Visit the Ironworks Gaming Website Email the Webmaster Graphics Library Rules and Regulations Help Support Ironworks Forum with a Donation to Keep us Online - We rely totally on Donations from members Donation goal Meter

Ironworks Gaming Radio

Ironworks Gaming Forum

Go Back   Ironworks Gaming Forum > Ironworks Gaming Classics > Wizards & Warriors Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 12-17-2000, 04:35 PM   #1
freudianslip
Welcomed New User
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Posts: 3
Default

Well, I don't have kids. But, ANYWAY, just wondered if anyone has played/ is playing/ might play / drank NyQuil™ and then thought about playing Amercian McGee's ALICE ?

I do, and it's a fun-filled game. But, I can't seem to find anyone on the ALICE boards to engender a lively discussion over the more subjective elements of the game; so, I thought I'd post my posty-post here! If you are not sure who Alice is, have never contemplated what it would be like to be legally insane, or are someone who does not know who Lewis Carroll is, just hit BACK on your browser to save a lot of needless head scratching.

----
This is kind of a "thoughty " thread, so if you are a hard-core "quake fragger" who likes to rush through games without appreciating the underlying context, please skip this thread. I am not "busting" on anyone or anything, just seeking a bit of reflective rumination from like-minded individuals. Thank you!

Hmm.. I'm a contemplative gamer, often perishing as I take the time to enjoy the ambiance, the atmosphere, the mood of the game I'm playing. Many is the time, so far, in Alice, that I have expired in a grisly fashion while appreciating the subtly-undertoned music, or the incredible architecture, or the animations of the game objects. (I must have watch the clock for 2 or 3 minutes straight in the School. It definitely called to mind one of Dali's creations to me.)

So, I ask you this. McGee's Alice is beautiful. McGee's Alice is fun. Do you think it adheres, in an adapted context, to the Wonderland originally envisioned by Carroll? Have the sadistic overtones been overdeveloped, to sensationalize the game, giving it a "shock" appeal to reach a broader audience? This is a question I find myself wrestling with as I travel through McGee's interpretation of Alice in Wonderland made manifest.

Allow me to enumerate a few of the theories supporting the hypothesis that the game DOES conform to Carroll's original vision. (Completely subjective, of course. I do not presume to say I understand what the "man" would have appreciated; just my limited knowledge of him, and a development of those ideals.)

1) Breasts.

The fact that McGee did not give Alice giant, heaving breasts seems significant. You may laugh, saying "Why can a large-bosomed protaganist NOT also play a meaningful figurehead in the development of a storyline?" I say to you, you are correct. But, in TYPICAL GAMING CONTEXT, it takes the focus away from the character development, and places it on the double-D's. In this respect, I am proud of McGee, in not catering to the lowest common demonintaor in creating a female protaganist.

2) Music.

This, to me, was one of the aspects to which I approached the Alice demo with significant hesitation. No offense to fans of the musical genre, but I envisioned, fearfully, some loud, industrial techo-stuff with blasting drums and a crushingly fast tempo to make the game seem "cool". My exhalation of relief must have been nearly 20 seconds long as I realized the path that McGee chose to take; dark, ambiant, combining the winsome memories of Alice's shattered innocence with the frightful dawnings of her realization of what Wonderland had become. Music-boxes, and madness. Pretty gingham dresses, and butcher knives dripping with blood. Through the looking glass.

Now, one of the elements that may weigh heavily against this hypothesis:

1) Absence of significant character or plot development.

Wow, this is a biggie. Now, I have only just defeated the centipede, so PLEASE BEAR THAT IN MIND. I am hoping, (and it is quite possible) that these events will coalesce into a meaningful whole later on in the game. If they do, just ignore me. If not...

a) Tie in with the case-book. I thought the case-book that came with the game to be riveting, and definitely instilled in me a desire to follow the course of Alice's psychological development. I was hoping that Wonderland's fractured existence would be articulated by the experiences actuated in Alice's world; when she had the shock therapy, some equally sinister, though inverted paradigm would be reflected in Wonderland. I expected a grisly link, perhaps with cutscenes showing the "progress" Alice experienced in the case-book, with the development of Alice in wonderland. So far, Alice appears to be strong, sassy, and self-sure, with the very singular, though moving exception of her expression of guilt and shame at her self-imposed belief of involvement and responsibility in the death of the rabbit. (With the also rather delicious allegorical guilt over the death of her parents, I'm assuming. Did they die because of her? Alice seems to think so. May the rising flames from the pyres of her fallen foes be the cleansing agent to her conscience.)
Do you feel, those of you that have completed the game, that Alice undergoes a metamorphasis? Is there a dynamism to her? Can we see her resolve crumble and weaken within the framework of her tramautizing "real-life" experiences, and see them reflected, darker, more foreboding, in the dream-world that is Wonderland?

Or....

perhaps the very lack of change insinuates the fact that, in becoming so withdrawn into her own private hell, that her resolve is infinite, her will, unbreakable, a mirror-glass reflection of the weakened, catatonic form she has become in the real world.

Lots to think about!

So, in closing, I welcome any thoughts on this matter. Please, no "U THINK YOUR SO F*KIN SMART DONT U ITS JUST A GAME YOU ASHOLE" or anything; just interested in generating some lively discussion.

Thanks for your time, may your jacks strike true and your summoned demons not turn their wrath against you!
freudianslip is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-17-2000, 04:51 PM   #2
freudianslip
Welcomed New User
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Posts: 3
Default

And here's another scary thought, that is also amazingly off-topic: Do you realize that, right now, I may be the only person alive listening to Patsy Cline while drinking orange-soda, and reading these forums? Sort of puts it all into perspective, doesn't it? *whew*

freudianslip is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Children and God Flaming Fist Enforcer General Conversation Archives (11/2000 - 01/2005) 9 04-14-2003 01:24 PM
Horribly Addictive. StigTC General Conversation Archives (11/2000 - 01/2005) 28 01-03-2003 08:06 AM
Prozac -- Road Rage, Children killing Children? Linked? Ziroc General Conversation Archives (11/2000 - 01/2005) 30 09-05-2001 10:44 AM
You're just gonna have to forgive me tonight John D Harris General Conversation Archives (11/2000 - 01/2005) 3 07-06-2001 04:57 AM
Welcome to the plaese don't bump really old topic os more than 50 post topic Rikard T'Aranaxz Baldurs Gate II Archives 0 01-12-2001 01:59 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:42 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
©2024 Ironworks Gaming & ©2024 The Great Escape Studios TM - All Rights Reserved