You could probably tell from preview videos and the nature of American McGee’s previous Alice game what the rating for the upcoming sequel was going to be, but the ESRB has also revealed some unexpected comments in the game’s dialogue.
Clearly Alice: Madness Returns is going to be a dark foray into Wonderland, just as it’s predecessor was, so we can expect a bit of blood and violence throughout the game. In fact, we can expect exposed brains and decapitations while battling doll-like characters with a variety of weaponry, which sound like a whole lot of gruesome fun. The ESRB has given Madness Returns the expected Mature rating, but has also hinted that prostitution may be involved in the plot some how, citing various references to it as well as whore houses:
This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of Alice Little, an asylum patient attempting to understand her past while struggling with an unbalanced psyche. As they traverse between the real world and Alice’s imagination (i.e., Wonderland), players use pepper grinders, knives, and other weapons to attack fantastical enemies (e.g., trolls, puppets, living teapots, doll-like creatures) in melee-style combat. Battles are accompanied by cries of pain, slashing sounds, and large splashes of blood that stain Alice’s body and the ground. Some enemies can be decapitated, and certain attacks cause them to explode into pieces; in one sequence, young doll-like characters are depicted with bloody wounds that expose their brains. During the course of the game, the dialogue contains occasional references to prostitution (e.g., ‘I saw you down at the bloody whore house,’ ‘Where’d she be without me? On the streets selling her backside,’ and ‘Where’s me money?’/’Get those fat-a*s whores out on the street . . .’). The words ‘f**k’ and ‘c*nt’ can be heard in dialogue.
We might even go so far as to believe a whore house may be a setting at some point in the game, but that’s just pure speculation at this point. However, considering that Alice does in fact live in London, and spends some of the game transitioning from London to Wonderland, it is not completely out of the question. Either way, it’s clear that Spicy Horse isn’t holding back in their grim depiction of Alice’s downward spiral into insanity, which should make fans of the original game quite happy. Alice: Madness Returns is currently scheduled to release on June 14th, and waiting around for it is just driving us crazier by the minute.
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