[compnovo]

I received and installed Alice: Madness Returns yesterday, and I'm only about 30 minutes into the game (don't you hate it when work interferes with the important stuff?). My observations so far:
First, if you liked the original American McGee's Alice it looks like you'd like this one too. The graphics are terrific, especially with PhysX enabled. I've got the settings maxed out, with AA enabled and the resolution set to 1920x1080 (my monitor's default). I don't know if my graphics card will be up to the task yet but so far everything is playing smoothly, no stutters or artifacts, and the GPU temp is staying around 60C. However, I haven't yet hit a spot where there is any kind of frantic action going on.
I've got the 460 GTX SE OC'd to 800 core clocks (up from 648), shader clock at 1700 (I kept the two linked). I've never OC'd anything before so I did a lot of googling and these are safe ranges for this card, and I'm keeping an eye on the temps. So far so good, this thing OCs like crazy.
My only game play criticism is that the mouse is too sensitive and can't be adjusted in game (this is a common complaint, according to the reviews I've read). I tried it with a controller but prefer the mouse/keyboard, even with the twitchy mouse.
BTW, I still have the original so I compared the graphics. It's funny what looked so good back then! I guess we were just used to things like hands that looked like wooden blocks with fingers painted on them.

[coastie65]

compnovo, on 06 July 2011 - 09:06 AM, said:

I received and installed Alice: Madness Returns yesterday, and I'm only about 30 minutes into the game (don't you hate it when work interferes with the important stuff?). My observations so far:
First, if you liked the original American McGee's Alice it looks like you'd like this one too. The graphics are terrific, especially with PhysX enabled. I've got the settings maxed out, with AA enabled and the resolution set to 1920x1080 (my monitor's default). I don't know if my graphics card will be up to the task yet but so far everything is playing smoothly, no stutters or artifacts, and the GPU temp is staying around 60C. However, I haven't yet hit a spot where there is any kind of frantic action going on.
I've got the 460 GTX SE OC'd to 800 core clocks (up from 648), shader clock at 1700 (I kept the two linked). I've never OC'd anything before so I did a lot of googling and these are safe ranges for this card, and I'm keeping an eye on the temps. So far so good, this thing OCs like crazy.
My only game play criticism is that the mouse is too sensitive and can't be adjusted in game (this is a common complaint, according to the reviews I've read). I tried it with a controller but prefer the mouse/keyboard, even with the twitchy mouse.
BTW, I still have the original so I compared the graphics. It's funny what looked so good back then! I guess we were just used to things like hands that looked like wooden blocks with fingers painted on them.

Hey Comp. I've seen the ads for that. I didn't play the original, but that one caught my attention anyway. Still messing around in my second time through The Witcher 2 : Asassins of Kings. Thought about getting Dungeon Siege III as I have played everything else in that series.

[compnovo]

coastie65, on 06 July 2011 - 09:16 AM, said:

Hey Comp. I've seen the ads for that. I didn't play the original, but that one caught my attention anyway. Still messing around in my second time through The Witcher 2 : Asassins of Kings. Thought about getting Dungeon Siege III as I have played everything else in that series.

I tried an RTS type game once but never really got into it, have always preferred the first and third person action/adventure/puzzle games. My most recently completed game is Portal 2 (fantastic!!!), and prior to that I played Mirror's Edge. I don't know how to classify that game, but I really enjoyed it once I slowed down the mouse and stopped getting motion sickness .
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I didn't download Alice from the EA site, I purchased the disc from Amazon when they had it on sale for $29.99 with free shipping. I had to go through the usual DRM hoops but it was no big deal, and the game plays without inserting the disc but you have to drill down to find the executable in the game's folder, it isn't put in the Start menu by default. I'm looking forward to spending some more time with the game tonight.

[coastie65]

The Whitcher and Dungeon Siege stuff are RPGs. I don't do RTS either. I looked at Mirror's edge, but for some reason couldn't pull the trigger and get it. THis game sounds a bit dark and not for kids ( not the fairly tale ).

[compnovo]

coastie65, on 06 July 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

The Whitcher and Dungeon Siege stuff are RPGs. I don't do RTS either. I looked at Mirror's edge, but for some reason couldn't pull the trigger and get it. THis game sounds a bit dark and not for kids ( not the fairly tale ).

Mirror's Edge was definitely not everybody's cup of tea, but it was certainly unique. As far as Alice and kids, I would stick with the animated Disney version, this game is for us grown-ups.

[compnovo]

I finally had some time to sit down with Alice and play for a while. This is a PC game that was obviously ported from a console game, so the controls are a little twitchy (like the mouse issue I mentioned earlier). However, the only real challenge I'm running into so far is when I have to switch between targeting (Caps Lock) and dodging (Left Shift), but I think that won't be an issue once I get the hang of doing it without looking.
I'm really seeing a payoff with the nVidia card. Even though PhysX doesn't alter actual game play it sure enhances it with the eye candy, and that's one of the things I look for in a game, good visuals. This is a beautiful, moody game, nice and strange like the original.
Another reason I'm enjoying this game is the third-person view. I got used to third-person back when I started playing the Tomb Raider games in '96, and now my preference is to see all of the character, not just their hand(s). That would seem to be an advantage of the RPG games too. (Note: That is another unique feature in Mirror's Edge --- you rarely see any of the character. Portal 2 was fun because you occasionally got to see the character as she passed through a portal). It's just a matter of preference.

This post has been edited by compnovo: 08 July 2011 - 12:09 PM

[compnovo]

I finally finished Alice: Madness Returns (it only took me over a month ) For me it was just the right amount of challenge and difficulty, in addition to being a gorgeous game. There have been a lot of complaints online about the controls, because it wasn't the best port of a console game, but I found it didn't take me too long to get used to playing with a keyboard/mouse. I tried to play with my Logitech game controller but I just couldn't get the hang of the camera view (it doesn't track automatically).

If I had to pick one element I didn't care for in the game it would be all the jumping platforms, which got more difficult as the game progressed. Toward the end they were timed, which was sometimes a real PITA. Overall, though, I have to say I really enjoyed the experience, it was an excellent sequel to the original America McGee's Alice.

[amphi]

compnovo, on 22 August 2011 - 09:16 PM, said:

I finally finished Alice: Madness Returns (it only took me over a month ) For me it was just the right amount of challenge and difficulty, in addition to being a gorgeous game. There have been a lot of complaints online about the controls, because it wasn't the best port of a console game, but I found it didn't take me too long to get used to playing with a keyboard/mouse. I tried to play with my Logitech game controller but I just couldn't get the hang of the camera view (it doesn't track automatically).

If I had to pick one element I didn't care for in the game it would be all the jumping platforms, which got more difficult as the game progressed. Toward the end they were timed, which was sometimes a real PITA. Overall, though, I have to say I really enjoyed the experience, it was an excellent sequel to the original America McGee's Alice.

Thank you Compnovo. Your experience playing Alice: Madness Returns is informative and convince me to try it. Thanks again.