Far Cry 6

Far Cry 6 is comfort food, and I mean that as a genuine compliment after nine other shooters that all ask something of you. The island is big. The outposts are familiar. The gunplay is competent without ever being memorable. I put in a lazy Sunday afternoon and cleared three outposts without thinking too hard about it, which is exactly what I wanted that day. The formula hasn't evolved much since the last few entries in the series, and if you've played any recent Far Cry, you already know the rhythm here. Two-player co-op is a nice bonus for solo campaigns you want to share. It's the easiest entry point on this list, just not the most exciting one.

Two players only. That is the first thing to say, because if you have a group of three or four, this immediately becomes a different conversation. For a duo, though, Far Cry 6 is probably the least fuss open-world co-op game on this list. You drop in, you clear outposts, you unlock the map, you occasionally blow up something that probably should not be blown up. My brother visited for a weekend and we played through a chunk of it on Saturday evening without reading a tutorial, without watching a setup video, and without arguing about settings. Native PS5 version, solid performance, and the kind of moment-to-moment fun that doesn't ask anything of you before it starts delivering.

Far Cry 6 has a gorgeous tropical island, a charismatic villain you see far less of than the trailers suggested, and a combat sandbox that is genuinely enjoyable for the first 15 hours. The problem is that the formula has not meaningfully evolved since Far Cry 3, and once you have cleared a few guerrilla camps and unlocked the map in sections, you have seen what the game is. I do not think that makes it a bad open world, just a predictable one. It suits players who like Far Cry and want more of it, and through PS Plus it is a perfectly reasonable weekend pick. Just do not expect it to surprise you.