Alice: Madness Returns

Alice: Madness Returns

Systems:

• Windows PC
• PlayStation3
• Xbox360
• Releases:
  • Original Release: 2011

Publisher:

• Spicy Horse

Developer:

• Electronic Arts

ESRB Rating:

• Mature (M)
• Reasoning:
  • Blood and Gore
  • Strong Language
  • Sexual Themes
  • Violence

Alice: Madness Returns is a horror adventure/platforming game and a sequel to the game American McGee's Alice. Immediately after the events of the first game, Alice finds herself in the care of Dr. Bumby who insists that she must forget her family's death to heal. Alice, however, feels that there are elements to that night that are still unclear. Between the stress of trauma and the unethical adults in her life forcing her to forget, Alice retreats back into Wonderland to find it in ruins. As she attempts to piece it back together, Alice unravels the veil of secrets around her family's death. The game was developed by Spicy Horse and published by Electronic Arts. It is available on Microsoft Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Alcohol

The Nurse Witless character is an obvious alcoholic who constantly badgers the Player Character into getting her more gin.

The Docks portion requires the player to enter a bar. There are patrons drinking.

The writer in the Deluded Depths is an alcoholic.

Animal Abuse

Most of the sympathetic characters in-game are animals and all of them can and will be harmed or mutilated at some point in the game.

Dodo birds are used in the Mad Hatter’s domain as slaves to make the place work. They are skinned and appear to be cooked.

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fish are still alive and moaning.

Animal Death

There are partially eviscerated owls in the Tundrafall section of the game.

There are dead bird carcasses around the Hatter’s Domain. They are apparently cooked.

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fish are still alive and moaning.

Aquatic Violence

In the Tundrafall section of the game, there are monsters underwater that will jump up and try to attack the Player Character.

Blood

Blood is a major part of this game to the point where it is omnipresent. Below we have noted particularly intense instances, but this is not an exhaustive list.

Blood is a result of fighting and appears in multiple cutscenes. The cutscenes are skippable but the battle blood is not.

In Hysteria Mode there is extra blood all over the Player Character and she spouts blood in an explosion attack. Hysteria is required to be used once.

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. There is an extreme amount of blood all over the walls and ground.

The second half of Queensland, after the Player Character becomes a giant, is completely made up of bleeding flesh, bone, and pustules. The Player Character must wade through puddles of blood and monsters become made of blood.

The Asylum level is particularly bad for blood. There are extreme amounts of blood in every room.

Body Horror

All characters in the game are twisted to some extent, usually either missing limbs or having some limbs replaced with mechanical ones. Below we have noted particularly intense instances, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.

Characters in the Mad Hatter’s Domain have been taken apart and re-formed with metal gears in place of body parts and blood on the gears. Very graphic.

The Mad Hatter is found to be cut up in a bunch of pieces. It is part of the game to put him back together. He is alive during this.

Teeth are used as currency in the game.

The second half of Queensland, after the Player Character becomes a giant, is completely made up of bleeding flesh, bone, and pustules. Some highlights include sliding down a tongue, being eaten, and tongue worms that will lick at you. The worms will not harm you.

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fish are being tortured and not dead and have saws in their heads.

After the asylum level a child chopped in half crawls towards the Player Character and begs for help.

In the Dollhouse level there are graphically children mutilated children that bleed and beg the Player Character for help.

The final boss is twisted, in particular he can detach his hands and uses them to attack the player.

Bones

In the London areas there are animal bones that appear in stalls.

In the Deluded Depths bones are used as decoration on multiple walls.

Bones are used as decoration in Queensland.

Brainwashing

The doctor in the game brainwashes his patients in to “forgetting” inconvenient memories. In particular he brainwashes the main character into forgetting crimes he’s committed against her family.

The doctor uses this brainwashing to turn children into prostitutes for pedophiles.

Cannibalism

The Duchess character talks about eating other sentient beings. She is unavoidable, but her dialogue can be skipped.

At the end of the Deluded Depths level, the Walrus eats sentient oyster dancers on screen.

The Player Character gets eaten after Queensland.

Claustrophobia

When the Player Character shrinks to access certain levels, the player is forced to go through small, confined corridors. These are a core game mechanic and unavoidable.

Some parts of multiple levels, particularly the Dollhouse level, put the Player Character in small rooms. The player is able to leave the room via platforming.

Dead Bodies

After the Hatter’s Domain level the Marsh Hare and Door Mouse die and their corpses are played with by the Mad hatter.

In the Docks section a man dies in front of you and his corpse stays there and can be commented on by the Player Character.

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling.

The Mysterious East level is littered with the dead bodies of ant monks.

Dehumanization

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mngled, put in piles, and hangkgin from the ceiling, clearly being used as food.

Children are dehumanized in the game. After the final level but before the boss fight, the player sees children walking around with numbers around their necks like livestock. A cutscene after that shows the children being sold to pedophiles.

Drowning

There are levels where you can fall into water. However the Player Character dies and it results in game over before you go underwater.

One level (Deluded Depths) takes place completely underwater. The Player Character is safe from drowning.

Emotional Abuse

For multiple levels the sign for the player that the mission is not complete is often a non-player character criticizing the player’s efforts so far.

If a mini-game is failed it often results in criticism from non-player characters. All mini-games can be skipped if the player does not feel confident in their ability to play them.

In the Asylum level it is revealed that Alice is the victim of long-term emotional abuse to try to control her. All of the adults in her life blame her for her mental illness, chastise her for not “trying hard enough” and threaten to send her back to an abusive asylum to attempt to keep her “in line”.

Explosions

The teapot weapon causes explosions.

Multiple enemies will throw fireballs that will explode with fire and a minor explosion sound. Those same enemies have an explosion attack that causes a line of fire to shoot towards the Player Character. In particular the Colossal Ruin enemies use this type of fighting.

There is a Rabbit Bomb tool that has a countdown and then explodes with a high-pitched noise and minor sparks.

The boat mini-game in the Tundrafall section involves cannons and mines, all which create large explosions that shake the entire screen and vibrate the controller if the player is using one.

In the Deluded Depths there are pirate ghost enemies that attack you with bombs that explode upon impact with fire and noise.

The Crab enemies fight by shooting explosive cannon balls at the Player Character.

Eye Horror/Eye Trauma

In Hysteria Mode Alice’s eyes go away and are replaced with bloody sockets. It is required once to use hysteria, but it is not required any other time.

The Teapot enemies can only be defeated by attacking their single eye.

The Hatter in the end cutscene of the Hatter’s Domain talks about sticking metal in one’s eye.

The guardian of Queensland has tentacles coming out of his eyes.

In the Queensland and Dollhouse levels, staring eyes are used as decoration on the walls and used on levers. They move realistically and stare at the Player Character.

Dolls

All common enemies in the game have porcelain doll faces with no eyes. These types of enemies feature extremely heavily in the game.

The Dollhouse level, the level after Alice's hallucination about the asylum, is themed after evil dolls. Everything is presented as a warped version of a child's toys. In this level there are Babydoll enemies that are giant dolls with the eyes gouged out. They are required to be defeated to complete the game.

The Player Character is turned into a doll during the Dollhouse level multiple times.

Felines

During multiple points of the game, the Player Character chases after a small cat. The cat is not hostile.

The Player Character can summon the Cheshire Cat to give hints during the game. The cat will appear during the beginning of the game and he will appear during challenges to gain extra hearts. He is not hostile but he is always very close to the Player Character. During parts of the game he can be avoided by not pushing the hint button when it appears.

A cat features heavily in the Player Character's flashbacks. The cat is not hostile.

Fire

Fire is an integral element to the game. The plot revolves around the trauma the Player Character experience from a fire that destroyed her home, so almost every level will involve some sort of flame. Below we have listed particularly intense instances, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.

This Spicy Horse logo at the beginning of the game spits fire at the screen.

The Player Character has flashbacks in every level about her family burning alive. The flashbacks include screams and images of a house burning.

The way the Player Character goes from level to level is that the player must willingly walk through the door an obviously burning house. To get into the Dollhouse level the Player Character must enter a burning house as well.

Several enemies use engines that spout fire to move and throw fire at the player as an attack. Colossal Ruin enemies in particular use fire a lot in combat.

A building Alice is in in the Docks section gets set on fire.

Ghosts

In the Deluded Depths there are pirate ghost enemies that appear both as shimmers/transparent ghosts and manifest as a physical body.

Gore

The game involves a lot of gore. Almost every enemy, every level, and every cutscene involves some sort of gore. Below we have listed the most intense instances, but since gore is almost omnipresent in the game this is by now means an exhaustive list.

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fish are not dead. There is a tremendous amount of blood and torn flesh. One fish hanging from the ceiling has handsaw embedded in his head/shell

The second half of Queensland, after the Player Character becomes a giant, is completely made up of bleeding flesh, bone, and pustules. Some highlights include sliding down a tongue and being eaten.

After the asylum level a child chopped in half crawls towards Alice and begs for help.

There are children that are graphically mutilated and murdered in the Dollhouse level. You speak to them and they beg you to save them.

Graphic Violence

The entire game consists of graphic violence against enemies, the Player Character, and the scenery. Every level involves some sort of violence that is graphically rendered. Below we have noted particularly intense

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fish are clearly still alive. One of the fish hanging from the ceiling is moaning and has a saw embedded in his head.

The scenery levels after Queensland mimics body parts, such as hearts, that the player must destroy in order to move on.

Guns

The pepper grinder weapon functions like a gun, complete with gun noises when it fires.

The teapot weapon functions similarly to a gun, throwing exploding projectiles.

The boat mini-game in the Tundrafall section involves cannons which create large explosions.

Heights

A core game mechanic is platforming. The platforming sections all take place at great hights where it is possible to fall, thus heights are an integral part of the game. When the Player Character falls, she screams and explodes into a swarm of butterflies. Below we have noted some instances of heights that are particularly intense, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.

An early scene has the Player Character fall through a roof and into Wonderland via a bottomless pit. She then falls from the sky into the ground. She is not harmed.

In every level there are several invisible platforms you must use to get around. The player has a power to make them briefly visible, but when the player is not using the power it looks like the Player Character is floating over midair.

The Cardbridge level takes place in the sky and you are able to look down at the world below and you can fall. Some platforms do not appear until the player approaches them, so several parts of this level involve jumping into thin air and hoping a platform appears.

Insects

Butterflies are very common in this game both in cutscenes and during gameplay. When the Player Character dies she explodes into a swarm of butterflies.

From early game on there are inscet-like enemies. They are actually screws, but they buzz like insects would. The player must destroy their hives to progress. The Teapot enemies in the Hatter’s Domain and beyond have spindly legs and move like insects. They only have one eye and three legs

In the Mysterious East level, there are bee and wasp enemies. They are photorealistic.

In the Mysterious East level, Alice befriends ants.

In the Mysterious East level there is a giant caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly.

Jump Scares

Slug-like enemies can hide inside breakable items. They do not make noise when they come out, but they can be surprising when they attack you.

In the Tundrafall section of the game, there are monsters underwater that will jump up and try to attack the Player Character.

Medical Malpractice

A doctor takes advantage of his patients in this game. He is a psychologist and uses his power over his patients to force them into prostitution. He also forces the Player Character to forget crimes he committed against her family so he can get away with them.

In the Asylum level the Player Character is brutally tortured by the nurses and doctors. The tortures are graphic and shown in great detail.

A psychologist purposefully makes his patients’ problems to become worse so he can better abuse and control them.

Mental Health Institutions

An entire unskippable level takes place in a nightmare asylum. The player character is tortured by the nurses and doctors in the asylum. The game also depicts in graphic detail these tortures, including lobotomies and leeches.

Murder

All enemies in the game are considered sapient, so attacking constitutes murder.

The Mad Hatter murders the Doormouse and the Marsh Hare.

A man outside the Mangled Mermaid in the Docks section is murdered and dies in front of the Player Character.

Sentient non-player characters are murdered on screen and eaten in the Deluded Depths. This scene is skippable and occurs immediately after the beginning of the play.

The player must murder the White King in Queensland in order to progress.

At the end of the game, it is revealed that Player Character’s entire family was murdered previous to the game.

In the final cutscene the Player Character murders the doctor on screen by pushing him in front of a train.

Mutilation

There are multiple cutscenes and gameplay scenes where characters are mutilated. It is graphic in nature and horrific. Below are some particularly intense instances, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.

The Mad Hatter is found to be cut up in a bunch of pieces. It is part of the game to put him back together. He is alive during this.

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fish are being tortured and not dead. All fish are presented as sentient and having clothing.

In the Dollhouse level there are several children that the Player Character must interact with that have been severely mutilated.

Needles

A needle and syringe is used as a symbol for certain collectable memories.

Nudity

The female oyster characters in the Deluded Depths do not wear clothing. They have no visible sex characteristics.

Babydoll enemies in Dollhouse level are defeated by tearing off all their clothing with weapons. They have no visible sex characteristics.

There are statues in the Mysterious East level with exposed breasts.

After the Dollhouse level, the Player Character is turned into a doll and stripped naked. She has exposed breasts, but no visible genitalia.

Offensive Language

Multiple characters swear in cutscenes. This is particularly prevalent in the Docks section and the Deluded Depths section.

There is an enemy called Bitch Baby. The name is only displayed once in the game.

Physical Abuse

The Nanny character is clearly suffering from long-term abuse from her pimp. She has a bloodied face and a black eye when the Player Character meets her and she is hit on screen.

The Nanny character is abused on screen. She is seen cowering in a corner while a man beats her. The Player Character is also beaten by this man on screen. The cutscene is skippable however the scene begins with Nanny being beaten, so it is difficult not to see some of it.

In the Mysterious East level ant-monks are beaten.

Psychological Horror

The game centers around the player playing through Alice’s disturbed mind. The implications of Alice’s mind and the horrors found there constitute psychological horror.

Everything in the game, from music to scenery to plot elements, is meant to make the player extremely uneasy, uncomfortable, and uncertain about events. Due to the graphic nature of levels, particularly the Dollhouse level where the sexual abuse of children is a prominent theme, the game can be come psychologically exhausting to play.

Psychological Trauma

Alice is deeply traumatized by the death of her family and her trauma is exhaserbated by the psychologist that is meant to care for her. Many cutscenes depict her having panic attacks, mental breakdowns, and fainting due to this trauma. Certain cutscenes are skippable but the fainting spells are not.

Rats/Rodents

The Doormouse character is a rat. He is mutated into a rat/machine hybrid.

Reptiles

There are giant frogs in the Mysterious East level. They do not attack.

Self Harm

In the Asylum level several inmates can be seen banging their heads against the wall.

In the extra content “Past Matters” it is revealed Alice often hurt herself in the asylum.

Sex Shaming

There are several prostitutes in the game. They are called names and looked down upon for their job.

Sexual Assault

To defeat the Babydoll enemies, the player must tear off the clothes of the doll with a weapon. The dolls have no visible sexual characteristics.

It is revealed piecemeal throughout the game that the Player Character’s sister Lizzie was molested, raped and then murdered prior to the game. The game does not depict the assault but does show the perpetrator sneaking around Lizzie’s home.

Collectable memories in later levels have Lizzie speak about her abuse.

Children are sold as prostitutes in-game.

Sexual Harassment

After the Hatter’s Domain level Alice awakens to be leered over by two men who imply they are going to rape her.

Two men outside the Mangled Mermaid in the Docks section proposition Alice for sex.

It is revealed piecemeal throughout the game that Alice’s sister Lizzie was harassed and molested by one of her father’s students. The harassment and molestation is verbally described by Lizzie. In particular she relates an incident where the rapist followed her into the ladies’ bathroom and she had to be saved by an attendant.

Sexualization/Objectification

After the Hatter’s Domain level Alice awakens to be leered over by two men who imply they are going to rape her.

In the Dollhouse level and beyond, children are highly sexualized. This generally takes the form of baby dolls being stripped naked and posed suggestively. There are two instances where the player must walk through a suggestively posed baby doll’s genital area.

Lizzie is verbally objectified by her rapist in a custscene at the end of the game.

Sex Slavery

There are women in the Docks portion of the game that are implied to have been forced into prostitution.

Nanny is implied to have been forced into prostitution.

The Player Character is implied to have been forced or almost been forced into prostitution.

Children are revealed to have been forced into prostitution and sold to pedophiles.

Slavery

In the Hatter’s Domain the Doormouse and the Marsh Hare treat the denizens of Wonderland as slaves and call them slaves.

Stalking

It is revealed piecemeal and via collectable memories that the Player Character’s sister Lizzie was stalked by a man who eventually molested, raped, and murdered her. The stalking is described verbally and the shadow of the attacker is shown sneaking through Lizzie’s house in a cutscene. One memory also relates the man following Lizzie into the ladies’ room.

Substance Abuse

The Nurse Witless character and the writer character in the Deluded Depths are alcoholics.

The Caterpillar character is implied to smoke opium.

In order to progress through the Doomed Veil level, the Player Character must smoke on a hookah multiple times.

Suicide

In the Doomed Veil, Alice briefly contemplates suicide.

The White King character kills himself so the player can progress in the game.

Supernatural Evil

Though the game takes place mostly in the mind of the protagonist, all enemies and bosses are depicted as demonic. They are often twisted versions of people or things that the protagonist knows in real life.

Torture

In the Deluded Depths after the player defeats Colossal Ruin there is a fish butcher shop. The fish are mangled, put in piles, and hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fish are not dead and clearly being tortured; some of them moan. All fish are presented as sentient and having clothing.

In the Asylum level the Player Character is brutally tortured by the nurses and doctors. The tortures are graphic and shown in great detail.

Undead/Zombies

In the Deluded Depths there are undead pirate enemies that you must fight to progress. There are also undead pirate friendlies that you must help to progress.

Queensland ahs undead card guards as unavoidable enemies. They are skeletal, bloody, and come out of the ground. After being defeated once, they can rise again and must be fought a second time.

Unreality

The entire game is implied to take place in Alice’s mind. The lines between reality and unreality are increasingly blurred until the game no longer makes the distinction between the two. The Player Character often cannot tell the difference between reality and non-reality and the player is often left wondering what the difference is as well. The game is intentionally vague.

The Player Character often has hallucinations.

Victim Blaming

Multiple characters tell Alice that it is her fault that she is “crazy” and that she has mental health issues purely because she isn’t trying to get better. This happens in cutscenes and when the Player Character passes certain non-player characters.

Alice often verbally blames herself for what happened to her family.

The lawyer character Radcliff blames Alice for the death of her family, even though Alice was uninvolved and suffered from it.

In a cutscene, a rapist tells the Player Character that her sister deserved to be raped because she was "a tease".

Violence Against Children

Alice can be considered a child (teenager) and is harmed in the game, both by enemies and by non-player Characters.

There are children throughout the London areas that are clearly homeless and abused.

There are children non-player characters that are graphically mutilated and murdered in the Dollhouse level. You speak to them and they beg you to save them.

Children are sold as prostitutes in game.

It is revealed that the Player Character’s younger sister was molested, raped, and murdered before the game.

Weapons

The weapons used by the Player Character are a knife, two gun-like weapons, a mace-like weapon, and bombs. Enemies use a variety of weapons against the Player Character.

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