A visual feast that happens to be a fun action / adventure game.

American McGee's Alice from EA is no ordinary fairy tale. The developer, Rogue Studios has created a fantasy world gone bad, in its borrowings from Lewis Carrol classic children's tale - Alice in Wonderland. Many of the characters from the story are present and Alice's objective is still to save Wonderland but don't expect a faithful rendition of Lewis Carroll's tale. But that's okay since Rogue has done something more important - they've created a high quality and fun action/adventure game.

You begin the adventure by witnessing the event that has caused Alice to retreat into her fantasy world. And what at a fantasy world it is. The level designers deserve a ton of praise in their execution of bringing Wonderland to your computer. All of the levels will floor you with their staggering amount of detail and quality. It's hard to think of one weak level. It's like somebody held an all-star game for level designs. This really shows what can be done with the Quake III engine when a design team goes outside the boundaries of your typical first-person shooter.

Besides the quality of the levels, there are also some small touches that epitomize the labor of love that went into this project. Get closer to the lights that are illuminating your surroundings and you'll discover that they happen to be fireflies pinned to the walls. Hey, that rock just moved! Yep, all of a sudden you'll see a rock get up and move on its own. Considering the vast size and detail of the environments, it's amazing that the designers would even consider putting these small features into the levels.

As far as gameplay is concerned, it's a straightforward 3rd person action/adventure game. The view is over-the-shoulder with an adjustable zoom. The targeting is done with an always-on but unobtrusive blue targeting dot. The keyboard and mouse controls are very simple to use and can be fully re-mapped. There is no gamepad support but it's not really needed since the keyboard and mouse controls are more than adequate. The only drawback to this efficient design is Alice's limited battle moves. This isn't a major deal since you'll be throwing most of Alice's toys to rid Wonderland of its enemies, but there are two melee weapons (Vorpal Blade and Croquet Mallet) that would have benefited from an expanded repertoire of moves.

There is also a neat footprint feature that shows where Alice lands if she attempts a jump. This comes in handy for some of the trickier platform jumping. Speaking of jumping - there is a fair amount of it but nothing that I would consider impossible. You might have some difficulty with the areas that require you to float on upward streams of air, but that's about it. The puzzles are all pretty simple so you shouldn't really encounter too many frustrations with them. If you do find yourself being stumped, you can always conjure up the Cheshire Cat for his words of wisdom (more like a riddle), which should be enough to help you advance.

Besides the creative levels, the weapons (or toys) have a nice innovative bent to them. Alice starts off with her standard weapon being the Vorpal Blade. Secondary mode enables you to throw this knife, which will be the most frequent way of using this weapon. All of the additional weapons are discovered as you progress through the levels. The Croquet Mallet can be used as a melee weapon or you can hit croquet balls at your enemies in secondary mode. Don't ask me where the croquet balls come from - let's just say you have an infinite supply. Other neat weapons include Deadly Cards, Demon Dice (roll 'em and watch your own personal demon do some damage but stand back!), Jack Bomb (this is no ordinary Jack-in-the-Box), Ice Wand (very effective at freezing your enemies) and Jacks (toss them and let them do their work). The weapons are fun to use (so that's why they call them toys!) but when the going gets tough, you'll find yourself going to the ones that fire quickly and have the most accuracy such as the Cards and Ice Wand. The Jack Bomb is extremely effective but not recommended in close quarters - it's not a pretty site to see Alice's dress catch on fire!

The characters and enemies in Alice are also a lot of fun. There are too many to list here, but the most memorable ones are those that come straight out of pages of Alice in Wonderland (Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, Humpty-Dumpty, Mad Hatter, and the Duchess, just to name a few). Most of the minor enemies are consistent with the theme (Cards, Chess Pieces, etc.) but there are some that seem recycled from other games such as the Clockwork Automatons (human-size mechs) and the Boojums (very similar to the flying ghouls in Heretic). On the other hand, some of the enemies are just plain fantastic such as the Phantasmagoria, which looks like something you'd see in a big-budget horror film. It's rare to find a game that has me anticipating the next enemy and this is just another area where Alice shines.

Not all in Wonderland is perfect though. The combat does tend to get repetitive with the primary reason being the way in which most of the weapons are used - they are either thrown or tossed at your enemies. The Ice Wand does help to vary things but unfortunately this is the only true firing weapon until the latter stages of the game. I wouldn't consider this a major issue but it does tend to pull down the enjoyment factor.

The only other drawback is the lack of a multiplayer feature, which is unfortunate considering all of the unique weapons and the wide variety of characters that one could choose from. In addition, the mod community would go bonkers with level designs for this game. Oh well, let's hope it's included in the sequel. Neither of these hits is major enough to detract from what I would consider one of the best games of 2000. If you're looking for a completely different visual experience in a fun action/ adventure game then I can't think of a better choice than American McGee's Alice.

Reviewed by James Diaz.