History VideoGame / AmericanMcGeesAlice

The game itself is an early action adventure, with Alice using a variety of [[ImprobableWeaponUser deadly toys to kill the inhabitants]] trying to destroy her and solving a number of puzzles along the way. The soundtrack is particularly notable, created by NineInchNails member Chris Vrenna with exclusively Victorian instruments and toys.

%% commented out as dual trope entry * ExpositionFairy / StopHelpingMe: The Cheshire Cat. Less annoying than other examples since you actually have to summon his help but, the character's eponymous quirks being what they are, his "help" is often enigmatic to the point of uselessness.

* BloodlessCarnage: Compared to the bloody violence throughout the rest of the game, the [[spoilers: White Rabbit's]] death from [[spoilers: being crushed by the Mad Hatter's foot]] is surprisingly lacking in gore. Arguably, this serves to make the scene even ''more'' disturbing.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * LethalLavaLand: The Land of Fire and Brimstone
%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * MacroZone: The Vale of Tears and Wonderland Woods segments.
%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Dormouse and March Hare, especially Dormouse.
%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * MakeMeWannaShout: The Boojum.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * MentalWorld: And how delightfully [[MadnessMakeover mental]] it is!

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * MindScrew

* NestedMouths: The Queen of Hearts monster has the Mad Hatter's face inside her mouth, with Alice's face inside his. See this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9tDTj6ltL8#t=4m05s in this video]].

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * OurBansheesAreLouder: The boojums are essentially these.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * PuzzlePan: Inverted

* RuleOfSymbolism: LOTS. Most major characters that Alice encouters and many of the locations represent someone or something that caused her madness or something she encountered after being driven insane. Some examples include the Vorpal Blade, which is the spoon used to feed her at the asylum (which she had tried to use as a weapon in one brief time that she was conscious) and the Land of Fire and Brimstone, which symbolizes the fire that destroyed her house. Boss enemies and some monsters represent employees and patients at the asylum or figures from her past.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample, reviewish * SceneryPorn[=/=]SceneryGorn: Looks gorgeous for its day. Madness Return's level designs also look ''fantastic''.

* WeaponizedOffspring: Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum [[MatryoshkaObject can open up and spawn smaller, weaker copies of themselves]].

** Queen Of Hearts, a writhing mass of tentacles herself, has tentacles sticking out in most of the levels (they often serve as visible [[InvisibleWall Invisible Walls]] since you simply CANNOT climb onto them)

* YourHeadASplode: [[spoiler:The Duchess]], [[spoiler:The Mad Hatter]] and [[spoiler:The Cheshire Cat]] die this way. They [[UnexplainedRecovery got better]] [[spoiler:in the sequel]] though.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * YourWorstNightmare: The whole game, basically, at least for Alice, although it's for her own good. It's the only way to regain her sanity.

One of the most disturbing video games ever released, '''''American [=McGee=]'s Alice''''' stars the titular character of the ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' series. Released in late 2000 by ElectronicArts, and helmed by IdSoftware alumnus American [=McGee=], a former level designer for the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' franchises, in his first role as project lead.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * HopelessBossFight: The first encounter with the Jabberwock.

* EyeScream: Guess what makes up the business end of the Jabberwock's Eye Staff?
** Many of the Insane Children have their eyes pinned open.

* IdleAnimation - Looking down the barrel of the blunderbuss, prying open a jackbomb, burying a card in her own skull, playing with knives ... Alice is ''dangerous'' when she's bored.
** A lot of the enemies have them as well, such as the Boojum removing and holding up its head to get a better view of the area.
* ImAHumanitarian: The Duchess. She's implied to be a cannibal right from the first time someone mentions her, and it proves to be true: right before the BossBattle starts, she comments on how delectable Alice looks. Plus, her most dangerous - and most disturbing - attack consists of liftning Alice up and biting her on the head. (She can only do this if Alice comes within close range, which is ''not'' a good idea with this Boss, or most Bosses in general.)

* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Possibly justified, since American [=McGee=]'s Alice is very different from Creator/LewisCarroll's, but even so it has been said of the game that if you're going to put your own name in the title, it's better if people actually know who you are. The game had amazing graphics for its time, and it was heavily publicized that it was built on the then-cutting edge ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'' engine. American [=McGee=] had been a designer for id Software and worked on the earlier ''Quake'' games, as well as its predecessor franchise ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. A good portion of the target audience - 3D action gamers - were well aware of who he was.
** American [=McGee=] was actually ''not'' a fan of having his name in the title - he wanted to call the game just ''Alice''. According to him, it was the publishers who wanted to put his name in the title, since "made by one of the masterminds behind Doom" would carry more weight with gamers than "a dark version of Alice in Wonderland". He got his wish with the second game, which is ''not'' called ''American [=McGee=]'s AliceMadnessReturns''. It still has "An American [=McGee=] Game" in smaller letters at the bottom of the case.

* InfinityPlusOneSword - Blunderbuss and Jabberwock's Eye Staff. Blunderbuss simply annihilates everything non-boss in a pretty wide area while draining your full Will bar. Eye Staff is more gradual in its use, but just as deadly.

--> '''I''' rule wonderland alone. Your interference will not be tolerated. This realm is for grown-ups. Raw, well-ordered, ruthless, careening on the jagged edge of reality. Self-pitying ''dreamers'' are not wanted here. They cannot survive here. You fear the truth. You live in shadows. Your pathetic attempts to reclaim your sanity have failed. Retreat to the sterile safety of your safe delusions or risk inevitable annihilation. If you destroy me, you destroy yourself. Leave now and some hollow part of you may survive. Stay, and I will break you ''down''. You will lose yourself. '''FOREVER'''.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Alice_cover_art.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Killing makes her ''more'' sane.]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Alice_cover_art.jpg
[[caption-width:318:Killing makes her ''more'' sane.]]

* WombLevel: The Queen Of Hearts' castle. Creepily organic, it's like you're working your body up through some intestines, through a ribcage, and up a cerebral column into the 'brain'. In fact most of the features of that section resemble a body part. Which raises the question 'where did you enter?' Oh, just through a snug, hard-to-spot crevice in a wall.

->''Here's a riddle: When is a croquet mallet like a billy club? I'll tell you: [[ImprobableWeaponUser Whenever you want it to be]].''
-->--'''The Cheshire Cat'''

* ActionGirl: Alice.
* AdaptationDistillation[=/=]AdaptedOut: Alice's older sister, who was a character in the original book, does not appear alongside Alice's parents in the opening cinematic, nor is she mentioned as a part of their family.

* AnIcePerson: The Ice Wand lets Alice freeze enemies solid or erect protective walls of ice.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: The Voracious Centipede.
* AttackOfTheMonsterAppendage: The tentacles of the Queen of Hearts, making it Type 2.
* AxCrazy: Everyone in the game, really, Alice included, although her ultimate goal is to ''win'' her sanity back.

* {{BFG}}: The Blunderbuss.

* BodyHorror: The [[spoiler: March Hare and the Dormouse]]. Good ''God''.
** The Queen of Hearts' appearance and [[spoiler: her true form]] are horrific.
** Not to mention the various deformed children running around, some of whom have the ''tops of their skulls'' sawed off.
* BreakingSpeech: The Jabberwock, The Mad Hatter, and the Queen Of Hearts especially.
* BoringButPractical: The Flamingo club[=/=]mallet. Hits harder than the Vorpal Blade, has a ranged projectile that uses only moderate amount of will. The 52 Deck Cards also count mainly for its high hit probability, if not damage. Both are found early in-game.

* CompositeCharacter[=/=]CommonKnowledge: The game combines the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts into the same person, in line with a popular misconception. Somewhat justified in this case, since the shattering of Wonderland has drastically altered many of the inhabitants.

* DarkWorld: The Twisted Wonderland definitely qualifies.

* DownTheDrain / UnderTheSea: The Vale of Tears, complete with a few UnderwaterRuins. For some, ThatOneLevel.
* DreamLand: Take a wild guess.

* EldritchAbomination: The Queen Of Hearts, especially her final form.
* EternalEngine: Beneath Queensland.
* ExpositionFairy / StopHelpingMe: The Cheshire Cat. Less annoying than other examples since you actually have to summon his help but, the character's eponymous quirks being what they are, his "help" is often enigmatic to the point of uselessness.
* EyeScream: Guess what makes up the business end of the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Jabberwock's Eye Staff?]]

* FollowTheLeader:
** The entire plot is about an institutionalized Alice returning to a darker, trippier, overthrown Wonderland, which is very similar to Dorothy's adventures in the '80s film ''ReturnToOz''. Despite that fact, it managed to be popular with the public (unlike the movie). Also more awesome.
** Some noted similarities between the game and [[Film/AliceInWonderland a certain Tim Burton production.]] E.g. Alice returning to Wonderland to save it from the Queen of Hearts by defeating her champion the Jabberwock?

* {{Grimmification}}: One of the more famous examples.
* GuiltBasedGaming: The Quit screen.

* HappyPlace: Subverted. This is what Wonderland ''used'' to be.
* HopelessBossFight: The first encounter with the Jabberwock.

* ImAHumanitarian: The Dutchess. She's implied to be a cannibal right from the first time someone mentions her, and it proves to be true: right before the BossBattle starts, she comments on how delectible Alice looks. Plus, her most dangerous - and most disturbing - attack consists of liftning Alice up and biting her on the head. (She can only do this if Alice comes within close range, which is ''not'' a good idea with this Boss, or most Bosses in general.)
** Tweedledum and Tweedledee appear to have cannibalistic tendencies too, but aren't as anxious to eat Alice as the Dutchess is, claiming she's too "scrawny" when the see her. (Alice's response is darkly sarcastic.)

* IndyEscape: A large mechanical beetle drops a massive marble down into the hole Alice is in. She outruns it past an icy floor in which the marble crashes through. Comes back later to chase her after she gets the Ice Wand and be on her way.
* [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Guns]] - Blunderbuss and Jabberwock's Eye Staff. Blunderbuss simply annihilates everything non-boss in a pretty wide area while draining your full Will bar. Eye Staff is more gradual in its use, but just as deadly.

* IronicNurseryTune

* LethalLavaLand: The Land of Fire and Brimstone
* MacroZone: The Vale of Tears and Wonderland Woods segments.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Dormouse and March Hare, especially Dormouse.
* MakeMeWannaShout: The Boojum.

* MentalWorld: And how delightfully [[MadnessMakeover mental]] it is!
* MindOverMatter: The Queen Of Hearts can pull Alice up with her mind and then crush her with her tentacles.
* MindScrew

* OurBansheesAreLouder: The boojums are essentially these.

* PopculturalOsmosis: Some of the elements claimed to be from the original story are actually lifted straight from the Disney adaption, such as her parachute dress and only specific food altering Alice's body shape, and only in specific proportions. In the books every food eaten in Wonderland (except for a bit of tea she has with the Mad Hatter) altered the shape of her body, and not always in proportion. Odd they would leave this out, as it gave them perfect opportunity to use what was played as RuleOfFunny in the books as BodyHorror instead...

* PuzzlePan: Inverted

* SceneryPorn[=/=]SceneryGorn: Looks gorgeous for its day. Madness Return's level designs also look ''fantastic''.

* TheComputerIsALyingBastard: Some of the Cheshire Cat's clues are cryptic to the point of being false. For example, he implies the Jacks are dangerous to Alice if she uses them without enemies around, like the Dice, when in fact they're perfectly harmless.

* WombLevel: The Queen Of Hearts' castle. Creepily organic, it's like you're working your body up through some intestines, through a ribcage, and up a cerebral column into the 'brain'. In fact most of the features of that section resemble a body part.
** Which raises the question 'where did you enter?' Oh, just through a snug, hard-to-spot crevice in a wall...
** Oh, and the Queen Of Hearts, a writhing mass of tentacles herself, has tentacles sticking out in most of the levels (they often serve as visible [[InvisibleWall Invisible Walls]] since you simply CANNOT climb onto them)

* YourWorstNightmare: The whole game, basically, at least for Alice, although it's for her own good. It's the only way to regain her sanity.

One of the most disturbing video games ever released,'''''American [=McGee=]'s Alice''''' stars the titular character of the ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' series. Released in late 2000 by ElectronicArts, and helmed by IdSoftware alumnus American [=McGee=], a former level designer for the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' franchises, in his first role as project lead.

* AdaptationDistillation: Alice's older sister, who was a character in the original book, is not mentioned or mentioned, at least not in the first game. (But she does int he sequel.)

* MagicSkirt: If you try to look up Alice's skirt, all you see is a spiral, gray pattern.
** Averted in the second installment of the game, Madness Returns; you can look up her skirt, though most of what you see is simply the tights she wears with most of her dresses. However, Alice does not wear tights with her Late But Lucky dress, and looking up her skirt when she is in that outfit reveals that she is not wearing panties, and though it's an little dark, a slit is visible which may well be Alice's underparts.

* DisneyDeath: All of Alice's friends who were killed during the journey are restored to life at the end. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because Wonderland exists in her mind, so all she had to do was want them all to come back. Sadly, the sequel reveals that [[spoiler:they didn't all take.]]

One of the most disturbing video games ever released,'''''American [=McGee=]'s Alice''''' stars he titular character of the ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' series. Released in late 2000 by ElectronicArts, and helmed by IdSoftware alumnus American [=McGee=], a former level designer for the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' franchises, in his first role as project lead.

In February 2009, roughly eight or so years after the game was released, EA announced that American [=McGee=] got the band back together, so to speak, and the sequel, titled ''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'' was released on June 14, 2011. The first game ended with Alice escaping her insanity and leaving Rutledge Asylum with a smile. Now, Alice is a [[OrphansOrdeal downtrodden orphan]] living in VictorianLondon under the care of Dr. Bumby. She suffers from hallucinations of Wonderland which make her sense of reality confusing. She eventually tumbles down the rabbit hole and returns to Wonderland, finding once again under threat from another corrupting influence which takes the form of the [[AfterlifeExpress Infernal Train]]. Armed with new weapons, Alice must save Wonderland with [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor new and old friends and enemies.]] However, it appears the house fire may have not been an accident after all.

* AdaptationDistillation: Alice's older sister, who was a character in the original book, is never mentioned at all, and no-one resembling a sister appears in pictures of her family that appear from time to time. She does, however, reappear (posthumously) in the sequel and plays a large role in the backstory.
* AllThereInTheManual: The manual here including [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass]], as well as the journal of the staff psychiatrist. It's clear that a certain degree of real life is getting through to the catatonic Alice.

One of the most disturbing video games ever released, ''American [=McGee=]'s Alice'' revolves around the titular character of the ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' series. Released in late 2000 by ElectronicArts, and helmed by IdSoftware alumnus American [=McGee=], a former level designer for the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' franchises, in his first role as project lead.

Alice Liddell's family members are killed in a fire, of which she is the only survivor. The trauma leaves her mostly catatonic and suicidal, and she is institutionalized in Rutledge Asylum. Years later, her White Rabbit plush toy apparently comes to life and summons Alice to aid a radically altered Wonderland, now under the despotic rule of the Queen of Hearts.

Alice must fight her way through the twisted dream world in an attempt to destroy the Queen and restore Wonderland to its former glory, and thus heal her mind. Along the way, she must destroy the Queen's minions, many of which are her former friends and companions. Her guide and primary ally is a twisted, emaciated Cheshire Cat, who can be summoned by the player for hints on how to go or just the occasional cryptic quote.

* AwesomeYetPractical: The Jabberwock's Eye Staff. Takes forever to get, and you have to find the pieces, but it's a laser beam staff that also shoots ''explosions''. For the most part, you probably won't use anything else.
** The only downside is that it takes a while to charge, so you can't use it when enemies are spawning right next to you (And the last levels tend to do that a lot.)
** Less so is probably the Blunderbuss. If you can skillfully herd an entire room's garrison of mooks into a group and stay well out of the blast radius, you'll be rewarded with a lot of meta-essence to restore Alice to mint condition should you survive the shot. It does have a recoil that knocks Alice on her rump every time she fires it, so using it on ledges and cliffsides can be kind of dangerous.

* DevelopmentHell: Not for the game itself, but for the movie adaptation, which has gone on for years. It was questioned if an animated film based on the game would happen (regardless of [[AnimationAgeGhetto people mistaking it for Disney's Alice]]). However a fan made trailer of Alice Returns uses stop-motion (similar to veins of the likeness of Tim Burton), this so far is the closest thing that can happen for AM Alice for animation.
** With [[Creator/TimBurton Tim Burton's]] release of ''his'' DarkerAndEdgier version Film/AliceInWonderland out now, it's safe to guess that the movie is just not gonna happen.

* HeyItsThatVoice: The Cheshire Cat shares a VA with [[PowerpuffGirls a certain super intelligent simian.]]

The game itself is an early action adventure, with Alice using a variety of [[ImprobableWeaponUser deadly toys to kill the inhabitants]] trying to destroy her and solving a number of puzzles along the way. The soundtrack is particularly notable, created by Nine Inch Nails member Chris Vrenna with exclusively Victorian instruments and toys.
The trailer for the first game can be viewed [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_-3T1Tljw here]].

** With [[TimBurton Tim Burton's]] release of ''his'' DarkerAndEdgier version Film/AliceInWonderland out now, it's safe to guess that the movie is just not gonna happen.

** Also Alice when she dies to a gunshot. In fact, there's a cheat code you can implement that will show you the death scene, but then allows you to continue playing the game. [[LosingYourHead ''Headless.'']]

** Also Alice when she dies to a gunshot. In fact, there's a cheat code you can implement that will show you the death scene, but then allows you to continue playing the game. ''Headless.''

* DisneyDeath: All of Alice's friends who were killed during the journey are restored to life at the end. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because Wonderland exists in her mind, so all she had to do was want them all to come back and it happened.