The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim review

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Platform(s): PC, X-Box360, Playstation 3

Developer(s): Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher(s): Bethesda Softworks

Genre(s): Action/Role-Playing
Rating: M for Mature

There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of Skyrim, especially since its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was such a world-raved success, and because Bethesda Studios had more than 5 years to work on it. The important question then stands, “Is the hype worth it?” especially since such vicious competition as Modern Warfare 3, Arkam City, Uncharted 3, and Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 were all released within 14 days of each other?

I think so, Yeah. 

The first impression of the game is the graphics. Thick mountain forests with non-cookie-cutter trees placed at irregular intervals, a touch of frost on patches of grass or collected in the base of one side of the trees and rocks, and splashed onto the faceted faces of the surrounding mountains. The wagon you are in creaks and warps and splinters as it’s slowly pulled over an irregular landscape, and the faces  of the surrounding initial characters with their several days of stubble, old battle scars, and an articulation of the mouths that match the well-voiced acting.  If you look around, since it takes a minute to realize that the opening scene is in-fact *not* a CG rendered cutscene, you can watch as a small town looms out of the woods, clearly behind on the upkeep as the splintered wooden buildings break under the elements. Then a sense of doom washes over you as before you can even control yourself yet, you are shoved forwards towards your execution. 

And just when you think you finally get a sense for the spectacle, the Dragon appears, and all hell breaks loose. 

The opening tutorial mission is chaos incarnate for an opening mission. The fog of war holds no greater meaning then when you and your allies are fighting tooth-and-nail against unknown enemies in the dark of the cave, and you can’t differentiate friend from foe among those struggling silhouettes in front of you. The landscape is proven to be destructible as it is literally torn apart around you.  When you can finally move on by yourself into the world, the sheer scope of the world is laid bare and boy are you tiny in comparison.

Gameplay is in many ways an improvement over Oblivion. Each hand is now an independent entity to which you can assign a weapon, shield, spell, torch, or go barehanded in any combination you may like. Skills are once again independently leveled based on use, and your own personal level is increased by the improvement of skills, but now there is no limitation to “talented” skills or not. Stat points are reduced to general stats that improve automatically with levels. Finally, skill-related perks are no longer gained automatically with skill rank. Now you have to buy those perks with leveling points, meaning that you really do need to specialize this time, since it is impossible to buy every perk in the game. Another big improvement is that weapons and armor don’t break anymore, so you never have to worry about wasting weight limitations with stupid blacksmith hammers. 

The AI is a major improvement over the predecessor. A pack of wolves will fight like *a pack of wolves!* meaning, one will draw your attention while the others flank, and then they’ll hit and run until you’re dead or they get injured enough to flee. People will press you with melee and defend while their partners pick you off with arrows, and dragons will roast you with their breath from above, strafing runs, or directly in your face on the ground, depending on what is most likely to kill you first. 

Some downsides to the game: The shortcut menu is too limited. With so many spells, weapons, enchanted armors, and powers at your disposal, having only 8 or 9 shortcut buttons simply isn’t enough. The favorites menu quickly fills up into a ridiculously long list to sift through for your chosen thing, and it’s an annoying break in the action to pause in the middle of a fight just to jump through several screens of articles  to equip the next thing you need.  The game sometimes glitches, rendering some missions impossible, such as the one where I needed an NPC to open up the wall to the dungeon, but he’s already further along leaving me trapped in the foyer.  Finally, no matter what kind of character you want to play, smithing seems to become a necessary skill to level, since it’s the only way  to get any decent, or matching, high level equipment in the game. Enemies rarely ever wear anything more than Fur stuff, and hoping to find a type of weapon or armor underground is a crapshoot at best. 

All in all, though, it is incredibly easy to lose yourself for hours, days, and weeks at a time in World of Tamriel across the snowy mountains of Skyrim . Since I had to struggle to find faults with the game, I’d say that Bethesda used these last 5 years of development wisely, and that the Elder Scrolls V is in fact all that it was hyped up to be.

BloodRayne: Betrayal Review

Platform(s): X-Box Live Arcade, Playstation Network

Developer(s): Wayforward Technologies
Publisher(s): Majesco Entertainment

Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Rating: T for Teen

The dhampir vixen is back! After a long hiatus, everyone favorite vamp returns in a new game Bloodrayne: Betrayal. The game continues Rayne’s quest to eliminate her father Kagen’s extended family. Things were quiet after the events of the second game until a new vampire uprising calls the Brimstone Society to action. However this new threat is proving too much for them to handle. With no other options, Brimstone contacts Rayne to deal with the new threat.

Betrayal moves Rayne from her previous 3D adventures for some old school side scrolling. Many gamers will recall the days when all combat were like this. In fact, a lot of today’s 3D action/adventure games can find their roots in 2D. Bloodrayne is no different. The new game retains the same action horror that made the two previous titles fan favorites as well as the character Rayne. Instead of humans, you fight your way through hordes of supernatural creatures as well as other vampires. There are also mechanical monsters that will bar Rayne’s path as she descends into the depths of the castle, which she enters after the game’s opening level. Rayne still has her trusty arm blades and guns to mow down her opposition.

The Pros:

Bloodrayne: Betrayal’s anime style graphics bring the characters to life, making you feel like you’re watching a series rather than playing a game. The character animation is smooth and combat flows nicely, keeping the action moving. As always, Rayne can take out her enemies in a variety of gruesome ways, whether she beheads them or stomps them into the ground. Besides her iconic arm blades, Rayne does have access to her gun but with limited use. The game’s platforming element is true throwback to earlier action platform games like Ninja Gaiden or Contra. Bloodrayne: Betrayal may not be as challenging as the series’ two previous entries, but the action is non-stop enough to keep your attention.

The Cons:

There aren’t too many flaws with the game. I did make note that I cannot block enemy attacks like before. However this is compensated with a dash maneuver. Time it right and you’ll avoid damage. This move can also be performed in the air.

Overall:

Rayne has been brought back from what, thankfully, did not end up a dead franchise and upgraded with familiar and new abilities yet giving gamers a feel for some good old fashioned action platforming. I am pleased with the sexy vamp’s rebirth and her anime makeover just makes her more appealing. Bloodrayne: Betrayal offers up good action with intriguing puzzle solving.

Final Score: Rayne’s back and ready to sink her teeth into new fans. She gets 4 out of 5.

See you on the next level,

Brian M.

Dance Central 2 Review

Platform(s): XBOX 360

Developer(s): Harmonix Music System

Publisher(s): Harmonix Music System

Genre: Music, Rhythm, Exercise

Without ever a full year passing by, the Kinect’s best-selling game, Dance Central, is back with its long awaited sequel, Dance Central 2. As you may recall with the first Dance Central, it made a perfect blend of music, ranging from old school to contemporary, and dance, ranging from simplistic to intricate. Taking cues from previous music games, Dance Central creates innovative dance routines based upon the theme and genre of the song and goes a great job while doing it. The same thing is done with its sequel but at a greater effect.

Right off the back, Dance Central 2 present itself with more appealing graphics by adding the effect similar to that of viewing a lighted object through smeared glass. This only made the colors pop and, when it came down to scenery changes, which can only be achieved by hitting a string of “Flawless” and “Nice”, the visual makes the game even more appealing.

Another thing that makes the game worthwhile is the improvements that it has made from the first one. One of them is the introduction to crews. There are six crews, consisting of two members (some returning from the first one and some new to the game) each with their own style and attitude towards you: Lu$h, Riptide, Hi-Def, Flash4wrd and Glitterati. With these crews comes the most important improvement in the game: Simultaneous 2-player gameplay. While the first Dance Central dabble in 2-player mode , having the Dance Battle forcing you to switch every interval, Dance Central 2 now support two dancers on the screen. This enables you to either play cooperative or competitive with your friends. It even introduced a drop in/drop out functionality. While the two player gameplay is a welcoming addition to the game, granted if you have enough space to accommodate another player, that’s not the only thing that has improved.

Dance Central 2 has also remodeled their “Break It Down” mode, allowing the players to focus on specific moves in a particular routine that’s giving them a hard time as well as record how you’re performing each move. This feature will allow you visually see how precise your movements are in comparison to the dancer. It also goes to show the improvement that the developers went into making sure that players don’t half step these moves now the sensor is very sensitive to the way your body is moving. That means if they want you to get low, you have to get low.


Finally a campaign mode has been added to the game allowing players to get familiar with the different crews in the game. Each crew has a set list of songs that are unique to them. For example, Flash4wrd, a sassy hip hop crew consisting of alumni Taye and newcomer Li’l T, focus more of the sexy and seductive dance style such as Rihanna’s Rude Boy or Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff. The campaign is simple, and can be expanded on, but it’s still pretty fun.

The Pros:

Like its predecessor, Dance Central 2 has a great blend of old school and contemporary music, ranging from techno to hip hop. It also gives the player the luxury of import all their downloaded and original songs from the original Dance Central increasing the complete list of songs to a whopping 100 or more. It also made a great number of improvements to its existing features; two players dancing being the most emphasized one. The graphics is another plus because it makes the environment and characters pop.

The Cons:

Dance Central 2 goes come with one interesting flaw: it’s not XBOX Live compatible. This may be a problem for some but others aren’t too picky about it. Since the game is meant it to be a party game, putting it on Live would defeat the purpose of the local aspect of the game.

Overall:

Dance Central 2 is the game for beginner and advance dancers alike, showcasing seamless routines to some of the most popular songs in the industry. While your body may be aching from some of the demanding moves in the song, it still, in my opinion, holds the title of being the best-selling game for the Kinect.

Final Score: Dance Central 2 gets 4 out of 5.

Justin P.

Batman: Arkham City Review



Platform(s): Playstation 3, Microsoft Windows, X-Box 360, Wii-U

Developer(s): Rocksteady Studios

Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Genre(s): Action-Adventure

Rating: T for Teen

In 2009, we were introduced to what has been hailed as the "best superhero game ever made." Batman: Arkham Asylum gave gamers exactly what they wanted--a great comic hero game and, moreover, a great Batman game.  Two years later, Rocksteady Games is looking to catch lightning twice.

The Story:

Batman: Arkham City picks one year after the events of Arkham Asylum.  Taking credit for stopping the uprising at the asylym, Quincy Sharp has been elected mayor of Gotham City.  His first act was to buy a large section of Gotham City's slums, which he converted into a massive prison and leaving it in the care of psychiatrist Hugo Strange.  The criminals are allowed to run free with the exception of one rule.  They are not allowed to escape.  Batman, fearing the former warden's plan may go awry, has himself placed in Arkham City as his alter ego Bruce Wayne.  After escaping and contacting Alfred, Bruce suits up and sets out to uncover the truth of Arkham City.

Right off the bat (pun intended), you get a majority of Batman's gadgets that were aquired in Arkham Asylum minus the Ultra Batclaw and Sonic Batarang.  The game's open world gives it more depth than the confines of its predecessor.  It truly depicts Batman's worst fear--a city where anarchy runs rampant; where values and sanctity are cast to the wind.  It's one man against seemingly overwhelming odds.  At the start of the game, the Dark Knight learns that Catwoman has been captured by Harvey Two-Face.  He suspects there is some hidden agenda Dr. Strange has and that Catwoman might have useful information.  After sneaking into an old courthouse, Batman finds Catwoman and Two-Face.  Fighting Harvey's men, I immediately noticed that the freeflow combat has been tweaked.  Batman glides smoothly from foe to foe, taking them out with a variety of moves.  I discovered that I can take out two badguys at once in the midst of combat.  I like how Batman immediately has a strong set of moves right away.
The Pros:

When I got my first glimpse of Arkham City, I was awestruck by the sheer scale of Batman's new proving grounds.  This city is massive.  It is a vibrantly lit landscape with dark overtones.  It is as if the city itself is a living entity.  The graphics completely blew me away.  Not one once of detail was spared.  Everything from all the characters to the buildings to the TYGER helicopters flying overhead is intrigantly detailed to perfection.  The game machincs are polished to a mirror finish.  You have absolute control of everything with no hinges at all.  And the cream of the crop--open world exploration.  No longer restricted to the clastrophobic confines of Arkham Asylum, you are free to take Batman wherever you want in this massive, living, breathing landscape.  With an enhanced Glide machanic, there are no restrictions.  Plus, you get to play as Catwoman, whose combat machanic is just as sleek and beautiful as she is.

The Cons:
The only cons in this game are the ones you get to beat up. There is nothing bad to say about this.

OVERALL:

Epic.  A beautiful dark symphony that will enthral all who listen.  Rocksteady has not only struck lightning twice, they pulled it from the sky and tamed it to create this beast of a game.  Arkham City is truly a masterpiece.  The acting is phenominal.  Kevin Conroy is awesome giving Batman his gritty voice and Mark Hamill is just electric portraying the best Joker ever.  The action is intense and the boss battles are amazing.  I love how each new villan is introduced as well as old ones.  The inclusion of Catwoman as a playable character is a plus and just adds to the craziness of the action.  The characters are beautifully detailed and the city is just majestic.  While buying this game, the retailer told me that Arkham City makes the previous title look like toilet water.  I can now go back to him and tell him that he was wrong.  Arkham City makes the asylum look like a baby's crib.  Rocksteady has brought one of the most beloved comic heroes into the spotlight of gaming.  Batman: Arkham City is a game that should not be missed and a strong contender for "Game of the Year."

Final Score: Batman: Arkham City's rating is 5 out of 5. My only regret is that I can't go higher.

See you on the next level,

Brian M.

Gears of War 3 Review

Platform(s): X-Box 360

Developer(s): Epic Games

Publisher(s): Microsoft Studios

Genre: 3rd Person Shooter

Rating: M for Mature

It seems that 3 is the magic number for video game series nowadays. From God of War to Resistance: Fall of Man and even Skate, 3 games seem to be the ideal life span for a series…although Halo doesn’t count if you consider ODST and Reach. This time, X-Box’s golden child Gears of War is back with its third installment, ending the saga once and for all. But does the final chapter of Gears make the epic impact that Epic Games aimed for, or fizzles out into a mass of hype?

The Story

The game takes place 2 years after the COG was forced to destroy the Jacinto plateau, the last major city on their planet, in Gears of War 2. Their world ravaged by a new enemy, the Lambent, the remaining teams of COG are left to survive, some on land and others by sea. However, after receiving a message from his father via Chairman Prescott, Marcus Fenix and Team Delta go back out to search for the missing scientist…who possibly has the answers for destroying the Lambent once and for all.

The Pros

Geez…how do I begin this? For starters, my personal pro would be the enemies in the game. There are two types of enemies: the Locust, which are/have been the staple enemies in the game (but far from common) and the Lambent, creatures in the game that have been mutated by Imulsion. The pro about this is that they are far from simple to kill, especially the Lambent. When you kill one, move away b/c they are bound to explode. That, plus some will mutate after taking a lot of damage, taking the fight to another level.



A clip of Horde mode, where you fight off
wave after wave of Locust.



Secondly, Horde mode is a second pro in my book. If you haven’t played Gears 2, Horde mode is an arcade-style mode where you fight off wave after wave of enemies until you reach Level 50. And after every 10 levels, the enemies stats increase, making them harder to defeat. This mode has undergone some massive improvements, to say the least. A money system has been added, allowing players to buy items to protect their fort from caltrop barriers to mounted turret guns and even a decoy to draw enemy fire.

But the biggest improvement in Horde mode is that they added boss battles at every 10th round. Meaning after you fight the entire wave off, you have to battle a boss. And if you played any of the Gears games, you’ll know that the boss is far from easy…or small. And with the addition of Mutations in the game – similar to the Skulls in Halo ODST/Reach – it adds a deeper challenge to the game than just shooting enemies to survive.


A new mode to the Gears series (and another pro) is Beast mode, which is the complete opposite to Horde. In Beast mode, you’re playing as the Locust whose goal is to destroy all the humans in the area. The money that you gain from this mode is used to spawn better Locust. So if you play your cards right, you could appear as a Kantus on one round…or a Beserker.


Finally, my last pro would be the weapons in the game. A lot of the weaponry has been improved since the second installment of Gears. And with the addition of newer weapons (the One-Shot, Incendiary Grenades, Cleaver and more) and more savage versions of older weapons (Retro Lancer, Sawed-Off, and Digger), combat gets a bit more nuts.

The Cons

Alright…so for my first con, I’d have to get on Story Mode. Why? It’s shorter than expected. With 5 acts and 5 chapters an act, that’s 25 stages that you have to play through. And with the promise of the “biggest-ever Gears campaign solo”, that seems like a bit of a letdown.

And yes, that was written on the back of the Gears 3 box.



Members of COG.



The second con has to be one that I always find in every FPS (or in this case, 3PS) game. There’s always that one weapon in the game that’s unreasonably unbalanced and overused by everyone online. What is it in Gears 3: the Sawed-off Shotgun. The reload time is extra slow, however if you are in point blank range of someone and shoot (or get shot), the result is simple: You Die!

My next con lies with Beast Mode. Now, that mode is great, seeing that you pretty much flip the script and play as the antagonists. However, the mode is short. You only get 12 rounds and a minute per round, which slightly increases with each kill you acquire. And compared to Horde, where you get 50 rounds and unlimited time…yeah, enough said.

The leveling up system in the game…I can’t say it’s a complete con, but I do feel that it needs to be listed. The more you level up in the game, the more characters and weapon skins you are able to unlock. It looks nice, however it’s been considered useless by a good amount of players so it’s a noteworthy con.

Overall

If you’ve been waiting for Gears of War 3 anxiously, from the moment you first heard the announcement, then you’re guaranteed to get your money’s worth in this final installment. With the new modes, the 4-player campaign co-op, and gritty, brutal gameplay that the series is known for, you won’t put it down. If you’re buying this game and haven’t played the other two, you will still enjoy this game. Even though the campaign may be a bit short, there are plenty of modes that will keep your hands on the controller for a long time!!!


FINAL SCORE: 4 out of 5

Bleach: Soul Resurrection Review

Platform(s): Playstation 3

Developer(s): SCE Japan Studio
Publisher(s): Sony Computer Entertainment
Genre: Action



Captain Kyoraku getting ready for war.



Bleach: Soul Resurreccion is an action game based on the popular anime and manga. The game starts out with Ichigo and company heading to Huecho Mundo to rescue their friend Orihime who has been taken to ex-Soul Reaper Captain Soske Aizen. You fight your way through waves of Hollows of various types including the giant Menos Grande to save Orihime from Aizen. All your favorite Bleach characters are present in the game each with their own chapter in the game's story. Soul Resurreccion's graphics nearly match the anime much in the way of the Naruto games. Side mission's provide action-packed areas to build your character's stats. The missions are pretty straight forward--defeat all the Hollows to complete the mission. This is a good way to build any character who is lacking in skills and abilities especially those who are aquired late in the game. Character development is done through a Final Fantasy type grid. Each character has their own section on the grid. Abilities and attributes such as life, soul energy, etc. are upgraded by spending Soul Points gathered during gameplay. Like in recent Final Fantasy releases, characters are not limited to their section on the grid. You can guide them to other sections to gain more abilities and attributes.





PRO: Bleach: Soul Ressureccion is impressive with graphics that closely match the anime. The game keeps everyone's powers and special abilities intact from the series. The cool thing is that Ichigo as well as some of the other characters start off already in the Bankai stages so there's no need to develop from scratch. The game is fast-paced like the series with sword swinging action and powerful enemies, some of which can finish off a character in just a few hits. Navigating the stages is not too difficult. You can run through it normally or dash your way to the end in a matter of moments. Combat is simple. You can slash away at the Hollows with your character's main weapon or use their special attacks which are limited in use by the Soul Gauge. But not to worry, the Soul Gauge recovers over time and is ready for use before you even know it. Another amazing feature is the Ignitioin Gauge which, when triggered, brings out your charater's most devastating attacks taken straight from the series.

CON: Soul Resurreccion isn't that bad of a game and there are a couple of drawbacks. For starters, the Hollow enemies aren't too difficult to defeat. You'll wipe out a large number of them before they can even cause damage. Even the larger Hollows pose no real threat. Their attacks take a good chunk out of your life bar but they go down easily once you figure outr their pattern which isn't that difficult. Boss battles are usually intense in games of this type but here not so much. Sure, as the game progresses bosses do get tougher and you will die. However, the strategy is easy to figure out and you can take out your foe with minimal effort. My biggest gripe is blocking and dodging. There's too much lagtime when executing either one. Plus I really couldn't cancel an attack to perform them smoothly. I was able to once I stopped slashing my sword but not during.

OVERALL: Bleach: Soul Resurreccion is a good action game that didn't miss on adapting from the series. Fans will enjoy this game as well as those new to the series. It may not be up to par with the Naruto games but it is definately a step from the previous entry. The action goes by fast but its side missions and hidden unlockables will keep you engaged. Bleach: Soul Resurreccion is a fun game that is a worthy entry for anime adapted games.

Overall Score: Bleach: Soul Resurrection gets a 3.5 out of 5

See you on the next level,

Brian M.

Alice: Madness Returns Review

Platform(s): Playstation 3, X-Box 360, PC, Apple

Developer(s): Spicy Horse

Publisher(s): Electronic Arts

Genre: Action/Adventure, Platform

Rating: M for Mature

Ten years ago I learned about a game that fueled my love of twisted fairy tales as well as action platform games. American Mcgee released Alice in 2001 but it was only for the PC much to my dismay. Then just recently, EA games released the sequel Alice: Madness Returns. The story picks up after the end of the first game with Alice now living in an orphanage in Victorian London after being released from Rutledge Asylum. At the orphanage, she is under the care of a psychiatrist named Doctor Angus Bumby, who uses hypnotism to help his child patients to forget their harsh memories. Still haunted by her family's death in the house fire ten years ago, Alice continues to have hallucinations. Sent to the local chemist to get medicine, Alice wanders after a white cat and has more hallucinations, witnessing asylum Nurse Witless transform into the Jabberwock. And this is where the games madness begins.

The Story

Alice: Madness Returns version of Wonderland is a twisted malevolent landscape of its former self. Upon arriving, Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat who informs her of a new law ruling Wonderland, this time it’s from the outside world. Alice must stop it and restore Wonderland to normal. After learning of Wonderland’s plight, I guided Alice through the beautiful yet strange landscape. I found it pretty easily to navigate. Once I picked up my first weapon, the Vorpal Blade, found in the remains of the Jabberwock, my first enemies appeared. The game’s combat system is fairly simple. Alice targets the closest enemy when attacking; however, I am able to manually target my foes as well. The manual targeting set-up is similar to Darksiders placing a black border around the screen keeping it fixed while I moved Alice around. I can cycle through enemies with ease, keeping the action moving. Madness Returns’ offers lots of platforming which becomes a larger part of the game as you traverse through Wonderland’s areas. I found this to play out more in later stages and since there no ledge grabbing like in most current titles, I had to make my jumps count. However, this is compensated by Alice ability to triple jump and float. The game also has lots of secrets and hidden areas which can be accessed using Alice’s ability to shrink. Alice’s other ability is her Hysteria mode that she enters when her health is low. In this mode, she is invincible and her attack strength is doubled.

The Pros

The combat mechanics are simplistic enough for anyone new to the game or to the type of game play. Alice’s primary weapon, the Vorpal Blade, attacks with lightning speed which quickly finishes off weaker enemies. There are also long range weapons in the form of a gattling-gun firing Pepper Grinder and Teapot Launcher which fire boiling tea at your enemies. I like the fact that I can switch between close and long range on the fly. The platforming element is very basic, a kind of throwback to its early days where timing is everything. I was pleased with the level designs and the disturbing atmosphere of each world which truly represented the madness of Wonderland. Also, you get to access to the first game either with a redeemable code or purchasing it for $9.99.

The Cons

Before I mentioned the simplicity of the game’s combat mechanic, but it couldn’t hurt to have a little variety in Alice attacks. I found myself button mashing the whole way. True, there are moments where I had to strategize to defeat certain enemies but I would’ve liked to be able to vary my attacks rather just simply swing the weapon wildly. The game does glitch a few times. Sometimes my long range weapon remained deployed even though I had switched the Vorpal Blade. My mayor problem was the camera especially when using the long range weapons. The camera is not always fixed behind Alice and in some instances this infraction ruined my jumps during a platforming section. I found myself having to adjust the camera before and sometimes during a jump or when using my long range weapons. The umbrella Alice uses for defense is only deployable when in targeting mode. I would’ve liked more freedom with this.

OVERALL

Despite its faults, Alice: Madness Returns is a good action platform game in the tradition of Darksiders and the God of War series. Its disturbing cut scenes keep the story moving which may be confusing unless you’re familiar with the Lewis Carroll story. I like how the game’s storyline switches between Wonderland and the real world, which has an atmosphere relevant to Silent Hill. Exploration of both worlds will keep you interested as well as the secrets found using Alice’s shrink ability. Fans of the first game will have fun with the sequel. If you haven’t played the first game but are looking for an action platform to kill some time then pick up this game. Though I have not played the first game, I like Madness Returns. It is a bizarre twist on a classic tale told like never before.

Final Score

Alice: Madness Returns gets a 3 out of 5.

-Brian M.