Ubisoft’s multi-disciplinary extreme sports sandbox Rider’s Republic has opened up a few times ahead of launch. Fitting, then, that the publisher is giving you one last shot to get in early with a free Trial Week starting tomorrow through October 27.
There’s a catch, mind. While Rider’s Republic will be free to try during the course of the week, you’ll be limited to four hours of playtime. Fortunately, any progress earned will carry over to the full game, should you decide to commit fully to a life of x-treme stunting.
Unlike Republic’s last free trial, Ubisoft have left the (somewhat tedious) tutorial in this time around—a bit rubs considering the four hour time limit. But should you beat the tutorial and earn 20 stars in activities you’ll be able to compete in a “Mad Challenge”, with a chance to win a custom real-life bike on which to break every bone in your body.
Our Chris jumped into Rider’s Republic earlier this year, and while he chafed against against some Ubisoft open world tropes (collectables and checklisting, mostly), he found a perfectly fine sports game with plenty of potential for making your own fun.
I’m personally sceptical that a game trying to pull off half a dozen different sports can give any one of them the depth and focus they deserve. But while skateboarding is having something of a renaissance right now, we truly don’t get enough games on the other extreme sports. If you’re curious whether Rider’s Republic can stick the landing, this free week’s as good a time as any to give it a shot.