American McGee's Alice

List Price: $14.99

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Lenny's description:
American McGee, one of the designers behind the Quake and Doom series, has issued American McGee's Alice. Players take on the role of a wiser, more industrious heroine who sets out in this third-person 3-D action game to free Wonderland from the tyranny of the Queen of Hearts. Alice will confront a host of weird creatures in surreal settings and solve numerous puzzles through more than 15 levels of gameplay.

Seller's description:
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Amazon.com Review:
American McGee is best known for his work on shooters like Quake III, but he split off from id Software recently and his first effort is Alice, a twisted romp through his own version of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. The trick is that Alice, now older, is the lone survivor of a house fire that kills her family. She's stuck in an asylum and must regain her own sanity by returning to the madcap Wonderland she visited as a child. She's a darker person now, and, perhaps consequently, Wonderland is correspondingly dark. The Queen of Hearts cruelly rules the land, the White Rabbit is tattered, the Cheshire Cat sports a pirate earring and a mangy, emaciated look, and the Mad Hatter is even madder than before. Alice, armed with her characteristic politeness, athletic ability, and a large knife, must venture through this dark Wonderland righting wrongs while thwarting the Queen and her army of playing-card guards. The game itself uses an over-the-shoulder perspective and has Alice running, jumping, and swinging from ropes like a younger and primmer Lara Croft. Controls are easy to use and aside from difficult jumping puzzles and an odd problem where Alice slides on surfaces, the game is easy to play. Wonderland here is dark, like a Tim Burton film, but still easily recognizable to fans of the classic novel. If anything the game is woefully linear--there's only one path and therefore no need to replay the game after you've finished it. The result is a game that feels more constrained and conservative than its source material should have allowed, but the atmosphere makes for an exciting action-adventure nonetheless. Mature subject matter is strewn throughout, so always remember that this isn't an E-ticket Disney ride. --Bob Andrews Pros: Gorgeous, wicked graphics Excellent use of Carroll's famous characters Cons: High system requirements Very linear

Amazon.com Product Description:
Lewis Carroll's 19th-century fantasy has been reinvented many times, most famously by Walt Disney. And now American McGee, one of the designers behind the Quake and Doom series, issues his addition to the Looking Glass legends with American McGee's Alice. Players take on the role of a wiser, more industrious heroine who sets out in this third-person 3-D action game to free Wonderland from the tyranny of the Queen of Hearts. Alice will confront a host of weird creatures in surreal settings and solve numerous puzzles through more than 15 levels of gameplay.

Product details:

Item number (ASIN): B00004UE0V
Amazon Maximum Age: 240, months
Amazon Minimum Age: 204, months
Brand: Electronic Arts
Category: CD-ROM
ESRBAge Rating: Mature
Genre: action_games
Hardware Platform: Pc
Item Dimensions: Array
Manufacturer: Electronic Arts
Model: 14145
Number Of Items: 1
Operating System: Windows 95
Original Release Date: January 1, 2002
Package Dimensions: 130 x 540 x 750 (hundredths-inches)
Platform: Windows 98, Windows 95
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: December 6, 2000

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Amazon.com customer reviews:

Average Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Nostalgia at its best.
Alice... Alice... What with the fervor these days over the Tim Burton film I think it's good to stop and look back at who Alice has been for Carroll... and for American McGee. If anything I'd have preferred to see THIS Alice on the big screen, this Alice so wounded and vengeful. Cold hearted. A withered soul. Not to say that the Tim Burton film won't be great. This, however, is one of my favorite games of all time. The story is just so... perverse? I don't feel that's quite the right word. It is indeed a perversion of Wonderland but it is also a gothic horror and can actually be rather difficult at times. Just try getting your croquet mallet to fire just right. All in all, I'd say this is a must for anyone interested in gothic horror, psychological warfare or simply a "fresh" (rotten?) take on Carroll's Alice. Step through the looking glass. Darkly.

Rating:

- Alice
I love this game and I had to search every where to find it. I got it at good price and I got it really quick. Overall I am very happy with my game

Rating:

- Cool art and excellent music
In one word, the thing that makes this game outstanding is art. Although the graphics are not as impressive as the ones you see lately, they do have an artistic sense. But above that, the music is just amazing and it sets the entire atmosphere. Actually, the art of the game is so strong that you forget that in the end it's just another jump-and-shoot game (which is why I'm not giving 5 stars). If only they would have been as original on the game play as in the art.

Rating:

- Original and Intriguing
This game has superb graphics. I say that, even though it's several years old and the graphics system it uses is far outdated. The levels are beautiful, if macabre and at times, darkly bitter. The sound is also a plus. It really adds to the game and completes the theme. The voice acting is good as well; unlike many games with mediocre voice acting, the Cheshire Cat has a deep, philosophical, and slightly mocking tone that suited him completely, as did Alice's pointed, shrewd, and slightly rude tone. At times some of the nonplayer characters have slightly annoying voices, but that's probably in character, as many of these characters are annoying. Alice's controls aren't difficult to use, and even a gamer not well suited to computer gaming would probably be able to pick them up. There are many jumping puzzles, and here we come to one of the weaknesses. There's a lot of guessing involved in the jumping. There is a handy foot marker to where Alice will land, but often times it's inaccurate or simply not helpful, especially with moving objects. Alice also seems to scoot a bit past her jumping point, which is slightly frustrating. Another major weakness is how the water was done. The camera angles in the water can be very frustrating, and it's sometimes difficult to tell Alice to swim in the direction you'd like her to. She gets "stuck," if you will, and there's no real meter as to how long she can last underwater. The action in the game is engaging. While it's a first person shooter, and at times it can seem a "kill everything on the screen" game, the action isn't the main facet of the game. There are many puzzles along the way to frustrate and engage you. Alice's "toys," or weapons, are very interesting as well, and using them in combination can lead to interesting and destructive results. Many of the bosses are interesting, at the very least, to fight. The story is a macabre and, at times, slightly confusing, web. I would have liked a bit more attention paid to some of the reasoning; for example, why weapons lie about for no apparent reason. The story itself is highly engaging, however; without giving away too much, Alice's fight for sanity in the twisted realm of Wonderland is a tale that is very interesting. While this treatment of a children's story is not entirely new, this game is very original, and one that you will not regret buying. It's also very cheap, as it's an old game. It's medium in length, but it doesn't feel too long or two short. There isn't a whole lot of replay value, as the only difference is the difficulty increase, though you might want to play the story through again. I highly recommend this game.

Rating:

- I LOVE this game
I'm not that much into video/computer games because I have a hard time finding a game that sparks my interest. This game is the only game I own and I have played it over and over and over again. This is THE best game out there. They need to make more games like this.