Yesterday is the title of upcoming point-and-click game from Pendulo Studios – the people that brought you the Runaway trilogy which sold over a million copies. In anticipation of their latest offering, they have launched the official website for Yesterday and also have three brand new screenshots of the game.

Yesterday tells a dark tale full of twists and turns, with 4 possible endings. Throughout, you play as three different characters, including John Yesterday, who has had his memory wiped clean. You can learn more about the game over at the website.

Yesterday is set for release in March for PC

Cast your mind back to 1996. There were already some fighting games that gave you the option to get tooled up and use weapons to destroy your opponent, Samurai Showdown was the premier implement-based effort, but that was in 2D. Battle Arena Toshinden was the decidedly off-brand choice of fighter and had first showed up around the time of the PlayStation launch. SNES owners had the dubious joys of the curious Weapon Lord. But it was the same year that England’s soccer heroes strapped themselves into the infamous Dentist’s Chair that Namco’s Project Soul team announced that using brilliant, alchemic wizardry, they had married their time-honoured 3D Tekken style combat with the use of bloody big swords and other tools of ass-kicking destruction. “WELCOME, TO THE STAGE OF HISTORY!” was the booming shout when you stepped into the character selection screen. The game was, of course, Soul Edge.

The similarities between the System 11 arcade hardware upon which it was built meant that Namco were able to produce a stunning port of the game for the PlayStation, much the same as they did for the first two Tekken titles, and would go on to do with their classic enhanced version of Point Blank 2. I fell in love with the game, and even went on to own the arcade board myself in later life. If you think I am talking a load of old rose-tinted bollocks, go ahead and have a look at the game running for yourself. Sure, it has dated a tad, but it still moves beautifully, and is a very important slice of fighting legend, sowing the seed for what was to come.

Anyone who knows their fighting games will tell you what happened next. Using the newer, more powerful System 12 arcade hardware, a sequel was released in 1998. Soul Calibur built upon the solid foundations laid down by its predecessor, introducing a gaggle of excellent new characters, stunning new visuals, and an earth shattering new eight way running system, which forever changed the way players would circumnavigate, and beat the hell out of their opponents. The game was an early killer app, and no doubt sold many a console, when the ill-fated Dreamcast was released. It was another Namco classic which I played to death, and remains one of the best one-on-one experiences ever conceived.

There was an excellent sequel in 2002, which was sublime in the arcades, but a content-packed classic for the next generation of consoles, introducing a deep single player mode which built on the meagre weapon customisation found in the PlayStation version of Soul Edge, and some console-specific additional characters which either added to the soul experience or it, depending on how happy you were with the likes of Link and Todd McFarlane’s Spawn throwing it down with Mitsurugi and his homies.

Sadly, the third instalment of Project Soul’s awesome vision was, until now, about as good as it got. A third Soul Calibur was pretty much more of the same, an underwhelming prospect when you consider what a leap forward the second one had taken. The move onto the ensuing generation of consoles was a curious one, rather than a canonical sequel harnessing the enhanced powers of the Xbox 360 et al, Namco decided to go with the dodgy Soul Calibur: Legends, a poorly received action adventure spin off for the Nintendo Wii, which did about as much for the franchise as Castlevania: Judgement and Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero did for theirs. There was a Soul Calibur IV, as well as a cut down version for the PSP, in 2008. It featured online play, had some excellent character customisation options, and a challenge based Tower of Souls single player mode which is a clear pre-cursor to the similar offering in the recent Mortal Kombat update. But as a fan, I was not alone in being put off by the jarring inclusion of a clutch of Star Wars characters, which seemed even more at-odds with the rest of the roster as putting Zelda’s Link forward as a contender in years previous. Yoda simply does not belong in the Soul Calibur universe, first and foremost because he is a goddamn Star Wars character, but more importantly because he is a shortarse, who, within the game engine, is immune to grab attacks, giving him an unfair advantage.

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Ezio aside, Namco had resisted the temptation of including any silly fish out of water for the long awaited sixth instalment.

As you will read from my review, Soul Calibur V is a brutal, sword swinging return to form, one which marries an excellent battle system with stunning visuals and a water-tight online mode, dragging the well-travelled combatants right into the here and now. With promised downloadable content, and a wealth of stuff to see, do, and unlock (the trophies and achievements for online play alone would keep most people chugging along for months), we can see this new instalment being a popular fighting fixture for a long time to come.

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.

To celebrate the retail, boxed copy launch of The Binding of Isaac, publisher Merge Games has launched a competition giving you the chance to ask Edmund McMillen (creator of The Binding of Isaac) any question you like, and to also win a copy of The Binding of Isaac – The Unholy Edition.

To be in with a chance of winning this prize all you have to do is head on over to the Merge Games Facebook page (which can be found here) and press the ‘Like’ button. Once the page reaches a certain number fans can start submitting their questions, and at the end of the competition the 10 best questions will be chosen and Mr McMillen will answer that. Those who have their question chosen will also receive a retail copy of The Binding of Isaac – The Unholy Edition, which includes a DRM-free version of the game, a free Steam gift key, poster, 40-page artbook and the full soundtrack.

Game: Puddle

Developer: Neko Entertainment

Publisher: Konami

Available On: Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network (Reviewed on Xbox LIVE Arcade)

The last time I took a look at a Konami published download-only game, it was the unremarkable undead carve-up, Zombie Apocalypse, a loud, gung-ho shooter which left me feeling annoyed and disappointed. My latest experience with one of their offerings could not be further away from that twin-stick nonsense.

Go back a couple of years, and some of you may remember a lovely little sleeper of a title for WiiWare, the innovative water-based puzzler Fluidity. The premise was simple, using the horizontally-held Wiimote, you tilt left or right to guide your watery mass around a maze-like setting, avoiding obstacles along the way. I love these sort of games, despite my limited command of the subject and outright hostility toward my teacher of it at school, I am a sucker for physics-based titles. Grant me control over the awesome powers of gravity, momentum and all of these other things I barely understand, and put me in charge of negotiating a maze or obstacle-laden course, and I am your man; and I am in my element.

Created by a bunch of French students, and picked up by Neko Entertainment who helped craft it into the finished article, Puddle, despite a pretty mediocre sounding name, is another amazing liquid-based puzzle game, available for a few quid on XBLA and PSN, and fully deserving of your time.

Puddle is simple in premise, and begins in genius fashion. An unknown, shadowy figure walks past, and places a cup of coffee onto a table. With that, you are left to your own devices. I can’t think of any other game in living memory that has kicked things off with such an arbitrary scene. There are no pop up boxes explaining what you do with this cuppa; so what the hell do you do next? So you start messing around with the buttons, and soon discover that you can manipulate the world around the cup, by using the trigger buttons. Alternating between left and right, the coffee will start to move in the cup. Keep that back and forth motion going, and sooner or later the cup will fall, and the liquid will pour into the drain below – your goal.

Despite such humble beginnings, Puddle takes you on a journey which sees you attempting to guide various liquids through all manner of settings. You will find yourself rotating away in a number of locations, through elaborate mazes of pipework, through power stations and science labs, past hungry looking flytraps and even through the human body.

Different levels also bring different types of liquid to guide toward the finish, which bring their own pitfalls. Mercury-like liquid metal can slow down if you do not pass through furnaces at an opportune time, whereas nitro-glycerine is extremely volatile and liable to explode if you are not careful. There are other factors to consider too, a jaunt onboard a space rocket sees the associated issues with gravity, for example. And along the way you will encounter the games equivalent of boss battles, where you face a particularly taxing obstacle or situation that you will have to negotiate in a specific and calculated manner, often against the clock.

With gorgeous soft focus backdrops which perfectly compliment the bold, often silhouetted objects and scenery in the foreground, and pleasant ambient music and soothing splishy splashy sound effects, Puddle is a treat for the senses. It is also bloody hard at times. You are awarded a ranking after completing a level, which is awarded based upon how long you have taken to finish, and how much of your precious liquid remains. The game will also tell you how many attempts you have made on each stage, which adds an extra gnawing sense of frustration as you repeatedly fail to prevent your unstable liquid from exploding, or end up getting assaulted by a carnivourous plant for the 29th time. The defeatists amongst you will be pleased to hear that the game does let you “skip” a particularly tricky stage, however you can only do this twice, with the second time permitted only once you have returned to complete the original level you chickened out on.

There are a nice amount of levels to flow through, and a superb customisable laboratory mode which allows you to create your own crazy courses, with more items and obstacles becoming unlocked the further you progress through the game. Impressive stuff, this, when you consider there are full priced games out there that are screaming out for a level creation mode (Crush3d being a very recent example).

VERDICT: Puddle is one of the more enjoyable puzzle games I have played in recent years. Loco Roco, and even Soul Bubbles (how many times do I have to pimp Soul Bubbles before people listen?) are valid touchstones here, and there is no getting away from the obvious similarities it shares with the aforementioned Wiiware title, but the way this has been carried out is highly commendable. It looks great, sounds great and there are plenty of genuinely innovative surprises along the way that harness the almost limitless possibilities of liquids. This is a new high point for Neko, who previously held the dubious honour of bringing forth Crazy Frog Racer unto the masses. A superb effort all round.

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When Shank was released in late 2010, it was a surprise package thatgained a cult following. The side-scrolling beat-em-up is blood-filled and has a distinct, expressive animation style. Featuring co-operative multiplayer, the game harked back to retro titles such as Final Fight.

Well now Electronic Arts and KLEI Entertainment can proudly announce that Shank 2 will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC next week. The game features an overhauled control system – that now offers more accuracy, there are now many new moves and executions for disposing of your foes in a variety of vicious ways, a whole arsenal of new weapons and a host of bloofd-thirsty thugs to fight against. On top of all of that, there is a new survival mode, which also features co-op, where players defend their supplies against waver after wave of goons.

The first game won many awards for its distinct and exciting 2d drawn art style, and the game is packed to the rafters with intricate animations that occur when you are reigning down violence on your foes, with Chainsaws, Knives and Guns – for example. We had a lot of fun with the first title, and can’t wait to see how the formula has been refined for this sequel. So rev up your Chainsaw, and ready your Knife, its time to fight for your life.

Check out the new trailers and images below:

Shank 2 will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PC and the PlayStation Network in Europe on February 8, 2012 for 800 Microsoft Points or £7.99.

Capcom, the CALM charity and dance group One Motion want to see you dance (sucka!) to the beat of your favourite Street Fighter X Tekken combatant. Show ‘em your moves!Street Dancing has been everywhere over the past couple of years, with some groups’ routines being inspired by video games on many an occasion. With that in mind, Capcom are asking fighting game fans to act out their favourite special moves on camera.

If you want to get involved, check out the Street Fighter X Tekken soundtrack here, then have a little look at the following two YouTube videos for inspiration. Video your versions of these iconic moves, and send them to competition@capcom.com. Entries will be judged by representatives of Capcom, CALM (The charity that aims to reduce suidide rates for men under 35) and members of dance group One Motion – Two finalists will battle in a live event, with the winner having their routine profesionally filmed. The winner will also receive tickets to Move It 2012, at London’s Olympia on 9-11th March.

Full details are here – So get crackin’!

Everyone loves Worms – They’re pink, slimy and wield rocket launchers and Sheep with the kind of determination that other annalids only dream of. Now your PS3 can get Worms, and just in time for Valentine’s Day, thanks to the digital release of Worms: Ultimate Mayhem.

Worms has been one of those games that hasn’t changed much over the past two decades, but is still as enjoyable  as ever. Released on 14th February, the PS3 release of Ultimate Mayhem crams the content from both Worms 3D and Worms 4 to create a cocktail of small scale violence, with cartoony overtones.

This 3D Worms title collects 60 single-player missions, 38 weapons & utilties, masses of challenges, graphical themes, a barrel of customisable options plus online multiplayer for up to four players.

Worms: Ultimate Mayhem has been available on Xbox 360 and PC since last September, but will be  on PlayStation 3 on Tuesday February 14th, for the price of £9.99 (with a discount available for PlayStation Plus subscribers).