You can play Far Cry 5 for free this weekend
Big sky discount
Though I couldn’t name a character or recount a story beat from it, I played Far Cry 5 for 36 hours. That’s not bad. I did a lot of shooting, adventuring and crafting, and then moved onto another shiny treat in my library (or returned to Overwatch). You can probably see and do everything I did during the upcoming free weekend. It stretches from Thursday August 5th (tomorrow) at 2pm until Monday August 9th, and lets you play the whole game solo or with a co-op buddy.
The Far Cry formula is set in stone nowadays. You and your small resistance group battle a charasmatic local despot and his followers. This one is set in Montana. Lots to see and do.
What tends to happen with these giant, open world co-op games is that I play with my BFF Tom, who enjoys a careful and considered approach to most games in order to maximise his loot. I appreciate the stealthy approach, but don’t mind when things go wrong. My main memory of Far Cry 5 is the pair of us dirt-biking across Montana, never quite making it to where we wanted to go because we usually spotted something interesting along the way. If we got to an Outpost, we’d perfectly time our assaults together. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as taking out two snipers or alarms at the same time.
It’s a big game, and Ubisoft have given you ample time to see most of it during the upcoming weekend. But should you want to carry on playing, the game and its extras are massively discounted by up to 85% depending on which version you want to get.
If you download it from the Ubisoft Store, you can play it from 5th August at 2pm BST. Those using the Epic Games Store or Stadia will have access from 6pm later that day. Pre-loads will be starting today.