Review Date: March 26, 2010
Developer: Gimagin
Publisher: Merscom
Platform: Windows
Genre: Hidden Object
By now, everyone knows the classic tale Alice in Wonderland, where a girl named Alice falls down a rabbit hole and gets swept up in a whimsical tale of fantasy. But while the hidden object game of the same name bares some thematic similarities with its literary predecessor, it also tells a new and refreshing story. With a more modern take on the classic, and a dark and surreal atmosphere, the game does a good job of being unique. It's just too bad that the actual game isn't quite as creative.
In a surprising twist, Alice in Wonderland doesn't actually star Alice. Instead, the heroine of the game is a young woman named Rachel. After buying a new, slightly creepy Victorian house, Alice discovers two startling facts: first, that 10 young girls have gone missing, and second, her new home contains a rabbit hole that leads to another world. This, of course, if Wonderland. And it turns out that the missing girls are all being held captive there. Rachel decides it's up to her to rescue them, and the rest of the game is spent trying to free the imprisoned girls. You'll encounter familiar characters over the course of Rachel's journey, including the white rabbit, and red queen, the cheshire cat, and the caterpillar. But given the game's new take on the story, these characters look much different than you may remember.
This new take on Alice extends to the look of the game as well, which creates a dark and surreal atmosphere. Wonderland looks truly bizarre, and almost has a steampunk-like feel, with plenty of rotating gears and even a few robots. The art for the characters and backgrounds looks great, and even sports a few cool effects like flashes of lightning. The only real stumble are the 3D cut-scenes that punctuate each chapter, which are very low-resolution and don't look anywhere near as good as the rest of the game.
But while the look and feel of the game may be unique, the game itself is about as standard as hidden object games come. You'll spend the majority of your time searching for various objects, with the help of a recharging hint meter, and solving the occasional mini-game or puzzle. These run the gamut from sliding block puzzles to torn-up photographs and notes that need to be put back together. The mini-games can be skipped after a certain amount of time, but you probably won't need to, as most of the game -- including the hidden object sections -- is pretty easy. In fact, I was often able to complete areas without even looking at the list of objects I needed to find because they stuck out from the background so clearly.
It's a shame that the actual game portion of Alice in Wonderland turned out so generic, because the rest of the experience is simply wonderful. From the twisted character designs to the haunting soundtrack, this is a look a Wonderland that you haven't seen before. But for HOG fans, the gameplay is the exact opposite, as it's composed entirely of often used features that seem to inhabit nearly every HOG out there. That being said, the game isn't particularly bad, just overly familiar. So if all you're looking for is a chance to explore this surreal version of Wonderland without being too taxed mentally, you won't be disappointed.
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