Although there has been a bit of radio silence when it comes to American McGee's Alice series, Alice: Madness Returns still holds as a fantastic storytelling experience and platforming game. The graphics are stunning and the game tells the twisted tale of a Wonderland gone wrong.
RELATED: Xbox: Psychological Horror Games To Play While Waiting For The Medium
During Alice's adventures through a nightmarish Wonderland plagued by an Infernal Train, there's a ton of items to find and collect, including unique weapons and cool dresses that Alice can wear. Each dress is unlocked in a specific way while playing, and there are also six additional dresses available as DLC. Here's how you can get all of them and what they do.
The Classic Dress
- Special Effect: Health regeneration in Shrink Sense
When you first enter Wonderland, this is the default dress you'll be wearing. There's nothing special you need to do in order to get it. If you've started New Game+ after already beating the game once, this dress has the effect of regenerating your health during Shrink Sense.
This dress is without a doubt the most iconic one. The two symbols at the front represent Eris and Jupiter, which are symbols of chaos, as well as mind over matter. It's easy to see why these would be the two symbols chosen for Alice's most basic dress given the nature of her story.
The Steamdress
- Special Effect: Find more Teeth and Roses inside breakable objects
The Steamdress has a nice steampunk aesthetic which perfectly fits the appearance of the Hatter's Domain. It's the second dress you'll unlock during your journey, and the one you wear throughout the Hatter's Domain. In order to get it permanently, you first need to make your way through the Hatter's Domain in Chapter 1.
Most of the enemies here are fairly easy to deal with, but the Eyepot can be somewhat challenging. Good timing is needed to hit the Eyepot's eye, which is its weak point. The Pepper Grinder is one of the best weapons to get through this area quickly and to deal with the Dormouse and March Hare.
The Siren
- Special Effect: Enemies will drop double the amount of roses upon death
The next dress chronologically in the story is that of the Siren. This dress is clearly inspired by various bioluminescent aquatic creatures, namely the jellyfish. It's a turquoise dress with pink details, and Alice actually has no boots or socks either.
RELATED: The Best Psychological Horror Games Ever Made, According To Metacritic
You'll wear this as soon as you enter the Deluded Depths during Chapter 2. In order to unlock it permanently and wear it whenever you want, you need to complete this underwater level. This isn't a particularly tough chapter but it does include a small 2D mini-game with a ship, a musical mini-game, a boss fight against two pretty strong crabs, and a fairly difficult end platforming sequence, so prepare for the rising challenge as you progress through.
The Silk Maiden
- Special Effect: Enemies will drop double the amount of teeth upon death
Inspired by a traditional kimono, this style of dress combines a bit of both Japanese and Chinese cultures into one. With nature patterns on blue silk, it's a fitting dress for the next chapter in Alice's adventure: Oriental Grove.
Chapter 3 is where things start to get a little dicey. Oriental Grove is one of the longest levels in the game and features a very long-winded and challenging 2D mini-game. Moreover, the wasp enemies in this area are extremely resilient. With patience, you can unlock the Silk Maiden dress permanently after completing this level.
The Royal Suit
- Special Effect: Alice's health is reduced to only four roses
Alice's journey eventually and naturally takes her back to Queensland, and so it's only fitting that she spawns in with this red card game-inspired dress on. In order to wear it for the first time and then unlock it after, you'll need to finish the Queensland level.
In Chapter 4, Alice will be pitted against the many enemies of Queensland, including the mighty and feared Executioner, which forces you to flee rather than fighting. Not just that, the Card Guards are durable enemies that are quite tough to deal with in combat.
The Misstitched
- Special Effect: Longer Shrink Sense visibility
This dress is inspired by the worn-out appearance of ragdolls and has a very classic and traditional look despite all of the wild colors it has. To get it, you must proceed to Chapter 5, which is the final chapter in the game that takes place in the Dollhouse.
RELATED: Platformers To Play While Waiting For Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
As the last area of the game, it's also one of the toughest. Some of the doll enemies are particularly strong and tough, especially in crowds, and the final boss of this land, the Dollmaker, is also the final boss of the game. Alice will wear the dress throughout the Dollhouse level, but to unlock it you'll need to finish the level and consequently the game as well.
The Six DLC Dresses
On top of the dresses attached to each of the four domains, and the default dress, Alice can also unlock six DLC dresses that are all inspired by various characters and areas of the game itself. If you have the disc version of the game on console, the DLC items will be unlocked automatically.
However, those playing on Steam will need to unlock them by going into the game files inside the game's Config folder, then do the following: open AliceEngine.ini in Notepad and change the GIsSpecialPCEdition=FALSE to TRUE.
After you launch the game, the DLC items will all be available in the Equip menu. Here's what you can expect in terms of dresses and their special effects.
The Hattress
- Special Effect: Any damage taken will be reduced from Teeth, not Roses
This white dress is inspired by the Mad Hatter's costume and even includes his classic top hat. Alice has black straps across the white dress, as well as green stockings and a bunch of copper gears sticking out of her dress as well.
The Cheshire
- Special Effect: Enemies won't drop Roses
One of the most extreme dresses in the game, the Cheshire dress turns Alice into the game's twisted cat character, with glowing eyes, grey ears, and all. The dress has a dark grey tattered and skin-like appearance.
The Caterpillar
- Special Effect: Shrink Sense is permanently enabled
Despite the silly look of this dark green dress, it's actually quite useful since it gives Alice permanent Shrink Sense without affecting her size. The dress looks like the body of the Caterpillar, and she even has a small hat with antennas and two tiny wings on her back.
RELATED: The Best 3D Platformers On The PlayStation 2 (Based On Metacritic)
Late But Lucky
- Special Effect: Permanent health regeneration
Another highly powerful dress as Alice will constantly regenerate health with this dress on. It's a burgundy and white dress inspired by the original look of the White Rabbit and his little red coat. Alice wears a tophat with two rabbit ears and even has rabbit feet.
The Checkmate
- Special Effect: Alice deals double damage
The perfect dress if you need a boost in combat, the Checkmate increases your damage by 50%. It's a classic red and white dress with a slightly rectangular shape. The dress is seemingly inspired by the appearance of red Card Guards.
The Fleshmaiden
- Special Effect: Use Hysteria at any time
Although the Fleshmaiden is not the most aesthetically pleasing dress, it definitely packs a punch since Alice can use her Hysteria at any time without charging it. The deep red fleshy and bloody appearance of this dress is a nice reference to the rotten state of Queensland and the Queen's final form
NEXT: Horror Games That Were Way Ahead Of Their Time
