Alice: Madness Returns
Alice: Madness Returns actually isn’t a terrible game by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just a game that isn’t particularly impressive and it doesn’t make any real effort to do anything new or particularly well. If video games were people and you were having a birthday party, Alice: Madness Returns would be the friend that shows up late with no present but is extravagantly overdressed in a way that steals all the shine from your big day.
The game overall just comes across as a bit unpolished and the black hole of repetitive gameplay starts to ruin all the potential. The real star in the midst of all the mediocrity is the art direction that does a stellar job of setting the tone and building a truly twisted world around Alice’s adventure. In fact, the way Wonderland visually changes throughout the game and how this impact is also seen on Alice is one of the game’s best features. Where the gameplay may fail to really draw you down the rabbit hole, the game’s artistic charm certainly will.
