60 Second Review of…

American McGee's Alice

Tom's Review: Alice isn't nearly as weird as she wants to be, which is kind of embarrassing for everyone involved. Imagine a regular guy — say, a middle-aged tile salesman or a business school student — starts wearing eyeliner and dresses up in full Goth regalia because he wants to convince everyone he's dark and edgy and full of unresolved mysterious angst. This is what Alice is like, except not nearly as entertaining. Read more here if you want specifics and then go out and buy Rayman 2.

Mark's Review: I don't know how a PS2 game got mistakenly released on the PC, but Alice did. Great visuals and interesting levels meet pedestrian gameplay and poor AI. If that's not a PS2 launch title, I'll eat the Mad Hatter's hat. It seems strange that a game obviously aimed at a mature audience — this isn't Rayman 2, after all — should rely so heavily on jumping and dull combat. I'm not a fan of puzzles, mostly since they tend to be inane in most games, but Alice is a game ideally suited for clever puzzles. Maybe this should have been designed by British McGee.

For more details, read our Early Hours with American McGee's Alice.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Rogue Studios
Genre: Console platform game on a PC
Requirements: P400, 64MB RAM, 16MB OpenGL compatiable video card, 580 MB hard drive space

December 21, 2000

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