I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to learn that Ubisoft has released a few of its PC titles for download - absolutely free. Among them is Far Cry, the 2004 shooter that upset the first person shooter category and stunned just about every gamer with tight game design, incredible graphics, and a modern story.
Free, of course, does not come without some caveats. The game is obviously a test of what ad-sponsored gaming could be. My opinion on the experience thus far:
The ad-supported version of Far Cry does not include in-game ads. That is, the levels have not been altered to include advertisements. Where you will get banners and short, 15-second clips, however, are in the game menus and before certain loading points. The banner ads certainly feel out of place in the menus, but they don't obstruct or distract at all. The video clips cannot be skipped. This worried me most, as Far Cry is a difficult game that will require reloading quite a bit. Luckily, out of about ten checkpoint reloads, I only saw the video once.
Also, the game version is 1.4, the latest version of Far Cry, as far as I can tell from the Ubisoft website. I have not tried to enable the quicksave feature of the game, nor have installed any mods. But the full-functionality of the game is thus-far intact, and I'm enjoying my time playing through it.
Thus far, if acquiring a free game means seeing only a few banner ads and the occasional short video clip, sign me up. If nothing else, this is a great way to release older titles for free, and I hope Ubisoft's experiment goes well.
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