When the first game came out, I was in middle school, and in graduate school for the release of its sequel, Alice: Madness Returns. The landscapes are lush and the angst is abundant. She’s a Victorian girl who, in American McGee’s vision, has to murder the shadows within her own psyche.
The game nevertheless holds a firm place in my psyche – as evidenced by its inclusion in my screensaver, which primarily consists of beautiful maidens napping in forests and/or murdering people. “It’s, like, a metaphor.” This wasn’t particularly eloquent, but it had been a while since I talked to anyone about American McGee’s Alice. She’s locked up in an asylum and has to kill things in evil Wonderland.” I paused. The other day, an image of American McGee’s Alice admiring her blood-spattered Vorpal Blade floated across my laptop screensaver. If you like what you see, grab the magazine for less than ten dollars, or subscribe and get all future magazines for half price.
This column is reprinted from Unwinnable Monthly #120.
