JoeyPajamas

I never thought I'd complain that there is too much to do in a video game. I don't mean Ubisoft-like optional side quests and collectables, but stuff you have to do to complete the game's story. Alien: Isolation is just such a game.

Honestly, what The Creative Assembly did with the Xenomorph itself and the AI that powers it is pretty amazing. The atmosphere of the Sevastopol space station itself is very creepy, and the aesthetic is keeping in line with the films really well. The first time you see the Alien, too, is pretty special and isn't signposted at all.

However, there is just so much busy work in this game! Things that should take two steps instead take five. This is exasperated by the fact that the game wants you to not engage in combat, so you're sneaking around all the time, thus moving slowly. Add to this that save points are spread out fairly far apart so if you do get killed while doing one of these many steps - and you will - you have to then go and do them all again. Oh, and sometimes the game makes it really unclear exactly what you are supposed to be doing, so you'll be ambling around trying to figure out what all these steps are, getting killed and having to restart in the process. Ugh!

The game drags on much, much too long. The last half of the second act/ start of the third is incredibly bloated with useless quests that really don't add anything to the game. I reckon if they cut out everything between taking out the Apollo AI and setting up your original ship, the Torrens, to dock with the Sevastopol, and then still streamlined what was left, it would have been a much more enjoyable experience. Even your very last actions of the game contain more fussing than is needed.

The biggest problem with this, apart from the tedium, is that it drains the Alien of all threat. Eventually you just get sick of seeing the bastard because you just want to get past this annoying series of "go-here-do-this-go-there-do-that" tasks and move on with the story.

In the last third or so of the game some new enemies are introduced that, well, I don't really know what the point of them was. They are stronger versions of ones you've faced before, but for the most part they don't offer any extra challenge. The story reason as to why they are there does make sense, but it just feels tacked on. It was one of my least favourite parts of the game and really had me wishing the Xenomorph would show up and kill everyone (which it did, after a while).

Full disclosure; I'm not a huge Alien fan. I much prefer* AlienS, and I love the Xenomorph design, but I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of the franchise, although I have seen all the films. This is a long way of saying that perhaps I'm not exactly the target audience for this game and perhaps your mileage with it will be greater if you are a big *Alien/s fan. With that said though, I do think the game does a very good job of achieving the feel of the film on which it is based. Because it was based more on Alien than Aliens I can see Creative Assembly tried to achieve that "quiet horror" of the original film with things on the space station going wrong that you have to fix, rather than having aliens all over the place like the second (and third, and fourth) film. Unfortunately, a video game is not a film and the balance here, I feel, doesn't really work. Or, at least, they needed a lot less of the "quieter" moments. I also found the ending to be rather unsatisfying, although it is in line with the ending of many of the films.

For those who like stealth-based games, particularly those with a horror slant, or the Aliens franchise in general I'd say this game is worth checking out. For everyone else...I'd say it's still worth a playthrough, just be aware that there is a hell of a lot of bloating going on.

TL;DR: A good game with some really wonderful AI and some great moments that is weighed down by excess bloating that makes it a chore to see through to the end.

There is a lot to love about Alice: Madness Returns, but unfortunately there are also a few things that holds it back from being a truly great game. Let's start with the good;

• ADespite the game being nine years old, it still looks brilliant. The characters are all wonderfully designed in an interesting, unique way. The environments, too, are hugely inventive and it's a lot of fun to traverse through them. Both the characters and the environs are incredibly creepy and become more so as you get deeper into the game. The Doll House level in particular I found unsettling, giving me similar vibes to a Saw movie. People always reference Tim Burton when it comes to fantasy horror aesthetics, but for my money what American McGee's team have done here are surpasses any of Burton's films.

• The story itself is an intriguing one. Initially I was completely lost as to what was going on and why Alice was going through all this turmoil. However, as the game went on I found that this was by design as you start to understand things along with Alice, and things begin to make sense as more of the truth behind her plight is revealed.

• Alice has a wonderful set of abilities, all of which you get pretty early on. It's fun to mess around with them and see how they let you explore new areas of any given level that you wouldn't have had access to before.

*Combat is fast and fluid. Alice turns from a sweet, albeit somewhat haughty, girl into a madwoman brandishing a knife (or sledge hammer, or pepper grinder chain-gun, or teapot grenade launcher).

• Each level flows really well. They are each broken up into several parts and each is pretty big. Lots of places to explore and secrets to solve.

Now, for the not-so-great stuff;

• The levels in this game are ridiculously long! While I do tend to explore every nook and cranny of a game, it took me 2-3 hours to complete ONE LEVEL! Every level, despite being beautiful to look at and initially enjoyable, overstayed its welcome. Easily, a third of each level could have been removed and the game would have been better for it. There were times where I just wanted to get out of the world I was in and on with the game.

• To add to the problem on length, later levels introduce mini-games that feel kind of randomly chucked in there. Some of these you can skip after failing once, others, such as the horrible pinball-like sections of the aforementioned Doll House world, can not be. While initially these introduce variety and some, such as the brief shmup section or the 2D section of the Asian world, are a lot of fun, others are just tedious and sap all enjoyment from the proceedings. Honestly, I'd let out an audible groan when I'd come across them.

• When fighting enemies, you need to lock Alice onto them, the camera circling around Alice to give you a good view of her and her adversary. In theory this is fine, buy when you've got a heap of enemies after you at once it creates a huge problem. You can't see where other enemies are, where they are coming from, or how many there are. You're constantly being pummeled by attacks from off screen and it can be a nightmare to try and figure out where everything is. Also, even if there is only one enemy, if you get to close to a wall the camera spazzes out and this can lead to further confusion.

• For the most part I fond the voice acting in the game to be pretty solid...except for Alice herself. I felt her voice didn't really suite the look of the character, or what she's going through. Sure, this is very subjective, but I found it pulled me out of the game a lot.

• This might sound strange to say, especially from someone whose favorite series is Sonic the Hedgehog, but there is SO much platforming in this game! Honestly, I don't think I've played another 3D adventure game that has you jumping this much. Often to get from one side of a room to another you have to perform a dozen crafty leaps and, for the first time I can remember, I found myself dreaming of a straight corridor.

And the rest;

• You'd expect a game about madness to deal with some heavy themes, but Alice really gets into some dark territory. It is never stated outright that the game is dealing with themes of child prostitution and sexual abuse, but it's obvious enough for those paying attention to the story and the environments. I'm surprised there was no clamor about it from the media when it was released (at least, none that I recall).

• I really liked the way in which Alice's dress would change with each new world. As all of this is happening in her head, it makes sense. Still, it's a nice touch that didn't have to be included and yet really adds to the game.

• There are a lot of collectibles in the game. Apart from collecting enough teeth to upgrade your weapons and finding the small challenge rooms to extend your health I'm not sure any of it is truly worthwhile unless you're a completionist, but it is fun tracking the items down. However, given the extreme length of the levels, it would be one hell of a chore to go back through all that to find the one item you missed.

Alice: Madness Returns is one of those games that is brilliant when it's good, but the negatives really stain the polish of those good points. If the camera was better and the levels were a third of the length you'd have one absolutely amazing game. As it is, you I feel Alice is a very good game that is unfortunately marred by being over-lengthy and feeling like the developers threw in every idea they had, regardless of if it fit or not.

With that said though, if you're a fan of fantasy horror and/ or the Alice stories this is well worth checking out. Similarly, if you don't mind 3D platforming, some nice combat and buckets of style and can forgive a few rough patches you could do a lot worse than spend your time unraveling Alice's madness.