14 DAY TRIAL // Andrei Dumitrescu: As I get older, my gaming horizons are getting narrower and that means that I constantly return to the types of video games I have loved over the years and their most recent incarnations.
Thus, this weekend I plan to lose myself in the Conquest of Paradise expansion for Europa Universalis IV, trying to make sure that all the core mechanics make sense before I actually manage to launch a long-term campaign using either Burgundy or Bohemia.
The title is designed to introduce some random elements to the colonization process but I traditionally tend to ignore that area of the game in order to focus on European wars of conquest.
When grand strategy begins to tire me, I will return, without fail, to Game of Thrones Ascent in order to try to get a few more rare drops from enemy camps before the current Alliance versus Alliance game phase finally ends.
I like being part of a wider effort to achieve a goal, even if the everyday commitment required can become a lot to handle.
Andrei Dobra: This weekend I'm going portable, as I'll continue my journey through Soul Sacrifice while trying to perform killer tricks in OlliOlli, both for the PS Vita.
Soul Sacrifice, despite being a handheld game, is surprisingly complex and has quite a lot of innovative mechanics, for better or worse.
Meanwhile, OlliOlli is a challenging skateboarding simulator that manages to use the 2D side-scrolling system and the portable PS Vita to its advantage.
While I'm still having problems with the controls, which are really finicky, it is quite fun and the feeling you get from nailing great tricks is impressive.
When I put down the PS Vita for charging, I’ll shift to the PC in order to try out Insurgency, the upcoming shooter that's currently in Early Access via Steam.