Giant new FPS is like Battlefield 1 with 100 players, and you can try it now

For any WWI shooter to be convincing, it needs to be big – it needs to have scale. Battlefield 1 works so well because it has giant maps, environmental destruction, and vehicles. Each match feels like a complete war unto itself; the sense of chaos and obliteration is consistent to the subject matter. Rising Storm and Hell Let Loose are two other examples, multiplayer FPS games based on real conflicts where large lobbies and a litany of mechanics and modes help emphasize the extent of the carnage. But one new shooter wants to go further. Combining realistic physics, dynamic weather, and 100-player lobbies, this is Over The Top WW1, and you can try it for yourself today.

Developed by Flying Squirrel, the team behind Battle Cry of Freedom and the Mount and Blade Warband expansion Napoleonic Wars, Over The Top is a sprawling FPS game set in the trenches and muddy, bloody terrain of The First World War. 200 players enter (you can also play solo, alongside 199 bots), and fight to control enormous, dynamically changing maps, all based on real locations.

When artillery shells explode, they create new foxholes and ridges. You can use a shovel to create a dugout, or pickaxes to carve out improvised cover. There are more than 50 weapons, and you can also pilot tanks and stationary guns. Oh, and you can swap to third person, if you’re more used to playing Helldivers than Battlefield.

As part of Steam Wargames Fest, which begins today, Monday April 28, Flying Squirrel has released a sweeping update for Over The Top. You can now form parties with friends, so you can stay in the same teams between matches and lobbies. There’s a new map, a range of new sniper rifles, and a dynamic weather system that lets you apply a different season to each battlefield.

Most importantly, however, the new Over The Top playtest is now live; between April 28 and Monday May 5, you can try the shooter for free. If you want to get access, just put in a request over on Steam.

Alternatively, try some of the other best war games, or maybe the best WW2 games on PC.

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