A brilliant concept mostly held back by a lack of polish and some not terribly unique game design.

In the fall of 2000, American McGee's Alice was released exclusively on the PC. Created by Rogue Entertainment (which shut down shortly after Alice shipped, and the Counter-Strike: Condition Zero fiasco began unraveling) and designed and directed by somewhat legendary, and certainly eccentric (genius?) game developer American McGee, the game caused quite a bit of stir in the industry, mostly thanks to its uniquely bloody take on Lewis Carroll's classic children's book “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.”

Now, 11 years later, McGee and his version of Alice have returned in the long overdue sequel. Due for simultaneous release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Alice: Madness Returns is a take on classic 3D-platforming that is bound to confuse those who slept through the mid '90s birth era of 3D gaming, which is a pity. Because, despite its general roughness, there is at least some form of brilliance to be found here.

The game's story begins with Alice having left the Rutledge Asylum, and now finding herself under the psychiatric supervision of one Doctor Angus Bumby, a man whose methods of treatment are designed to make his patients forget the terrible things that happened to them in their past.

Plagued with terrible visions and riddled with a guilt ridden conscience, Alice can't decide whether she wants to forget or uncover the mystery that surrounds her family's death. For better or worse, the choice is soon made for her as the line between reality and Wonderland blurs, and she once again finds herself waking up in a psychedelically colorful, yet increasingly twisted fantasy world inhabited by some of the strangest characters you'll ever come across in fiction. And while you may get similar results reading Carroll's novel being high on acid, McGee's own personal take on the classic remains the game's greatest trump throughout.

The majority of the game has Alice jumping and floating from platform to platform, with the occasional upward airstream or bouncy mushroom to provide vertical momentum breaking things up. Regularly interrupted by consistently more challenging enemies requiring a variety of tactics in order to be overcome, and a few lever pulling 'puzzles' thrown in for good measure, the platforming and constant search for hidden teeth that goes along with it remains the game's main focus. Teeth are the game's currency which, later in the adventure, pay for upgrading Alice's four main weapons; the 'Hobby Horse,' 'Pepper Grinder,' 'Teapot Cannon' and of course her signature weapon, the 'Vorpal Blade.'

What keeps Alice: Madness Returns from achieving its fullest potential is, well, its potential. The game's artistic vision is at times so far ahead of its actual gameplay design that you'll just sit there scratching your head wondering what could have been.

While occasionally, and especially brilliant towards the end, the gameplay quite often feels like a byproduct, or perhaps even an afterthought to a fantastic concept. In a game that will take you about 15 hours to get through, the level design is often too repetitive and just never manages to feel truly fleshed out, flashes of brilliance and art direction aside. Especially the game's first four hours almost feel like a never ending tutorial, but fortunately the adventure becomes significantly more interesting as you progress, and some of that creative genius that McGee is so convinced of possessing manages to shine through the title's rough surface more frequently.

As is the case with every Micheal Bay movie ever made, it would have behooved the designers to leave a half dozen hours of this game on the cutting room floor. Like its seemingly delusional main protagonist, confusion is what I felt over a plot that seems to go both nowhere and everywhere. At first seemingly important characters turn out to be unnecessary and pointless distractions, and important story elements don't reveal themselves before the grand (and grand it is) finale. Fortunately about halfway into the adventure it finally gains the necessary momentum to keep you going all the way through, but by then it may already be too late for a significant portion of the not quite so patient audience.

Similarly the graphics and sound, while certainly far from terrible, and even great at times, leave behind a mixed bag of emotions. The Unreal Engine 3 is known for its notorious texture pop-in issues, and unfortunately Alice: Madness Returns is no exception in that regard. On the audio side of things, the score and voice work is mostly done well, but also suffers from an apparent lack of polish. Some audio clips are obviously rehashed, and others cut out a few seconds too early, causing some damage to the sense of immersion the otherwise fantastic atmosphere emits. Worth mentioning are also the 'cardboard cut-out'-type cutscenes which feature some fantastic production value, adding to the general notion of occasional brilliance sprinkled throughout the game.

When it all comes down to it, Alice: Madness Returns is still worth experiencing. And while there are some important lessons to be learned here, I'm confident if Spicy Horse ever gets the chance to make another sequel, chances are that it'll be the grand Alice game we've all been waiting for. Until then, when you're all done guiding Alice deep into her mind, through layer after layer of her increasingly more complicated and twisted subconscious, you'll feel relieved. Relieved to have made it all the way through. Relieved to not have to continue. But also relieved to have held on, and perhaps caught a glimpse of the brilliance that was there underneath it all, even if it meant having to give up some of that sanity we all hold so dear.