A good sequel to American McGee's Alice; but a below average game in more or less every other area. If we approach the game as more than the sum of its parts, then I undoubtedly enjoy the direction taken with the story and art. Taking Alice's personal journey from the first game and expanding upon it to allow her to take power away from her abusers is a unique and solid thematic follow-up, but the game's uneven structure and execution towards the climax does falter. The game is a beauty to look at, still looking striking even 10 years later, and the accompanying soundtrack is pleasantly atmospheric, though not as strong as the first.

If this is all you need to enjoy the game, then Alice's sequel may be a great follow-up, but when deconstructing every aspect of it's design I found an experience that was too dull, repetitive and underdeveloped to consider passable. Madness Returns is the kind of game where the cut content is transparent, as the reuse of level ideas and enemy encounters mash against a lack of execution in areas the game really should've expanded upon, like the London segments. With combat and platforming as mechanically simplistic as this game's; creative level design and tight pacing is needed to keep things engaging, but Madness Returns is more preoccupied with adding the most shallow variety in the forms of undercooked shooting, rhythm and puzzle segments which feel like blatant padding.

Despite my overall conflicted thoughts, I feel like I'm being more negative than the game deserves. Ultimately I'd recommend it to people who've played the first game, though I honestly wouldn't want to revisit it anytime soon.