Sequels usually come out just a few years after whatever game came before them. Publishers want to strike while the iron is hot, after all.
But sometimes a game takes much longer. "American McGee's Alice" offered its dark take on the world of "Alice in Wonderland" in 2000, but its horror-tinged sequel, "Alice: Madness Returns" is only recently out, and it offers some striking visuals, solid game play and a compelling setting.
The first game was a journey into the twisted world of Alice's own mind after years in an insane asylum that ended with her restoring Wonderland and her own sanity.
Now she's living in an orphanage run by the seemingly kindly Dr. Angus Bumby, but she still hasn't put all her demons to rest.
Dr. Bumby is trying to help Alice forget her bad memories through hypnosis.
But shadows of the memories keep cropping up, and soon she's on another journey through her tormented innermost self, collecting forgotten memories and exploring dangerous places.
Though often guided by the Cheshire Cat and helped by other Wonderland denizens, Alice also meets numerous creatures that would do her harm.
In battle, she swings the sharp Vorpal Blade and can fire at enemies from distance with the spice-spewing Pepper Grinder, and can upgrade these and other weapons, such as the Hobby Horse and Clockwork Bombs. The game uses a system similar to that in most 3-D "Zelda" games, with Alice locking onto specific enemies to focus her attacks.
Aside from her combat abilities, Alice can float for quite a distance in the air, shrink at will to fit through small spaces, see hidden objects and turn into a cloud of butterflies to dodge attacks.
While the "Alice" sequel was revealed just a couple years ago, "Duke Nukem Forever," the sequel to 1996's "Duke Nukem 3D," was first announced in '97 and went through delay after delay after delay.
So, 14 years later, is "Duke Nukem Forever" worth the wait? Well, early in the game, a character calls Duke "a relic from another time." And that's about right.
The game doesn't move far beyond its roots – released in mid-June, it feels dated, like a shooter from a half-decade ago. Sure, Duke has a regenerating health bar and is encouraged to find cover when under fire, but there's no real cover system like in "Rainbow Six" or other cover-based games.
The enemy AI isn't very smart. The shooting action is passable but not great, and Duke's arsenal is largely repeated from the previous game. (There are some neat weapons, though, like the Freeze Ray, Shrink Ray and laser trip mines.)
"Forever" does have some imagination – the alien-blasting levels are peppered with minigames to increase Duke's health meter or to be solved as puzzles, and one level has a shrunken-down Duke zooming through his own besieged casino in a car.
But the game isn't helped by its star, who was a ridiculously chauvinist parody of macho action movie heroes even in the '90s. Now he is far removed from when such a portrayal had any bite and is just obnoxious, crude and mean.
ALICE: MADNESS RETURNS
3 stars
Publisher: Electronic Arts
System: PC, also for Sony PlayStation 3, also for Microsoft Xbox 360
Price: $59.99 ($49.99 for PC)
Age: Teen
DUKE NUKEM FOREVER
1 1/2 stars
Publisher: 2K Games
System: Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC
Price: $59.99 ($49.99 for PC)
Age: Mature
PICKS AND PANS
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2 1/2 stars
Publisher: Activision
System: Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3
Price: $59.99
Age: Teen
Similar to last year's superior "Transformers: War for Cyberton," "Dark of the Moon" is a prequel leading up to the new "Transformers" movie.
The game's campaign is one-sided, so players will be in the Autobots' shoes throughout, but the visuals are good and the game play is decent, if not outstanding.
Played from a third-person perspective, the game allows players to control numerous Autobots as they try to discover what their enemies, the Decepticons, are doing. Each robot has several weapons and special abilities, and there is now a "Stealth Force" transformation for each character, kind of a halfway mark that's slower but more maneuverable than their vehicle modes – and armed with weaponry as well.
There are also a few online multiplayer modes that allow players to customize robots from four classes – Scout, Hunter, Commander and Warrior – for use in battle.
Cars 2
2 1/2 stars
Publisher: Disney Interactive
System: Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo
Price: $49.99 ($29.99 for PC and DS)
Age: Everyone 10-plus
An arcade-style racer with some light combat leanings, "Cars 2" has numerous vehicles available from the start, with new game modes quickly unlocked after a few rounds of training with the C.H.R.O.M.E. spy agency.
Up to four players can drop in to compete in events ranging from pure races to battle races using weapons like missiles and machine guns, with several modes exclusive to multiplayer games, like the base-defense Disruptor mode.
With the game's focus so squarely on multiplayer action, it's odd that the game is without any sort of online play.
That puzzling omission aside, the game looks good, plays well and offers decent racing action for the young players it's courting.
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