A Week in Gaming: 30/01/2012 – 03/02/2012

It’s Friday, it’s the end of the week, which means it’s time for another instalment of A Week in Gaming! Each week I bring you the best content that the GodisaGeek team have produced over the past few days, including the latest reviews, the biggest news stories, and plently of other features and delights.

This week’s haul includes an unprecendented 6 reviews, 3 stellar podcasts, a preview, an interview, but unfortunately no partridge in a pear tree. Trust me, I’m as disappointed as you are.

REVIEWS

The reviews in this week’s A Week in Gaming are only a sample of what the GodisaGeek team have produced this week. For more reviews, including those for the latest map pack for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and the new Dead Island DLC, be sure to head to our Review section.

Trine 2

Our first review this week is of Trine 2, from developer Frozenbyte, and comes courtesy of Martin. He thinks that Trine 2 is a “game that everyone should be playing”, and is currently “one of the most gorgeous games on the market”. Whilst Martin found that the gameplay can be a bit frustrating at times, “the addition of a multiplayer option already makes it much more appealing than the previous game”.

You can find Martin’s full review here. In the meantime, here’s a trailer for the game.

Soul Calibur V

Sean took no prisoners in his review of Soul Calibur V this week. He found the latest entry in the Soul Calibur franchise to be the “best realisation of Project Soul’s 16 year old creation”, and a title that “Director Daishi Odashima can be truly proud of”. Full to the brim with features and modes, Sean is confident that this game will “hold your interest for many moons to come”.

Read Sean’s full review of Soul Calibur V right here, and have a gander at a trailer for the title below.

NeverDead

This week Colm had plently of ‘armless fun in reviewing NeverDead (my apologies for the pun there, but I couldn’t help myself). Whilst he found the dismemberment to be “really creative”, Colm bemoaned the “awful acting, the volatile camera and sub-par gunplay” and concluded that NeverDead “doesn’t stack up well against its peers in the third person shooter world”.

Read Colm’s entire review here, and check out a First Look of the game below.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

This week Tony donned his favourite eyepatch in order to review the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. He calls the collection a “retro gamers dream”, and found that with a “HD overhaul and fantastic gameplay it is fair to say that Metal Gear has stood the test of time”.

You can read Tony’s mammoth review of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection right here, and you can also check out the fantastic 45 minute First Look that he produced below.

Puddle

Sean reviewed the Xbox LIVE Arcade and PSN title Puddle this week, and found it to be anything but a damp title (see what I did there?). He found the game to be one of the “more enjoyable puzzle games” he’s played in recent years, a title which “looks great, sounds great” and has “plenty of genuinely innovative surprises”.

You can find Sean’s full review here.

Mobile Monday

Finally this week we have Martin’s regular look at all things mobile, in Mobile Monday.

This week’s titles included: F1 2011, a game that is “going to be right up your alley” if you’re a fan of the sport; Order Up!, which Martin found to be “a great game that’s surrounded by gorgeous graphics”; The Glowing Void 2, “a good way to waste away a couple of hours”; and finally Hero Academy, “a game that everyone should be downloading”, and one that if you are a fan of chess or strategy games in general “you’d be missing out by not giving Hero Academy a try”.

You can read Martin’s full review of each title in this week’s Mobile Monday, which also includes links to the App Store for each game.

NEWS

Of course, it’s not just reviews here at GodisaGeek. We also really enjoy bringing you the best videogame news. Here’s a taster of what’s been going on this week. As always, simply click on the headline to be taken to the full story.

Aliens: Colonial Marines ‘Contact’ CGI Trailer
I love the Alien films, and so I have high hopes that this new game from Gearbox Software will do the Xenomorphs justice. If this trailer is anything to go by, they at least seem to have nailed the presentation and atmosphere.

Dragon’s Dogma Release Date Revealed, Resident Evil 6 Demo is a Bonus!
If you are looking for more incentive to pick up Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma, then how does the idea of being able to play a demo of Resident Evil 6 sound?

Launch Trailer and DLC Announcement for Final Fantasy XIII-2
Final Fantasy XIII-2 launched today, and to celebrate Square Enix released a new trailer for the game, as well as revealing some of the DLC that will be made available for the title.

Gotham City Impostors Release Date Revealed
After a slight delay, Gotham City Impostors, which sees teams of Batman and The Joker impersonators battling each other, has a release date.

Confirmed Release Date for Alan Wake on PC
Sticking with release dates, Remedy Entertainment have announced the release date of the long-awaited PC version of Alan Wake.

Marty Mcfly & Doc Brown Confirmed for Retail Release
Without putting the space-time continuum at risk, Deep Silver and Telltale games have revealed they will be bring the 5-part Back to the Future game to retail later this year. Great scott!

New Trailer for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Released
This year is a good year for fans of Resident Evil, with a total of 3 games in the franchise being released throughout 2012. This offering, from developer Slant Six Games, takes us back to Raccoon City, and puts players in command of an Umbrella Security Squad or a US Spec Ops team. The characters of each team are introduced in this trailer.

Bloody New Shank 2 Trailers and Images Will Tear You a New One
Shank was quite the violent little game, and if these trailers and images are anything to go by, the sequel looks to up the ante somewhat.

And that’s it for news this week! To stay up-to-date with the latest news in the gaming world be sure to follow our Twitter or ‘like’ our Facebook page.

ARTICLES

I’ve got a few articles this week for your perusing pleasure, including a preview and an interview.

First up we have a preview from Rik, who pulled on his silliest looking hat and hit the slopes to bring us a preview of the newest SSX game. (Snowboarders wear silly hats yes? Or is that just skiers?)

Rik was also on hand to sit down and interview three members of the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier development team: Eric Couzian, Game Director; Jean-Marc Geffroy, Creative Director; and Adrien Lacey, IP Development Director. You can read all of Rik’s interview with these guys right here.

Finally this week, it was the return of Robin and Retro Corner. This month, Robin took a look back at NFL Blitz 2000, the 1999 title from developer Midway Games.

THE GODISAGEEK PODCAST NETWORK

We finish this week with a look at the latest episodes of the three podcasts that make up the GodisaGeek Podcast Network.

Firstly, there was episode 4 of the Godcast. This week the boys celebrate the announcement of Resident Evil 6, before letting everyone know their favourite achievements of the past few days.

Episode 4 of Saint & Greensie, titled “We Won’t Divulge That Kind of Size”, saw Sean and Colm discuss handheld gaming, from the PS Vita to smartphones.

Finally this week, Ding! reached episode 4. Topics this week include patch days, and the ability to use in-game currency to buy real-world items.

And that is it for this week’s edition of A Week in Gaming. I’ll be back as usual next week, so until then goodbye!

Don’t forget, if you want to add your thoughts about anything covered in this week’s article then you can leave us a comment below, or you can Tweet us, write on our Facebook Wall, or post a message in our Forums.