Book Review: The Art of Alice: Madness Returns
The Art of Alice: Madness Returns is a video game art book. A very good one.
The book's a 184 page hardcover published by Dark Horse. It's in a large vertical format. The paper is thick low glossy. Binding is superb. Production value is top notch.
The concept art and ideas are awesome. There are out-of-the-world background paintings, character designs, props, weapons and gruesome creations. Also included are discarded ideas that didn't make it - usually the too abstract.
When you mix a classic like Alice in Wonderland with pop culture, video game designers, concept artists and throw in a Victorian-gothic theme, you get very strange new world. A world so dangerous Alice has to be equipped with a kitchen knife at all times or sometimes a Bazooka firing hammer (yes, hammer) or a teapot cannon.
Every page brings a little element of surprise and twist. You can see crows with baby faces, Jack the Ripper with tentacles, Alice helping a mother giving birth to a load of kids (gruesome concept), an angler fish with human legs, cow birds, steampunk-like contraptions, a Chinese Humpty Dumpty, flying pig noses, embellished pieces of weaponry, etc. There are lots of mix and matches for things that shouldn't go together.
The environment and set designs are amazing. It looks like some gothic Victorian hell that Alice is treading through. The landscape is ever changing along the game. They are beautiful and detailed. They totally nailed the mood.
There's also plenty to read with the little captions that describe the designs, characters and stories. It gives a nice idea of how such a strange game came about. It's all very interesting to read.
Some of the artists involved in the book are Ken Wong, Sun Guoliang, Luis Melo, Hong Lei, Wu Yuehan, Ben Kerslake, Nako, Tyler Lockett, Fellipe Martins, Pu Jinsong, Wang Shenghua, Yuan Shaofeng, Jin Lei.
This is an outstanding art book. It should be one of the best for 2011.
The Art of Alice: Madness Returns is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | JP | CN)
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Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn
Video game Alice: Madness Returns:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.co.jp
Comments
can i embeded your videos?
can i embeded your videos?
@Panzerdracco Sure. Thanks
In reply to can i embeded your videos? by Panzerdracco (not verified)
@Panzerdracco
Sure. Thanks for asking. There's a Youtube version of this video if you need it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ZmfA4uTk8
I have bought tons of great
I have bought tons of great concept art books because of your blog! Thanks so much for reviewing those books in such a great way. The Alice book is in my cart already at amazon.
Super stoked for this gothic
Super stoked for this gothic art visionary masterpiece game. Been waiting for this book for a while. & this looks truly mind-blowing. Ordering this next..
thanks..i will post more of
thanks..i will post more of your videos...
Woot! My suggestion got
Woot! My suggestion got reviewed. I already bought the book knowing it would be great, but it was nice to see the review before mine arrived in the mail.
Wow this seems to be a
Wow this seems to be a wonderful artbook. Thanks for the review parka, good job again :)
Has anyone's pre-order for
Has anyone's pre-order for this book been cancelled by Bookdepository? D:
no, but I pre-ordered this
no, but I pre-ordered this book on amazon and am told that they don't know when it'll ship yet or something ... same goes for The Art of Cars 2 which was 'released' on June 1st <_<
I checked the publishers
I checked the publishers website and the 2nd printing is sold out. Looks like the 3rd printing will be available August 31st (according to Things From Another World). Dark Horse is selling an eBook version for $9.99 if you can't wait that long.
thanks for the info
thanks for the info WingsDJY
hopefully this tiem I'll get a copy as well, after all I had pre-ordered this ages ago <_<
Same here, criz. I've had it
Same here, criz. I've had it ordered from Amazon for a couple months now. Funny, I was hoping to flip through it before picking up the game. Now, I'll have it beaten before the book shows up :)
Thanks for great review,
Thanks for great review, Parka. I Can't wait to buy it.
IMO,i find this is BullS**T,
IMO,i find this is BullS**T, so many ppl buy this book are not even fans of the game, when this game was release bout 2 weeks ago locally, no many ppl even bought it, that means not many fans of this locally, yet in kino all of the artbooks are sold out???must be a classic case of local collectors here being monkey see monkey do .
Also for guys out there still hunting & can't wait for the august printing. The comic shop beside Kino in B J still has a copy ,which cost only a few dollars more than kino
Yeah why don't you settle
In reply to IMO,i find this is BullS**T, by Recce Team (not verified)
Yeah why don't you settle down, the bottom line is that this lovely artbook is a vastly more enjoyable experience than the unfortunately mediocre game, I don't blame anyone that chooses this but skips the game completely, they are correct to do so, IMO.
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