The gamefaqs reviews gave it a B/B+ rating when I left this morning to do my running around york, so I figured I'd pick it up. Dumb EA, not including a physical manual because they're trying to reduce paper usage. Just a folded piece of paper with text and the game key.
For the uninitiated, it's a console port. Thus, the lack of graphics options is staggering. There's just the requisite AA, resolution, gamma, etc... however, it's running on the Unreal engine, so you can kind of tweak things in the proper .ini files (you have to in order to break the soft cap of 31 fps. Stupid devs). It DOES support physx though, and while my machine has that set to low, the game runs fine on a Athlon 6400+ and Nvidia 8800GTX. WOOOO FOR DX9!
For those that're willing to take the $50 plunge, you'll be handsomely rewarded. The game is visually twisted, and I mean that in a "Tim Burton and then some" kind of way. I rather like the odd, twisted and macabre, so this fits right in with my mindset. It plays like the original Alice did, in that you run and jump around in the 3rd person while fighting crazy Wonderland baddies. The voice acting is really good, as well. Controls are fine, mouse/keyboard or gamepad are supported. WSAD. I didn't see any option to change mouse sensitivity, which kinda irked me despite having a Razer Mamba. Keep that in mind.
You have to "activate" this game over the 'net with EA servers, but it doesn't seem to have a install/uninstall limit thing like Bioshock did. Not sure if this is a once and done type of deal, because it DOES say that it's activating it for the machine you install it on, but you also have to log in with a EA account and thus your game key is tied to that account. Pretty painless process, but still dumb. DUMB LIKE A MOOSE.
For what little I've played (the game says I have 2% complete), it's worth the $50. That's really odd, too. I don't see that often. Solid B+ game that actually has a story.
So yeah, there you go. Unbiased review.