Recent reviews by lconanl™

It's ok

Excellent game & my first Zelda experience!

Ignore the naysayers that only played this game to get a free game that they would probably never have played anyway.
This is a competent short story alternate reality game made by the devs of The Black Watchmen. I think they did a great job conveying the cosmic horror vibe, clearly drawing inspiration from Lovecraftian lore (try to input "cthulhu" and other gods' names as answers to see something different). The puzzles themselves, which are the only real gameplay element available, I found to be brain racking and impossible to solve without a guide. Of course, you should at least try to understand the clues the game gives you before looking up the answer in a guide. I would also suggest to listen to every recording, they're very well done (you're here for the story, right?), and not just play for achievements. And if you have the chance, play Moons of Madness directly after this for a complete experience.

Tomb Raider II continued to expand on the popularity and success of the first game, while offering a vastly different and superior experience from its sequel (for me at least). It seems that many would agree with this, considering that Tomb Raider II is the best-selling game in the franchise - or at least, it was until the AAA reboot trilogy came knocking.
Even though the graphics and gameplay remained mostly the same, the game is smoother, it doesn't require a DOS emulator to play it, has a better story (which is still minimalist), music and locations. During the course of the game, you will visit some unique environments and locales, some of which have only appeared in this game to the best of my knowledge: The Great Wall of China, Venice, an oil rig, a sunken ship at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea and the Tibetan mountains, complete with an ancient monastery and lost ice catacombs.
The ambience in this game is top-notch, partially thanks to Nathan Mccree, the composer for the first three games; the feeling this game gives you is quite unique too. Again, save for the newer games, this is the only game in the series where you really go out of your way to become Rambo. By the end of the game, aside from a dozen or so species you've selflessly brought to extinction, you will also leave hundreds of families fatherless (or grandfatherless in some cases, to be thorough).
Also, I should mention that the final boss is a dragon, there is a level that makes you wonder if Lara is a drug addict (well, two if you count the expansion, The Golden Mask), as well as others that will surely make you poop your pants, and some of the monsters in the later stages include abominable yetis, giant spiders, Mega Ultra Chicken (kudos for those who get the reference) and ultra tough Genghis Khan wannabes.
All in all, Tomb Raider II remains to this day the highlight of this excellent action-adventure series, leaving you questioning what you've been doing with your life before playing it and wanting to experience more of it. You should buy it if you know what's good for you!

We did ask for this, too bad we're not getting a conclusion to this story anytime soon.

You (can) play as a dead baby in this one.
9.999999.../10

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is the second installment in the series, a game that showcased what the hitman formula was truly about - by correcting every single flaw of the first game and perfecting it to what we know and love today. To put it bluntly, this game excels in every area, except the AI department.
Still, this only flaw doesn't really make itself noticed for most of the game; the only times where the enemy AI is a problem are the second and third mission of the Japanese chapter of the game, and that is only for players trying to achieve a high score - some may be put off from finishing the game because of them, but I highly recommend that you don't give up so easily.
Anyway, now that the flaw(s) are out of the way, let's get to the good part. This game looked fantastic for it's time (not necessarily top-notch, but well above average), had a brilliant orchestral score (the same Jesper Kyd - the composer from the first game - is responsible again), a much-needed save system and also a new scoring system, which became a staple for the series ever since (depending on your performance on a level, the highest ranking you can achieve is Silent Assassin - this is where the game can be challenging, especially if you plan on collecting all weapons; also, the number of saves that are available depend on your difficulty setting - for the veterans, the only respectable option is the proffesional mode, which if I'm not mistaken doesn't allow any saves; the only exceptions are the bonus saves in some of the harder levels; oh, and did I mention that it makes the game harder by improving enemy AI?).
I could go on forever explaining why I think this is one of the best games ever, but that wouldn't make for an entairtaining review now, would it? I'll only add that there are a ton of weapons to collect in this game (you can see them in your neat little shed), more missions than ever (this is by far the longest game in the franchise), more diversity than ever (this game takes 47 to Sicily, Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Afghanistan and India) and even the story is a lot more interesting this time around (although nothing can top Ortmeyer's speech from the first game). That's it. Now go and play this amazing game for yourself!