks to the art style. Alice's design is cute and clearly inspired by Alice in Wonderland. She gets many new dresses throughout the game to fit the area she's in, and they all look stunning and detailed. Even the 'hysteria' mode has its own unique outfit, and though it cannot be changed, it is also amazing and connects directly to the story. Same goes for the environments, enemies, and even weapons. All of them play on dark surrealism, and it works really well with the story in mind.

The environments look absolutely amazing, at multiple points I stopped for a while just to gaze at all the detail and care that must have went into crafting the scenes. The music fits well for the most part, though there are some parts where the loop is too short and if you take your time trying to 100% every area, those parts might get on your nerves.

As for the combat, it's nothing extraordinary. However, keeping in mind that the game is mainly a platformer and puzzle game, it makes sense for the combat to not be Dark Souls material. And in all honesty, I kind of prefer it that way. I like puzzles and platformers, and the story really grabbed me, but I'm not much for combat or souls-like games.

And finally, the most important part of any game, the story. I played the games in order (there are two, you can get the first one with a mod patch) and honestly playing the first game before this made the story a lot more digestible. I won't get into spoilers, all I'll say is it plays heavily on mental health and psychosis. I enjoyed the story, as it touches on topics very near and dear to me. I honestly recognize a scary amount of myself and my own feelings in Alice, although for other reasons.

All in all, the game is absolutely amazing. Definitely worth 10 euro, I'd honestly pay more. And having picked it up on sale for just less than 1 euro feels criminal. 10/10, and I never rate games on a scale.

a gritty 3D Platformer with a more darker take on the alice in wonderland story.
there's plenty of variety to the levels and gameplay mostly consists of linear exploration.
everything from the art-style to the general layout has such a distinct gothic style!

Great game! Excited to be playing it! Just wish you could make your own saves so the game allows you to start when you exactly left off not 5 steps back from where you were. Getting to keep the memories you picked up before a fight so when you die you don't have keep repeating the actions needed to gather it in the first place. The issues with the controls alone is enough of a challenge(even with a sticky shift key).

this is one of the first games i ever played as a kid on my pc, although i never finished it, so getting back to this was very nostalgic to me. overall, despite its age, the game looks beautiful. absolutely love the different art styles it utilizes. i was also really surprised by the various gamemodes and mechanics as well as the enemy variety; i feel like i got good use out of all the weapons due to this! the story is naturally tragic and collecting all the various memories to help alice remember and resolve her past causes such a gut-wrenching feeling. i also think it's quite rare for games to handle topics like this well, but in my opinion this one does.

i did have certain issues with running the game at times, as well as certain keybinds not triggering, where i had to manually go into the game files and fix it; there are however several videos on this out there so it's not a difficult fix. there are then other small issues of alice moving on her own, but often those can be solved by just reloading the game (or in my case for this scenario, sometimes pressing 'C' would work).

it's also a shame the steam version doesn't have achievements, but i decided to 100% it anyway cause it's a really fun platformer.

Great platformer! Many different levels, story is interesting and gameplay quite good. Seeing Alice running around with a knife - priceless. Soundtrack is really cool and nice to listen to. I think it's one of those games that are worth checking out and playing even for the second time.