Feature: This Somber Platformer, Now 15-Years-Old, Deserves a Revisit on PS5 1

I don’t remember exactly when I fell down the Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole; I’ve always been a bit obsessed with the Lewis Carroll novel, dating all the way back to very early childhood.

The nonsensical plot’s mix of fairytale whimsy with dark undertones has always fascinated me, and even today as an adult, I use an Alice in Wonderland phone cover and have multiple tattoos with quotes and characters from the book.

You won’t be surprised to learn I was a big fan of American McGee’s Alice, then, the 2000 PC platformer published by EA which applied a gothic twist to the iconic story.

It’d get ported to the PS3 as a pre-order bonus for sequel Alice: Madness Returns in 2011, and that’s the game I want to talk about, as it turns 15-years-old today.

Like the original, this sequel was published by EA, although it was part of its experimental publishing line, which also shoved out Grasshopper’s Shadows of the Damned just a week or so later.

Feature: This Somber Platformer, Now 15-Years-Old, Deserves a Revisit on PS5 2

I vividly remember both of these games being sent out to die, which is a shame, because they were brilliantly unique additions to the PS3’s catalogue. At least Shadows of the Damned has been re-released more recently, but Alice: Madness Returns seems like it’ll be stuck on the PS3 forever. (A Steam version is available for just a few dollars if this article interests you at all.)

Developed by Spicy Horse, this was a rare console game developed in China, although American McGee himself is obviously from the United States. (He got his start in game development working with id on franchises like DOOM and Quake.)

Alice: Madness Returns was dark – profoundly so for the time. It depicted an older Alice, being “treated” by a psychiatrist in Victorian London. The hypnosis techniques forced the heroine to slip in and out of Wonderland, with the doctor himself eventually revealed to be a paedophile who raped Alice’s older sister.

I was in my very early 20s when this game came out and I remember being quite stunned by the subject matter. To my knowledge, there weren’t really games like this at the time; Heavy Rain had just come out and had tackled some more mature material as well, although its writing was considerably clumsier than what was depicted here.

Feature: This Somber Platformer, Now 15-Years-Old, Deserves a Revisit on PS5 3

As a game it was no slouch either, although it didn’t run well and it suffered from the same issues as many Unreal Engine 3 releases from the era.

Some of you may remember that Epic’s engine didn’t play nicely with the PS3, and it resulted in heavy texture pop-in and a muddy visual identity that would be considered ugly today.

But I think the game’s “fractured world” aesthetic was interesting, and I suppose you could best compare it to something like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 today.

One visual detail I remember distinctly was the hair: Alice’s hair would flow about realistically, so when she leaped through the air it would rise up in individual strands – an impressive technique at the time that I think genuinely added to the gothic nature of the character.

Feature: This Somber Platformer, Now 15-Years-Old, Deserves a Revisit on PS5 5

The weapons were also really interesting; this was quite a rudimentary platforming action game at its core, but you were armed with everyday objects like a Pepper Grinder which doubled as a Gatling gun and a hobby horse which could be used as a kind of hammer.

The game definitely leaned heavily into its art and story, and I recall it being a bit bloated in terms of length. I believe McGee’s said in the years since that he wished he had a bit more time to trim down the campaign, which would have been nice.

The distinct aesthetic means the series remains popular today, and multiple attempts have been made to create a sequel. As I understand it, EA is holding this game hostage, which is unfortunate because I think there’d be a market for a remaster of Alice: Madness Returns and its predecessor in 2026.

Still if you have a means to play it, I do recommend it – especially if you’re a fan of dark narratives and Lewis Carroll’s wider fairytale world. It’s a bit depressing, but there’s nothing else quite like it – despite the continued popularity of Alice in Wonderland at large.

Feature: This Somber Platformer, Now 15-Years-Old, Deserves a Revisit on PS5 6

While I certainly wouldn’t rank it among the best PS3 games at all, it’s one of those titles that’s stuck with me longer than most. In fact, I was able to write the framework of this article without much research, despite it being 15-years-old.

The glib subject matter and strong art style made this a standout for me, and it’s a shame EA doesn’t appear to appreciate what it has. I still harbour hope that this franchise will find its way out of the publisher’s vault one day – especially as used PS3 copies are beginning to rise in price these days.

Did you play Alice: Madness Returns when it was first released? Would you like to see the series resurrected at all? Let us know below.