Presumably seeking to finally be known for something other than having a ridiculous name that he insists on writing everywhere, American McGee is to return to the closest thing he’s had to a success since leaving id. A sequel to visually inventive but so-so where it counts goth-o-action-platformer Alice is inbound, handled by McGee’s Shanghai-based Spicy Horse studio.
No information yet bar this gibbering, self-fellating press release nonsense from EA: “EA Partners is ready to help [American McGee] bring his innovative vision for the franchise to even darker, more exciting places.” And from the man himself: “”This new project is a dream come true for me and the fans who’ve kept the Alice flame alive. EA gave us creative latitude and support on the original game which resulted in something beautiful and daring. This trip through the looking glass promises to be even more exciting.”
Being the horrible, gossipy, spiteful little toe-rag that I am, I’m currently more curious about the game’s title than its content. Will EA really agree to slap McGee’s name on it? It is, after all, a moniker that’s absolutely meaningless to a great many gamers these days, and to those that do know who he is it’s now associated with ambitious, high-concept, but disappointing trip-ups like Bad Day LA and Grimm. What on Earth is the point of giving him the Sid Meier treatment all these years on? The man has so much to prove, and there’s a metric crap-ton of designers who’ve repeatedly pushed out far better games than he without electing to celebrify themselves.
Anyway! What McGee has traditionally done is give art equal billing to mechanics – often too much preference, in fact. This does at least mean we’re not in for another grey’n'brown Gears of War/Killzone 2 visual bore, despite Alice 2’s intended appearance on console as well as PC.
We missed this news when it happened a few days back – thanks to ’sfury’ for the tip.
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“handled by McGee’s Shanghai-based Spicy Horse studio”
‘American McGee’s Alice’ = made in Shanghai. :) Also, trying very hard not to fall prey to certain Asian eating stereotypes…what’s with the name of that studio?
@Andreas: And are right, I would buy “Sid Meier, Ninjas!” anytime.
Alice was a great game. Amazing atmosphere, inventive level design and, as has been pointed out, more true in spirit to the book(s) than Disney ever was.