Gaming Insider

Clash of the Titans is an action-adventure game pairing to the theatrical release of the same name, slated for a March 2010 debut. Featuring a thematic setting based on Greek Mythology and a story entwining the “War of Hades” the game delivers an intense world of Dark Fantasy. Gameplay standout features the ability to acquire and use enemy weapon to advance and defeat opponents, as well as challenging boss battles and faithful reproduction of scenes out of the movie.

• Clash of the Titans is an action-adventure game pairing to the theatrical release of the same name.

• Dark Fantasy Based on Greek Mythology.
• Relive adventures of Perseus from movie.
• New, original bosses & adventure.
• Take your enemies power and make it your own.

Release Date:Tue, 27 Jul 2010

Grab your butcher knife and venture back into a twisted Wonderland in Alice: Madness Returns.
Image courtesy Electronic Arts

REDWOOD CITY, California — “I’ve kind of made a habit of taking children’s fairy tales and turning them into dark, twisted content,” says game designer American McGee.

He might be understating the case a bit. As creator of American McGee’s Alice and American McGee’s Grimm, he’s best known (and pointedly parodied) for dirtying up a story from our innocent childhoods, then slapping his name into the videogame’s title.

Game designer American McGee is working with Electronic Arts to revive his Alice series.
Photo: Chris Kohler/Wired.com

With Alice: Madness Returns, McGee’s moniker is off the box, but the creative vision is unmistakable: It’s a creepy trip into a perverted Wonderland, where Alice is beset not by humorous anthropomorphs but nightmare visions. Electronic Arts will publish the game in 2011 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

At a press event last week hosted by publisher Electronic Arts, McGee and story collaborator R.J. Berg discussed what gamers should expect from this long-awaited Alice sequel.

Wired.com: I haven’t played the previous Alice. Are there any plans to bring it back as a Downloadable game before the sequel comes out?

American McGee: It’s certainly endured with the fans. I think that there’s an audience for it, but at this moment we’re just focused on Alice: Madness Returns. Any bringing it back would be up to EA and EA Partners. R.J. and I were here as employees when we created the first Alice.

Wired.com: Since this will probably be many people’s first experience, I’m guessing you’re crafting the game in such a way that you don’t need to have played the original to enjoy it.

McGee: Yeah, but there’s a definite need for us to honor and answer to the existing audience, people who’ve been loyal fans to the property over the years. We’ve done our best to blend together into the story elements from the first game. This is a natural sequel, a narrative sequel to the first game. So we get back in there and people who know the first game are going to have a lot of reward in terms of seeing locations that they may have seen before, characters that they knew from the first game. But it’s certainly not a requirement, bringing this game to console for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 players, for them to have played the PC one.

As in the original, Alice: Madness Returns will make platforming a key part of the gameplay.
Image courtesy Electronic Arts

Wired.com: Describe some of the gameplay mechanics.

McGee: For the first game, the idea was to make a solid platformer. The other tenets were the art, which at the time was really out there in terms of its ability to present art as a core of the experience. R.J. wrote the first game’s story, and he’s writing the story for Madness Returns. I think if you ask anybody about the way that story is presented in the title, you’ll find that that was one of the things that was really unique about it. At the time with PC gaming, the Half-Lifes and things like that hadn’t hit just yet. And so we felt, I think our audience felt, that we really nailed it in terms of how we delivered story and got the player immersed in the game.

Coming back now to the story in Madness Returns, we’re once again focused on these things: really good story, solid third-person platforming gameplay, adventure, action, exploration and puzzle solving.

Wired.com: You bring up an interesting point, because after Alice came out there was a revolution in game storytelling. What do you do differently now that you have to clear a higher bar for people who’ve played BioShock, who’ve played Half-Life?

R.J. Berg: I don’t think that we’ve looked upon them as necessarily raising the bar so much as expanding people’s acceptance of what they could do on a console. We are extremely impressed with BioShock, for instance. Still, we thought that by basing our game on such a strong intellectual property, and Alice being such a deep and rich font of intellectual property, that we were already stretching out the sense of action-adventure, and maybe one that was not particularly well-suited 10 years ago. Whereas now, with something like BioShock, Half-Life, games that have really improved our notion of what you can do, what kind of deep story you can tell on that platform, we’re pretty confident that our audience will come right along with us. We’re pretty happy about this direction.

Wired.com: I just finished reading the book Extra Lives, and now my head is filled with big words: It reminded me of Clint Hocking’s blog post about ludonarrative dissonance in BioShock, how the gameplay and the narrative can go out of whack with each other. Is that something you’re concerned about?

McGee: Well, I think his idea of dissonance is that it made the entertainment experience so jolting, so shocking. In the first Alice, we were playing with narrative shocks and twists, and they obviously hit home with people who played the game. In Madness Returns, it’s much more of the same and then some.

I think that storytelling, which is R.J.’s forte, doesn’t necessarily need to catch up to anything, it’s that the technology has to be applied in a way that honors the story you want to tell and doesn’t cause a disconnect from the audience. You want to find a balance between this thing that is game and this thing that is story. That’s the truth of it — you’re not letting these pieces get in the way of each other unless, in the instance of BioShock, you’re turning something on its head for the key purpose of, “Oh my God, I can’t believe this whole time I’ve been in this thing and this thing has been talking to me.”

Wired.com: A lot of people have nightmares about their teeth falling out, as we saw in that teaser trailer. Are you trying to play on our common fears?

McGee: Well, the title is M-rated. The first Alice was actually EA’s first M-rated game. We are trying to seek common horror — not that it’s simple or expected, but instead of being that in-your-face cliché horror, we’re trying to go for a much more psychological, deep, disturbing horror. The kind that would juxtapose something like the blood and the teeth and this beautiful girl to try to create — that is a dissonance that you’re trying to pull up.

And the game is filled with that, actually. As you move through the environments, you’re going to find elements of the art that are one moment comforting, because these are things that have all been born out of Alice’s experiences in her life, and at the same time disturbing because they’re set against this thing that’s coming into this environment that would normally be her sanctuary, her psychological sanctuary, and screwing everything up. At its core is the idea of going mad. That’s really at the center of this, probably the most frightening thing.

Wired.com: Have you gone up against things that you couldn’t put in the game because you’d get an Adults Only rating?

Berg: No, we knew we were making an M-rated game. That just gave us a play area to work with. There was never any temptation to go over the top to get that kind of rating. The thing that was most important to American and me was that we always be true to our idea of her — what she experienced, what she imagined, what she dreamed about — was it credible? We’re looking for people to appreciate this vibrant, courageous, troubled young woman hero character. But we really almost insist that you come along with all of your notions, all of your imagination, everything that you’ve ever thought about how Alice would live her life. It was just important that we not try to, for the sake of shock or otherwise, do something that violated our sense of who she grew up to be.

McGee: I think if we had, in the first game, violated that sense of who that character was, pushed it too far, pushed it in any direction for the wrong reasons, we would not have seen that kind of response that we did. So many people, people we respected, our audience who we obviously respect, came back and told us that they thought this was the truest adaptation of the story that they’d ever seen. I think that really says a lot about the sensitivity with which we approached it.

Wired.com: Alan Moore, in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, touched on the idea of what happens when you come back from Wonderland. How it changes you.

Berg: You’re into something critical and something that I’m afraid we can’t really talk about right now.

Wired.com: Are there puzzles?

McGee: Absolutely. We thought that was an important element of the first game, and in Madness Returns it’s there, and it’s there in some ways that are new. New and old. We’re seeing this revival — we saw it today in Dead Space: Ignition, the side-scrolling 2-D presentation of arcade gameplay on the console. We’re finding ways to pull ideas like that into the game as puzzles, and also ideas that come more naturally out of the fiction like chess and cards. It certainly was a big piece of what made the first game fun and we’ve brought it back with some new thinking and some new ideas.

Wired.com: Is there pressure to make it more marketable — add an online multiplayer death-match mode?

McGee: Well, we didn’t do that. This is very much focused on the strongest and best single-player narrative game that we can make. You know, I think we’ve all seen examples of projects where that should have been the case, and it wasn’t, and you can see where the quality kind of falls off. We’ve been really fortunate in having EA Partners as a creative partner, understanding that this is a title that needs room and space and time as a single-player narrative presentation to be just that.

Wired.com: Is Wonderland supposed to be a happy place for Alice that’s gotten perverted?

McGee: In both games, that’s been the theme. This is in fact a sanctuary. It’s a place that is made up of experiences that she’s had throughout life. And we always are striving to be true to that. Whatever she sees or experiences in Wonderland has to be derived from something that she might have seen or experienced in real life. That’s a really fun constraint, actually, because trying to find the surreal or trying to find the horror requires that you actually work within that idea. It always ends up being that the results are really nice.

But yes, from a basic perspective she’s always trying to return Wonderland to its more normal state. Keep in mind that this is a character who has dealt with some very dark issues in her life, so it’s always going to inform the place as she’s seen it, even when she’s returned it to so-called normal.

See Also:

• The Great American (McGee) Game
• Alice Overload: 5 Best Trips to Wonderland

Nintendo Downloads this week: The undersea adventure of Dive: The Medes Island Secret and the intense arcade-style action of Heavy Fire: Special Operations appear on WiiWare. Fans of the Virtual Console service can now enjoy high-flying fun from the Super NES era with Aero The Acrobat. And for fresh gaming kicks on the go, check out the camera-based controls and customization options of Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera! or tangle with legions of battle-ready beasts in Crystal Monsters, both available via the Nintendo DSiWare service.

Meanwhile, Nintendo’s WarioWare: D.I.Y. “Big Name Games” series continues with new, free downloadable microgames created by top game designers. This week the game comes from the Treehouse, Nintendo’s game localization team. Visit the Nintendo Channel on your Wii system today to learn more about these games. New “Big Name Games” will be added every Monday through July 26, for free to anyone with broadband Internet access and a copy of either WarioWare: D.I.Y. for Nintendo DS or WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase software for the WiiWare service.

Nintendo has now added these new/classic games to the Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop. The games go live at 9AM Pacific time. Users with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card can be purchased at retail locations or Amazon.com.

Next we’ve included videos of each of this week’s games, where available. Either for nostalgia’s sake or so you can see if any new game is to your taste.

This week’s new Virtual Console game is:

Aero The Acrobat
Original platform: Super NES
Publisher: Sunsoft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: The madman industrialist Edgar Ektor has seized control of the World of Amusement. He and a deranged cast of fairground freaks threaten the circus. The only hope for survival is the high-flying, death-defying Aero the acrobat! Spine-tingling terror unfolds as Aero tackles Ektor’s wicked henchmen. Bungee-jump into a battle against evil. Skydive toward the danger below. Hang on for the ride of your life as you rise and plunge on a roaring roller coaster. Tiptoe across a terrifying tightrope. Power-drill and twist Aero right through every sinister circus enemy imaginable. All the while, the show must go on. It could become a carnival of carnage in the World of Amusement. Because the evil Ektor isn’t clowning around … and there’s nothing amusing about that.

This week’s new WiiWare games are:

Dive: The Medes Island Secret
Publisher: Cosmonaut Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: During the past five centuries, hundreds of ships flying every ensign have succumbed to the power of the ocean. Merchant boats, pirate ships, navy vessels – all have ended up covered in coral at the bottom of the ocean. All of them guarded secrets that remained hidden… until now. In Dive: The Medes Islands Secret, you are John Sanders, a treasure hunter and experienced diver who spends months planning and documenting a major expedition to locate and recover several ships of different ensigns around the world.

Heavy Fire: Special Operations
Publisher: Teyon
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Blood, Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Join an elite army unit in Heavy Fire: Special Operations, an arcade shooter for the WiiWare service. Play challenging missions in the Middle East from the ground, Humvee or Blackhawk. You will need a quick trigger finger to finish extremely dangerous levels. Rise through the military ranks and accumulate more powerful weapons with different features and controls. Replay the game to improve your best score and submit it to the world rankings. Make combos and smash the environment to get more points. You can take out enemies in a single-player mode or with a friend in multiplayer mode. The Wii Zapper accessory is supported but not required.

This week’s new DSiWare games are:

Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera!
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: With the innovative game Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera!, you can soar through the sky in a hang glider from the comfort of your sofa. Not only will you put your face into the game with the Nintendo DSi Camera, but Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera! also tracks your head movements to give you complete control of your glider. Simply tilt your head sideways to steer left or right, lean back to climb and bend forward to dive. Choose from two play styles and fly through three different types of game play: bursting all of the balloons in a variety of courses, throwing balls at targets for a high score and trying for a fast time in the high-speed challenge. Also, look out for hidden medals that help to unlock new courses and even new gliders. If you’re looking for a truly unique and inventive game, schedule a flight to experience Face Pilot: Fly With Your Nintendo DSi Camera! for yourself. The only thing missing is the wind in your hair!

Crystal Monsters
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: There are two kinds of people in this world: those who can see monsters (called Neo-Seeds) and those who can’t. Neo-Seeds wield extraordinary power and battle using tamed monsters in grand tournaments. As a Neo-Seed who has just discovered his ability, you’re about to set off on an amazing journey to collect more than 160 monsters and become the greatest Monster Breeder. Explore a vast world, meet new friends and rivals, and engage in dynamic battles that require skill and strategy. Master the nine elemental types, train your monsters through battle, teach them new moves, use team attacks and fuse them together to unlock their true potential. You can even customize three of your favorite monsters by putting friends’ faces on them using the built-in camera.

Puffins: Let’s Race!
Publisher: Other Ocean Interactive
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Get ready to challenge the speediest puffins on the island for the title of Fastest Flyer in Puffins: Let’s Race! Race against the clock or go head-to-head with your opponents in a battle to the finish line. Use cleverly placed power-ups like the squawk shot to get ahead of the pack and claim victory. Race through four different game modes on eight different tracks to prove your skill, or challenge up to three of your friends via local wireless play. Do you have what it takes to become the race champion of Puffin Island, or will you be left behind with the rest of the flock?

Petz Hamsterz Family
Publisher: Ubisoft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Adopt your very own family of hamsters! Care for them, teach them fun tricks and unlock new toys and accessories to give them lots of love! Care for your hamsters by feeding them, playing with them and keeping them clean and warm. Discover your hamsters’ unique personalities – watch them react with cute and funny facial expressions. Teach your hamsters fun activities like bowling or running on ramps and watch them progress. Earn coins that can be used to unlock new toys and accessories for your lovable hamsters.

Absolute BrickBuster
Publisher: Tasuke
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Classic brick game action is here on the Nintendo DSi system. There are two modes of play: Free Play and Challenge. Pick one of eight characters and set special items to play at your own pace in Free Play Mode. The special items include different balls with special attributes, expandable paddle and paddle tilt. There are 10 stages in all. Each even-numbered stage gives you a mission, the result of which will determine the level of the next two stages. In Challenge Mode, different levels of missions are given – clear them to advance in the game.