American McGee's Alice

 PC
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
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  1. guiletheguiles
    Aug 23, 2023
    3
    I decided to play this game before Madness Returns and my god what a mistake.

    This game fails in nearly everything it tries to accomplish. Platforming feels terribly imprecise and janky, combat is stiff and lacks any kind of impact, the soundtrack is repetitive, puzzles have no fun factor and it might have some of the worst boss encounters ever designed. Not to mention the level    I decided to play this game before Madness Returns and my god what a mistake.

    This game fails in nearly everything it tries to accomplish. Platforming feels terribly imprecise and janky, combat is stiff and lacks any kind of impact, the soundtrack is repetitive, puzzles have no fun factor and it might have some of the worst boss encounters ever designed. Not to mention the level design...

    The writing is fine, but doesn't save how shallow the story feels. The idea is actually good, but it doesn't go as deep as it should, it seems. Not to mention how hard it is to actually care for anything happening to the plot when the gameplay feels so abysmal.

    Sisuals and tone were the only good things to come out of it. I wasn't expecting to be creeped out by some of the visual design in this game. Enemy variety helps as well. Boss fights were atrocious, but they were cool to look at, at least. And the soundtrack may suck, but the actual sound of the game feels freaky.

    But style, on its own, couldn't save Alice. I'd recommend this to no one.
    I finished this game out of spite and hope that the sequel is good.    … Expand
  2. SaberOfXebec
    Jul 25, 2023
    7
    Good:
    -Story
    -Music
    -Atmosphere
    -Level Design

    Bad:
    -Jumping
    -Very poorly aged game play and mechanics
  3. armadonpower
    Jun 9, 2023
    10
    The game delivers a twisted and haunting take on Wonderland with its dark visuals, unforgettable soundtrack, and unique gameplay mechanics. A masterpiece.
  4. ZangBang
    Feb 1, 2023
    3
    The perilous journey through the artistically-inspired, visceral wonderland of Alice is very entertaining: while maintaining a general simplicity, level design morphs constantly as each area develops distinctly: descending, rising and twisting on itself while introducing new platform challenges, environmental features and gimmicks. However, combat is excruciatingly bad, annoyingly chaoticThe perilous journey through the artistically-inspired, visceral wonderland of Alice is very entertaining: while maintaining a general simplicity, level design morphs constantly as each area develops distinctly: descending, rising and twisting on itself while introducing new platform challenges, environmental features and gimmicks. However, combat is excruciatingly bad, annoyingly chaotic and tedious due to disproportionate hitboxes, erratic enemy animations and bosses with repetitive, dull attack patterns.… Expand
  5. Niilarte
    Dec 30, 2022
    8
    Time to play Madness Returns myself! I bought it recently and I wanted to see the story beforehand,
    this game looks seriously good to play! i can look past the tricky platforming, but overall i like the story line of this game. and while it does have some seriously dark parts that i normally appreciate in anything really, the second game's story seriously got under my skin. but i can    Time to play Madness Returns myself! I bought it recently and I wanted to see the story beforehand,
    this game looks seriously good to play! i can look past the tricky platforming, but overall i like the story line of this game. and while it does have some seriously dark parts that i normally appreciate in anything really, the second game's story seriously got under my skin. but i can understand why some people were disappointed or even surprised at the different route the second game took    … Expand
  6. 1men1guy
    Aug 9, 2022
    10
    holy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
  7. max3290
    Apr 18, 2022
    0
    I know this game is old and I only recently played it, but the game had possibly the worst controls of any game I have played in my life. I needed three hands to effectively use the controls as they were setup. Playing on PS3, save times were long and I needed to do it so often because of the poor controls. I was angry playing it and happy when the torture was finally over.
  8. Valkillmore
    Dec 20, 2021
    9
    I bought "Alice Madness Returns" without even realizing this game existed, so when I discovered "American McGee's Alice" in the extras of "Madness returns" I was like "BRUH" (then proceeded to play the entire game). Turns out this game is amazing and criminally underrated????? I cant believe this game isn't talked about more! I thought it was utterly amazing, especially for 2000?? This isI bought "Alice Madness Returns" without even realizing this game existed, so when I discovered "American McGee's Alice" in the extras of "Madness returns" I was like "BRUH" (then proceeded to play the entire game). Turns out this game is amazing and criminally underrated????? I cant believe this game isn't talked about more! I thought it was utterly amazing, especially for 2000?? This is a fantastically fresh and creepy and disturbing take on Alice and I loved it. the enemies can get a bit annoyingly spongey at points though and I didn't much care for the ending.… Expand
  9. Sapstre
    Aug 17, 2021
    9
    The game still stands up very well in the modern day, also being one of the few games of the time to not portray mental illness as a evil big bad, but rather Alice feels as if she is imprisoned within her own mind. The graphics also help add to the atmosphere.

    One of the few gripes I have with the game however is it feels clunky to modern standards, but if you've played many games from    The game still stands up very well in the modern day, also being one of the few games of the time to not portray mental illness as a evil big bad, but rather Alice feels as if she is imprisoned within her own mind. The graphics also help add to the atmosphere.

    One of the few gripes I have with the game however is it feels clunky to modern standards, but if you've played many games from this era it shouldn't be a big issue.    … Expand
  10. arostislavna
    Jul 22, 2021
    8
    A great cult classic game. Not much more to say. 75 characters.............
  11. Max20
    Jun 28, 2021
    7
    Videojuego con una historia bastante profunda y interesante, aunque a nivel jugable tiene sus errores como el constante fallo de la cámara, además de errores en sus propios controles lo que hace que de vez en cuando se vea tedioso
  12. Renato612
    Mar 28, 2021
    7
    Good atmosphere, good and scary soundtrack, and a very good story, but the graphics are not very good even for the time when the game launched, the gameplay is very robotic and repetitive, in general a good game
  13. ImperialYama
    Dec 22, 2020
    9
    Sadly the Controls aged badly and feel clunky nowdays. I think also some sort of Upgrade System for Weapons would be great. For Example like in Ratchet and Clank. This is a Feature i desire for this Game so much. American McGee's Alice is still a unique Game up to this day.
  14. Chempion1
    Aug 6, 2020
    10
    American McGee’s Alice на мой взгляд игра очень странная. Когда я впервые купил её на рынке (в то время лицензии в моём городе просто не существовало) и установил, то сильно огорчился увидев, как мне тогда показалось, "мультяшный" вид игры. Но стоило только начать и я понял, что игра то, как бы сейчас сказали, 18+!
    Расчленёнка, сумасшествие, кровь (сама Алиса бегает в кровавом фартуке)!    American McGee’s Alice на мой взгляд игра очень странная. Когда я впервые купил её на рынке (в то время лицензии в моём городе просто не существовало) и установил, то сильно огорчился увидев, как мне тогда показалось, "мультяшный" вид игры. Но стоило только начать и я понял, что игра то, как бы сейчас сказали, 18+!
    Расчленёнка, сумасшествие, кровь (сама Алиса бегает в кровавом фартуке)!
    Да графика звёзд с неба не хватала, но лучше в то время она бала и не нужна.
    Боёвка, как ни странно, оказалась достаточно удобной, а количество фантасмагорического оружия сильно обрадовало!
    И конечно БОССЫ! Какие же они в игре крутые! McGee вывернул сказку на изнанку и почти все добрые персонажи стали злыми боссами! Как же этого мне не хватало в сиквеле Madness Returns.
    Но самое главное в игре это атмосфера. Из неё просто не хочется возвращаться в реальность!
    Мне жаль, что сиквел так и не смог достичь уровня оригинала, не в атмосфере, не в сюжете, не в играбельности. К тому же растерял всех боссов.
    При том American McGee’s Alice была полностью озвучена по русски, чего нельзя сказать про сиквел. И это тоже важно, так как атмосферные игры требуют глубины погружения в них, а с субтитрами достичь этого трудновато.
    Очень надеюсь, что American McGee догадается выпустить переиздание своей лучшей игры на новых мощностях и новом движке! Хотя это и маловероятно.
    Даже сейчас American McGee’s Alice для меня одна из лучших игр!    … Expand
  15. SPARTAN-010
    Jul 5, 2020
    7
    Great world, good plot, not very engaging gameplay, not very fun to play through.
  16. Jorge_Salvaje
    Jun 20, 2020
    9
    This game is very good, because it have beautiful art, a interesting history, and it difficult makes the game became more good.
  17. SilverOrlov
    Apr 9, 2020
    8
    A good and interesting story for it's year, spoiled a little by many small bugs and high difficult in a couple places with bosses like Barmaglot.
  18. mrrealperson
    Feb 5, 2020
    9
    Вот хорошая игрушка! Даже если вы не фанаты платформеров, игра может зацепить своим повествованием и левел-дизайном. Среди всех возможных адаптаций сказки Льюиса Кэрролла эта самая удачная, даже в сравнении с множеством полнометражных работ. Для многих это просто готическая интерпретация оригинальной Алисы в Стране Чудес, но... Да, с одной стороны так и есть, вместо Страны Чудес здесьВот хорошая игрушка! Даже если вы не фанаты платформеров, игра может зацепить своим повествованием и левел-дизайном. Среди всех возможных адаптаций сказки Льюиса Кэрролла эта самая удачная, даже в сравнении с множеством полнометражных работ. Для многих это просто готическая интерпретация оригинальной Алисы в Стране Чудес, но... Да, с одной стороны так и есть, вместо Страны Чудес здесь Страна Кошмаров, но с другой МакГи (хоть я не очень люблю его игрушки) уважает оригинал Кэрролла так как никто другой! Атмосфера сказки Кэрролла есть, сценарий написан так, будто сам Льюис им занимался, так что если вы поклонники оригинальных книжек, которых в основном бесили почти все экранизации и игры про Алису, то вам игра точно будет по вкусу. Остальным может зайти гротескный дизайн уровней, он хорош, блестящий мистический саундтрек (даже лучше чем в сиквеле), да общая готическая атмосфера. Если такое по душе, играйте смело.… Expand
  19. sebastianali
    Aug 10, 2019
    4
    Este juego carece de rejugabilidad, exploración y un buen sistema de combate, por no decir que se vuelve repetitivo y si bien me gusta que la historia de Alicia sea mas "adulta", es una mala suerte que se haya hecho con el motor de Quake 3... Con eso solo se consiguen extraños bugs, caídas de rendimiento y una calidad gráfica inferior a Rayman 2 que salio solo 1 año antes.
  20. BeAltyrnative
    Jan 29, 2018
    10
    I think I've played through this game at least twenty times since I was a kid. I've come back every so often to replay it because to this day it still stands out as a game that has such a feeling of diving into another world. The combat to me, and I know there are people that have a hard time with it, is actually interesting and fun when you master some basic techniques. The throwing knifeI think I've played through this game at least twenty times since I was a kid. I've come back every so often to replay it because to this day it still stands out as a game that has such a feeling of diving into another world. The combat to me, and I know there are people that have a hard time with it, is actually interesting and fun when you master some basic techniques. The throwing knife and croquet projectile follow up can take out many of the basic enemy types, then when you get the jacks its so easy to take out enemies until the jabberwock eyestaff which is basically the best weapon in the game and is easily recharged by consciously killing enemies to collect their life-force. It's an easy but fun way to defeat enemies and provides a challenge. The MUSIC my god; so perfect and memorable. The characters are weird and interesting, always seeming to come in and be taken away leaving you with a feeling of isolation in this land where you must find the way with intuition alone. Nothing is more satisfying then transitioning between areas and seeing the different art styles creepy-Wonderland offers. I give it a ten due to its nostalgic feeling and just how this game was approached. Well done to the developers and American McGee for inciting this idea.… Expand
  21. iddqd4
    Jan 23, 2018
    9
    Алиса хороша, у Тима Бёртона например получилось намного хуже.
  22. KayVen17
    May 6, 2017
    5
    Deutsche Review - Kritik

    Der folgende Test ist in 5 Kategorien zusammengefasst. Diese 5 Kartegorien ergeben die Gesamtpunktzahl von 0 - 100 Punkten. Um einen passenden Userscore zu geben wird auf oder abgerundet. Bei 84 Punkten ergibt das einen User Score von 8. Bei 86 einen von Userscore von 9. Falls eine 85 kommt entscheide ich ob ich es eher positiv oder negativ nehme. Regeln    Deutsche Review - Kritik

    Der folgende Test ist in 5 Kategorien zusammengefasst. Diese 5 Kartegorien ergeben die Gesamtpunktzahl von 0 - 100 Punkten. Um einen passenden Userscore zu geben wird auf oder abgerundet. Bei 84 Punkten ergibt das einen User Score von 8. Bei 86 einen von Userscore von 9. Falls eine 85 kommt entscheide ich ob ich es eher positiv oder negativ nehme. Regeln verstanden?
    Dann sind hier meine Punkte.

    Mein persönlicher Score = 51/100
    Mein User Score = 5/10    … Expand
  23. Broyax
    Apr 9, 2017
    5
    Graphiquement, quand on pense qu'il a 10 ans, il n'a pas si mal vieilli que cela. En outre, il reste parfaitement fluide tout à fond... encore heureux on me dira ! On peut sauvegarder quand on veut, un point très intéressant pour ce jeu de plate-forme au maniement très correct et à l'ambiance unique frappadingue.

    Hélas, le jeu est bien trop long, ce qui entraîne une lassitude certaine    Graphiquement, quand on pense qu'il a 10 ans, il n'a pas si mal vieilli que cela. En outre, il reste parfaitement fluide tout à fond... encore heureux on me dira ! On peut sauvegarder quand on veut, un point très intéressant pour ce jeu de plate-forme au maniement très correct et à l'ambiance unique frappadingue.

    Hélas, le jeu est bien trop long, ce qui entraîne une lassitude certaine et les niveaux sont très alambiqués avec toujours un levier planqué dans un endroit pas possible... et de surcroît dans les derniers niveaux le respawn à outrance s'avère des plus soûlants et n'arrange rien.    … Expand
  24. ElectroNick
    Jun 5, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Considering my past experience with the first game I was surprised when it had gotten praise. At least I did wonder that until I figured out that it was originally released for the PC. In that case than it would be safe to assume that the PS3 port was badly optimized. The story line is a loose sequel to the original novel by Louis Carol . Alice has gone insane and the main goal of the game is to restore her fragile mind. The main premise alone had potential to be an intriguing game but the story and game play are as loose as the titular heroine's mind. Aside from the opening and closing cutscenes the story is only there just to give context to the game play. Voice acting is pretty flat with the exception of the Red Queen and the characters are visually interesting but they are barely given much depth. The appeal of Wonderland's inhabitants have always been appealing due to the fact that they are a visual representation of Victorian London- Society and Alice's Psyche. It is fairly obvious what each character is a representation in fact what the part they play in Alice's mind is blatantly said to the player like they cannot figure it out themselves. The ending also feels rushed as it shows Alice going straight out of the Asylum as soon as she defeats the Red Queen. Where the game really stumbles is in the game play. I'm unsure what it is like on the PC but on the PS3 the jumping controls feel very stiff. It is hard to describe how many times I have died just because I could not Jump at the right time since Alice likes to jump without bending her knees. It seems like the game is requiring you to take giant leaps of faith even though you are only able of taking little hops. It is admirable that the game gives you a variety of weapons but with the exception of the killer dice they all are unreliable. You will mostly be using your vorpal blade to fight off against the enemies. Said enemies are annoying at best and frustrating at worst especially if they are flying above you since it i hard to see where they are. There are interesting power ups but they are rendered useless since you still take the same amount of damage as you would without those powers. The boss fights range from simplistic to irritating the fights are poorly implemented and tacted on at best. The biggest error for the game play is the camera itself since it is fixed on Alice and you can barely point it t where you want to which leads to so many frustrating deaths. This game had a lot of potential but it needed to be fleshed out more before getting shifted towards release. The gothic atmosphere and the intriguing atmosphere is not enough to clear this game's short comings.… Expand
  25. 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, 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    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.    … Expand
  26. 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 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    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 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    … Expand
  27. Gzbernini
    Jun 23, 2014
    8
    I've gotten this game as an "add-on" in Alice: Madness Returns, as its original format is rare and expensive. First of all, Madness Returns is a better game than American McGee's Alice. I give Alice a 8/10 rating, for its nice graphics and storyline, but poor and hard gameplay.
  28. carlosgtardon
    Jun 10, 2014
    8
    Una vuelta de tuerca al libro de Alicia en el País de las Maravillas y A través del Espejo. A nivel narrativo muy interesante pero ha envejecido bastante mal, pero una buena referencia para narratología.
  29. Meshinator
    Mar 31, 2013
    9
    Although by today's standards, this games graphics would be considered VERY dated, I remember playing this game as a child. It takes a classic children's story and warps it in such a way, that is both disturbing and interesting. The combat is still simple and easy to use, and there is a large variety in weapons. A feature that is often lacking in many of today's games. If you haven'tAlthough by today's standards, this games graphics would be considered VERY dated, I remember playing this game as a child. It takes a classic children's story and warps it in such a way, that is both disturbing and interesting. The combat is still simple and easy to use, and there is a large variety in weapons. A feature that is often lacking in many of today's games. If you haven't played American McGee's Alice, I highly suggest that you do. It is definitely a memorable and worthwhile game.… Expand
  30. Nerung
    Nov 22, 2012
    9
    One of the best presented action games there is, Alice creates a dark and gritty world with beautiful level design and an intense gaming experience. It creates a lot of mood and every level feels different with the story picking up pace and the final confrontation looming on the horizon. Outstanding in its diversity of levels and well executed elements (design of weapons; variation inOne of the best presented action games there is, Alice creates a dark and gritty world with beautiful level design and an intense gaming experience. It creates a lot of mood and every level feels different with the story picking up pace and the final confrontation looming on the horizon. Outstanding in its diversity of levels and well executed elements (design of weapons; variation in enemies according to the respective level), this is a must-have title for actions fans (that also like some elements of horror) as it is really different from most competitors in the genre.… Expand
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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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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
  1. Adrenaline Vault
    70
    The action falls short of amazing because certain elements, such as the poor A.I., do not hold up their end of the bargain, but Alice is still a fascinating trip that is well worth the tumble down the rabbit hole.
    Read full review
  2. 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.
    Read full review
  3. 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.
    Read full review
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