EA’s First M-Rated Game Was Way Ahead of Its Time

EA’s very first M-rated game came out twenty-five years ago, and it would have been a bigger success if it had launched today. EA has been a major player in the world of gaming for decades, with the publisher’s first titles hitting the market all the way back in 1983. In the years since, it’s become a varied publisher with several types of game franchises and genre conventions in its releases.

One of the most unique entries in their catalog came out on December 5, 2000, with a first for the publisher — an M-rating to reflect the game’s scariest elements and more violent action. The game was a reinvention of a classic piece of literature, reimagining some iconic characters in a decidedly grim and Gothic way. While the game was a cult classic when it launched, EA’s first swing at a mature-audiences title would have been a hit if it came out for modern audiences.

American McGee’s Alice Was An Outlier For EA Games

American McGee’s Alice, which debuted 25 years ago, was a wild riff on the story of Alice in Wonderland that feels like it would land better in today’s environment. The brainchild of creative director American McGee, Alice was inspired by a desire to develop a game that eschewed the space marines and gunplay he’d seen used frequently while working at id Software. Landing on a new approach that took a fresh look at the Alice in Wonderland story and characters, the concept went through several iterations before landing on the Gothic aesthetic.

The developers leaned into the horror elements, creating a vivid and dangerous version of Wonderland that was just as much a haunting nightmare as a whimsical dreamscape. When the game was released by EA, it was dubbed violent and scary enough to warrant an M-rating. While this likely impacted the overall sales of the game, McGee embraced the decision because it meant that parents would be less likely to be confused by the concept and buy it for their children. American McGee’s Alice follows a version of Alice who, after escaping Wonderland, became the only member of her family to survive a fire. After spending years in an asylum, Alice is drawn back into Wonderland, which has evolved into a more twisted and frightening place as the increasingly monstrous Queen of Hearts spreads his influence.

The action-adventure game plays similarly to many titles of the era, with a focus on a blend of exploration, action, and puzzle-solving. What separated the title from its peers was a focus on visuals that stood out, with the worldbuilding in particular heralded by critics as an especially impressive aspect of the game. While the underlying game mechanics weren’t anything unique or impressive, they were strong enough to hang the game’s more in-depth and inventive worldbuilding on. The game’s version of Alice and the citizens of Wonderland were all twisted in creative ways, embracing a darker edge that made them stand out.

American McGee’s Alice Was Ahead Of Its Time

American McGee’s Alice was a dark fantasy adventure that was a good peer to the creations of Tim Burton that brought a bit of Gothic-coded flavor to the late 90s and early 2000s. While the game wasn’t a massive success for EA, it became something of a cult classic that, over time, sold over 1.5 million copies. The popularity of the art design and storytelling even generated interest in a feature film adaptation, with Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream creator Wes Craven even briefly involved in the project. It never came to fruition, however, with the only true follow-up to the game being 2011’s belated sequel, Alice: Madness Returns.

However, it’s hard not to imagine how much more receptive the modern era would have been to embracing American McGee’s Alice. Darker reinterpretations of classic characters and stories have become more common in the years since Alice launched. Franchises like God of War took Greek mythology in brutal directions, and games like Lies of P reimagined Pinocchio with a darker edge. In an age where films like Wicked and shows like Wednesday play with the more visually grim aspects of their source material in more complex ways, something like American McGee’s Alice could have really landed with audiences.

A decade after the video game launched, Tim Burton’s own darker turn on the story of Alice in Wonderland became a billion-dollar behemoth for Disney. While the art design and graphics of American McGee’s game were heralded at the time, the twisted designs would likely benefit from the graphical potential of modern gaming. The central narrative could have been more overt in its exploration of mental health and sanity, given how perspectives on those aspects of life have evolved over the years. American McGee’s Alice was a fun title with strong worldbuilding, but it lacked the full space and scope that could have made it great. Twenty-five years later, it’s fun to imagine just how far the title could have gone in the modern climate.