American McGee's Alice

 PC
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
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  1. GameZone
    100
    Anyone can make a dark atmosphere and tough characters - but Alice is a wonderful and WITTY adaptation of a familiar story into an intriguing and addictive action/adventure experience.
  2. Cincinnati Enquirer
    100
    Without a doubt, the game's single greatest asset is the graphics, with its unprecedented level of painstaking detail, swirling colors, wonderfully distorted images and dynamic lighting effects.
  3. Antagonist
    99
    The closest you'll ever need to get to surreal insanity brilliance.
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Armchair Empire
    98
    A spectacular game.
  6. Gamer's Pulse
    95
    I will keep Alice for as long as my feeble mind can handle it.
  7. IGN
    94
    The graphics, as I think I've repeated about 50 times, are monumental, but let me just add that the character designs shine just as much.
  8. GameSpy
    93
    Visually and conceptually, Alice is unparalleled among this year's games, and succeeds in eclipsing its own weaknesses with intoxicating style. A defiantly original example of game-development as a fine art.
  9. Gaming Age
    91
    It's the best thing since Sliced Bread, other than its sequel, Sliced Bread II: Electric Boogaloo.
  10. GamerWeb PC
    91
    Hey, American McGee: Do more! I'd like to see Snow White done in the same style (with evil dwarves). I see no reason why this couldn't be a series of games, and I think the technology and the audience is ready.
  11. Da Gameboyz
    91
    The graphics are wonderful, the sounds and voice acting are perfect, and the levels are huge. It's too bad there isn't a multiplayer option, but really, the single player game should keep you going for sometime.
    All this publication's reviews
  12. ActionTrip
    90
    What really impressed me about Alice's visuals is the imaginativeness of the designers, and the highly thematic environments, which completely differ from one level to another and are brought to life with some crisp and detailed textures.
  13. Voodoo Extreme
    90
    The graphics are in-freakin-credible, the sound is top-notch, the level design is beautiful, and the action is non-stop.
  14. PC Gameworld
    90
    A visual feast that happens to be a fun action/adventure game.
  15. Game Over Online
    90
    The sound is probably some of the best I've heard in a game. The music, for starters, is almost perfect.
  16. Happy Puppy
    90
    It combines several of my interests: kooky Victoriana, bloody fairytales, lush writing, bratty girls with knives, and talking cats.
  17. Games Radar
    88
    A lovely piece of storytelling with top-notch visuals and sounds, Alice enthrals aesthetically but doesn't quite satisfy gameplay-wise.
  18. Gamezilla!
    88
    An excellent game with plenty of character and story development, engaging plot and rich graphics. This game will undoubtedly appeal to the gamer of a more disturbed taste. I liked it.
  19. Daily Radar
    88
    Alice as a whole isn't a perfect game, but many individual elements of the title are quite simply amazing, especially the level design.
    All this publication's reviews
  20. PC Gamer
    88
    A visual masterpiece with enough good gameplay to make it a classic. [Feb 2001, p.50]
    All this publication's reviews
  21. GamePower
    88
    Whatever American McGee is smoking, he shouldn't lay off it.
    All this publication's reviews
  22. FiringSquad
    87
    The levels, the characters - everything about this game is beautiful. The levels are easily the prettiest and most creative I have ever seen, each one designed in its own unique style. You couldn't get a better result if you threw Tim Burton or Clive Barker into the mix.
  23. Total Video Games
    80
    This one requires a little more brainpower and I warn you now, be prepared to get frustrated. Lots!
    All this publication's reviews
  24. CNET Gamecenter
    80
    The premise is twisted, and the game looks hauntingly beautiful; if only it weren't lacking in a few key gameplay areas, it would easily be one of the most fun, interesting, and memorable games of the last few years.
    All this publication's reviews
  25. Eurogamer
    80
    If you let the game draw you in, the fantasy world becomes much more real than you could imagine -and the game much more compelling.
  26. GamePro
    80
    It's fun for a while, but the overly simplified game mechanics and repetitive shoot-and-run gameplay wouldn't amount to much without the extraordinary visuals and awesome concept.
  27. Spank!
    80
    A bold breath of fresh air. It delivers an unrivalled single player experience and providing you have the hardware, delivers a stunningly realised world to explore. The only weak point is the combat system.
    All this publication's reviews
  28. All Game Guide
    80
    Whatever is going on inside his head, one can only hope it never goes away because that cranial cart wheeling has created one of the most unusual and spectacular games ever.
  29. Game Revolution
    75
    I would have liked a bit more story to the game, and a bit less of killing things, and quite a lot less jumping, thank you.
  30. Four Fat Chicks
    75
    With McGee's willingness to be generic with gameplay and story, we are ultimately let down by excessive and pointless jumping, poor combat, and a rather empty, non-interactive narrative. It's a very pretty and novel game but also flawed.

Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Best PC Game of 2000
10
#10 Most Discussed PC Game of 2000
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2000

User Reviews

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User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 236 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 171 out of 236
  2. Mixed: 42 out of 236
  3. Negative: 23 out of 236
  1. ChaosHydrA
    Nov 2, 2014
    3
    A game that has aestethically aged well but thats pretty much all there is to Alice. The games biggest asset is the great amount of detail toA game that has aestethically aged well but thats pretty much all there is to Alice. The games biggest asset is the great amount of detail to the levels, great voices for the most part and probably best a amazing soundtrack here 14 years later.

    The games gameplay and core mechanics however feels like something from a bygone era and since its based on the engine for some of the Quake games it feels quite similar aswell in both its explosions and jagged level design.

    The problem with this game is 2 of the most important aspects:

    1. The combat is absolutely atrocious, after about 5-7 of the areas most of the combat you are pretty much underpowered in battle for the rest of the game even on Normal which i played it through with. Your weapons and quick switch system simply doesnt work well with the enemies movement patterns and amount of health. 95% of the time you will find yourself constantly charging up weapons or readying the preferred one ready before entering a area filled with enemies. having to constantly wait for your throwable knife to spawn which is the only weapon in the game that doesnt use your blue "mana" bar turns the combat into a complete chore where you will throw it once and then retreat so you can get it again after a while, and with most enemies requiring about 4-5 hits with the throwable blade it makes even the mundane 1on1 enemy battle a 1-1½ minute borefest since all your mana weapons deplete way too quick pretty much after 1-2 enemies max. Going into combat with more than 1 enemy around is also ppretty much suicide with the weaker weapons as the later enemies can manage to not only deal alot of damage but push you off the many ledges the level design consists of with their blasts. Theres about 5 boss battles in the game and all of em feel trivial where you just spin around the level and keep your distance to them while using your weapons.

    2. The Jumping/Platform mechanics. This game has alot of platforming besides combat, sadly i would have preferred more weight on puzzles while there are some they all feel shallow and easy. The platforming however in this game is even worse than the combat, simly due to outdated sluggish movements that can be best described as the jumping in the old early Tomb Raider games. The game has alot of narrow ledges and alot of em are shaped in triangles which makes it frustrating to navigate your jumps perfectly and often throws you into pits, combine this with some of the later enemies that can make you bounce around from their hits and you got yourself a really annoying platformer thats reminiscent from the early 3D/platformer attempts of the 32-bit/PSX(1) era.

    Overall the game has a good atmosphere that holds up pretty well even in 2014 but its a game thats best left as a relic nowadays, i cant recommend it due to the poor gameplay mechanics simply outweighing the other parts like the great music. The game simply feels like a chore and dull to play, it might have been a amazing experience playing it on the release but its hard to see what alot of people were thinking considering how bad the core gameplay is like. I was hoping this was a PC gem i had missed out on, i tried it a level or 2 about 5-6 years back and enjoyed it, and the feeling was similar on my playthrough this time but as soon as youve made a couple levels into it it starts to detoriate very quickly with non developing simple gameplay and a story told in small amounts of dialogue every now and then without and good build up like you see in more modern games nowadays.

    Rating: 5.0 /10    … Full Review »
  2. Steeldude
    Aug 25, 2015
    4
    Horrible controls (I mean it) and brutal difficulty make this game super annoying to play.
    Also, if you were looking for a pure platformer,    Horrible controls (I mean it) and brutal difficulty make this game super annoying to play.
    Also, if you were looking for a pure platformer, you made a wrong choice, as this game is full of action and almost feels like a shooter a lot of times, you even use the mouse to aim and shoot stuff at enemies.

    Nah, cannot recommend this game. Still looks decent but unless you are a fan of Alice's world, you will not get any satisfaction from the experience found in this game. Even as far as 3D action adventures go, there are far better choices, such as the first Harry Potter game or even Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, keep in mind that both of those games are not that great either, but still better.    … Full Review »
  3. TG
    May 11, 2005
    10
    Still looks fresh today. atmospheric levels and great weapons.
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