fyi : to save you the trouble of reading every article, i’ve picked out a few lines from each. you can check out the full previews by following the links in the list, or clicking on the titles before every paragraph.

[ 3D Action Planet ]
What about enemies? In the third of the game that I have seen, I have seen an incredible variety in the various creatures that I have had to butt heads with. Card Guards. Flying, wailing Banshees. Rabid Piranha Fish. A mushroom that tried to eat me. And that is just to name a few. Alice sports some of the most unique character design that I have ever seen.

[ CNET Gamecenter ]
First off, the art direction and design in this game is simply amazing; it’s astonishing how far the Quake III engine has been pushed. Weird clocks rock back and forth, buildings seem to breathe, and pathways appear out of nowhere, then disappear as quickly.

[ Firing Squad ]
Where Alice does excel is in story telling. Cut-scenes are numerous and informative. The whole ambience of the game is incredible. Simply running and gunning through these detailed filled environs would be a waste. Slow down and smell what the shrooms created on your way through.

[ Game Spot ]
Though the overall story of "kill the queen, free the kingdom" is quite simple, the characters and settings Alice stumbles across throughout the game are both fascinating and complex. The Cheshire cat is full of complexities, of course, but the rest of the characters are equally engaging and well designed. The gruff little dwarf, the wonderfully animated chess pieces, and even the minotaur-headed turtle in his underwear (trust us) all contribute to the incredibly rich fabric of McGee’s Wonderland.

[ Game Spot UK ]
With the exception of a few movement and control oddities, Alice manages to impress in every important aspect. The level design, story, puzzles, weapons, and foes are all very strong in this game, as is – generally speaking – the gameplay. Though it isn’t quite the perfect action-adventure and is definitely not your run-of-the-mill first-person shooter, Alice is simply an extraordinary game.

[ Game Spot UK ]
It is a horror game that had a greater effect on me than anything Capcom has ever released, because you are actually playing a game within the environment, rather than just moving between pre-animated scenes.

[ Gamers.com ]
Alice’s character models and animation are strong as well. Little details like the faint bloodstains on Alice’s proper blue dress or the Cheshire Cat’s grizzled, mangy appearance (complete with pierced ear) heighten the world’s grim look. Character animation is smooth, too. We were fascinated and frightened by the disturbed children that litter the game, one moment crying, the next laughing.

[ Gamer’s Nexus ]
At the heart of the energy beginning to build around American McGee’s ALICE, is most certainly the bizarre and malevolent lens through which McGee urges us to gaze upon Wonderland. Certainly all of the characters so familiar to the tale still exist, but they are in many ways more sinister and certainly more deadly than they have ever been before.

[ Gamer’s List ]
Alice looks to be one of strangest and greatest games 2000. 3D Adventure fans and First Person Shooter nuts will have something to look forward to when American McGee’s Alice hits stores later this month. Can you resist the temptation of entering an evil Wonderland as Alice to destroy all your friends from the classic story to return order? Well, you can try, but the game sounds like so much damn fun, it’s a must play for us.

[ Happy Puppy ]
Alice delivers much sass, with her big bloody vorpal blade and her malicious toys. She has two meters: one for life and one for sanity. Using her toys causes her to lose sanity, so I often relied upon the trusty knife-throwing method. On occasion, however, it was totally satisfying to eviscerate an Army Ant or behead a Boojum with the deck of cards, sanity be damned.

[ IGNPC ]
We were already expecting something pretty flashy, seeing as how American created some of the best levels in Quake, but we had no idea the amount of detail to expect in Alice. Nearly every beam, every windowsill, every lampshade is rendered in polygons, and skewed at slightly off angles to create a funhouse environment.

[ IGNPC ]
However, having suffered a traumatic experience, she’s retreated from all aspects of the real world – including the fantasy world of her dreams. Now she is returning to Wonderland, the world of her childhood imagination, in an attempt to emerge from that emotional isolation. She’s been hurt; she’s angry; she’s embattled. But most importantly, she’s got nothing to lose.

[ IGNPC ]
I’m sure there are people out there with the Disney vision of Alice in Wonderland stuck in their heads. Well you poor saps are in for a shock with the upcoming action/adventure American McGee’s Alice. This twisted little game should send some shivers up your spine and turn all you’ve ever imagined of Wonderland its head.

[ Intel Gamer ]
Lewis Carroll’s Alice Adventures are back but now in a new form as American McGee spices things up and puts a new twist on this childhood classic. Alice appears in a gothic form as she tries to regain her once so lovely Wonderland from the evil control of the Queen of Hearts.

[ Junkyard ]
Likewise, sound is great; employing the latest in EAX2, or Aureal for you sissy Diamond card owners ;) I’m running the Altec Lansing ACS54 surround sound setup and my my, you can hear (and subsequently feel) those mutated card guards sneak up behind you. Sound effects in the game are quite memorable, heh, slice a guard in half and you can hear the gibs splatter to the floor! Add in the ambient sounds and you’ve got yourself a truly atmospheric environment.

[ Telefragged ]
The game play will contain action style fighting of various enemies and creatures and puzzles to be solved. The puzzles will range from jumping and platform types to logic and intuition style. Alice is no longer the sweet innocent girl but now a bit of an ass kicker in a dress and black leather lace up boots.

[ Well Rounded Entertainment ]
Recruited by her old friend the White Rabbit to return to Wonderland, a place she would just as soon forget, she finds a world that has been corrupted by the Queen of Hearts’ evil. Sunny days are a distant memory, replaced by angry, swirling maelstroms and gray skies (sometimes literally).