Alice: Madness Returns is what happens if Tim Burton had made a GOOD interpretation of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. Madness Returns was developed by American McGee and his development team, Spicy Horse, and published by everybody's favorite publisher, EA. Alice: Madness Returns is a Third Person Action Adventure Platformer that puts a dark spin on Lewis Carrol's original source material. This is actually a sequel to American McGee's Alice originally released in 2000.

When Alice arrives back in Wonderland, the world, is bright and colorful, but the deeper she goes into Wonderland the more dark and sinister it gets. On her journey, Alice, is accompanied by the Cheshire Cat whom may or may not be a figment of Alice's imagination. In fact, the entirety of Wonderland may or may not be a figment of Alice's imagination and that is what Alice's story revolves around; her sanity.

After Alice's adventure to Wonderland in the first game she had been declared clinically insane and spent a majority of her life in Rutledge Asylum. Madness Returns takes place a year after her release at the age of 19 and she now resides in an orphanage under the care of a psychiatrist named Dr. Angus Bumby. The gameplay begins when Alice relapses into Wonderland.

The second story is Alice returning to Wonderland. Hence "Madness Returns". Wonderland is now falling apart. It is being destroyed by a mysterious train dubbed by the inhabitants as "The Infernal Train". Alice may be the only one able to stop The Infernal Train from completely destroying Wonderland, but is Wonderland as real as she believes it to be? I personally found Alice's story in the real world dealing with her sanity to be far more interesting and meaningful.

Out of combat, Alice: Madness Returns is a platformer. Again, not much new here, but at least it isn't flawed in anyway. Alice can now jump not once, not twice, but four times whilst in the air. She also will float if the jump button is held down to help guide Alice down onto a platform.

Though, there is one thing everybody seems to agree upon....

Alice: Madness Returns really is an underrated gem because it sets up nicely a sequel, but sales didn't meet their goals so it was cancelled which is a shame. There is hope though. In 2013, American McGee started a Kickstarter to fund a concluding chapter in the Alice series called "Alice: Otherlands". There was a catch though. It wouldn't be a game, but rather an animated mini series. The Kickstarter met it's goal and now Alice: Otherlands will be released some time this year. Again, there is more hope. American McGee still wants to make Alice Otherlands into a game, but it depends on the success of the animated mini series.

Alice: Madness Returns isn't perfect. The gameplay is pretty stale and the middle act has a lot of filler fetch quests, but I'd be lying to you if I said that I didn't like this game. I actuallygenuinely love this game. The art style, the story, the soundtrack, and Alice herself are all so well done that it is sad that this game isn't more well known. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. You won't be disappointed. 8.5/10

The Cat Lady is a point and click adventure game developed by Harvester Games and published by Screen 7. This is genuinely one of the creepiest games I've ever played. The atmosphere and art style are so spooky that this feels like one of those haunted games in Creepypastas. Most point and click games in this day and age are underrated, but The Cat Lady takes the cake for the most underrated point and click game.

The story is very well told and you a genuinely begin to care about Susan and the people you encounter on your journey. Though, some people may not be who they say they are; thread lightly...

Other developers really should take notes from this gem on how to tackle depression in video games. The Cat Lady is really an emotional roller coaster that will leave you in tears during more intense moments of the game. Two things I got from this experience was a new found appreciation for life and a stronger will to live. You know when a game can do that to you that it did something right. That wasn't until I had finished the game though so if you don't finish it quickly while you're depressed it may make you even sadder so head my warning.

The Cat Lady is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It manages to capture the horror atmosphere of the earlier Silent Hill games and what made point and click games like The Secret of Monkey Island. There really isn't another experience like the one found in The Cat Lady. Even if you aren't a fan of point and click games you will still get enjoyment from this game. Same goes for people who aren't fans of horror. Another thing to note is that there aren't any damn jump scares which is as rare as Gearbox making a good game that isn't Borderlands.

In the end, I can't say enough good things about The Cat Lady. Horror and point and click adventure games have never mixed together so well before. The Cat Lady is not for people with weak stomachs though. There are some pretty intense moments and imagery. That same, "What the hell am I looking at? All I know is that it's horrifying and I want nothing to do with it" imagery that you got with early Silent Hill games. Play this gem in the dark and with headphones. 9/10

Monkey tries to get into an escape pod, but Trip takes it and ejects it with Monkey hanging on for dear life. After they crash land, Monkey wakes to find that Trip has fitted him with a slave head band that will inject him with a neurotoxin if she either dies or he tries to escape. Making him Enslaved. Monkey now must help Trip get home. The story is fairly simple and easy to follow. At first you dislike Trip, like Monkey, because she essentially makes him her slave, but as the story progresses you begin to care about her just as Monkey does. It's very similar to the likes of BioShock: Infinite and The Last of Us, but Enslaved did it before them.

....at least for about half way through the game. Then the developers completely forget about this interesting piece of gameplay and just stick to the hacking and slashing and shooting and covering. It's sad that the distraction part of gameplay eventually disappears because it's the only thing that keeps the gameplay fresh. Even the platforming is really scripted. Monkey can only climb on certain objects in the environment. It's definitely apparent after playing games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted. Enemies are also pretty stale. Just rush-in-and-melee mechs and annoyingly-shoot-from-afar mechs. There is a few boss fights, but they are only with 2 or 3 of the same bigger mechs.

After clearing out an area of mechs you can walk around the environment and see a once booming city now nothing more than dying buildings and streets. Even being 5 years old this game still looks pretty good. Obviously, it's not on par with games like Metal Gear Solid V and The Order: 1886, but it still looks pretty good. Especially when Monkey and Trip look off into the distance.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is very underrated. The story is good and the graphics are really good. It's a shame this game was overlooked because it sets up a sequel fairly properly, but due to low sales the idea was scrapped. Yes, I will admit that the gameplay was interesting at first, but about half way through they disappear in favor of VERY safe and rather stale gameplay. But overall, I still very much like this game. Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw give it their all and it shows because it is very convincing. You should definitely check this one out 8.5/10