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Publisher
Aspyr Media | Genre
Adventure & RPG | Release Date
7/17/2001 | Status
Available |
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As Alice returns to wonderland, this time in her own dreams, it becomes clear that all is not as she left it – Wonderland is under attack, and sinister forces have taken over this once-whimsical land. Her guiding spirit the Cheshire Cat appears, as always speaking in riddles, and gives her a mission: once again, she is to “follow the white rabbit” down the rabbit-hole. Along the way malevolent creatures inspired by Caroll’s characters will try to stop her any way they can, as she attempts to set things right once again.Alice: The Ultimate Goth Chick? Luckily, Alice is well-equipped for battle with these netherworld baddies. She starts with a her Vorpal Blade, a nasty knife with an eerie glow and the magical ability to return to her after being thrown. From there the weapons are inspired by “toys,” and include a deck of magic cards, an electrified croquet mallet, “jacks” and even Demon Dice. These spectral weapons are just the thing to destroy the various demons, monsters and freaks she will encounter, and they are a terrifying lot. One unique property of each weapon is that if you pick up another of the same weapon, instead of merely refilling your “ammo” as happens in other games the weapon itself becomes more powerful and capable of inflicting more damage. Each weapon has a primary and secondary fire mode, and some auto-aim while others require precision targeting.Combat is a big part of the game, and Alice has two meters she must maintain in order to survive in Wonderland. On the left is her Sanity gauge, which goes down as Alice is attacked (and slowly driven insane) by the demons that haunt this world. On the right is a gauge of her Will, a power she can use for special and secondary attacks with her weapons to do damage to single foes or groups of enemies – essentially her ammunition. Both are replenished by the souls of the enemies you defeat, which appear as glowing diamonds and hearts. While these were children’s books, Alice is no shrinking violet. She’s quick with that knife, and not afraid to get a little blood on her apron. Even jaded fans of traditional shooters and hack-and-slash titles such as Rune may find the action fairly intense. The game is a solo adventure with no multiplayer element – as was the book that inspired it. Alice herself is capable of a wide range of actions and movements, as fits an action title with adventure elements. Not only can she run and "strafe" in FPS fashion, she can climb ledges, catch a ledge when she falls, trip switches, swing on ropes and many other types of movement. There are crosshairs ("reticules") for both her jumping and for each of her weapons (the bright dot in the screen shots) which can be disabled for veteran gamers. Eye Candy of a Twisted Sort The game features a third-person perspective which is well-adapted to the adventure and puzzle elements of the game. Unlike Oni or Rune, there is no transparency or other tricks used to deal with the camera view; instead very cinematic pans and zooms are used to avoid colliding with the level geometry. All of the cut scenes (and there are many which move the plot along) occur in-engine, resulting in continuity between areas of the game. Graphically the Quake 3 Arena engine is being pushed to its limit, as is obvious in the screen shots. Not only did Rogue add such elements as lens flares and motion blur, they also introduced a skeletal animation system which is used to great effect. The texture detail in particular is several levels beyond Q3A, with realistic wood and stone surfaces, dank caves and of course the ubiquitous titled floors all rendered with realism and clarity.
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