Hell Let Loose and Dark and Darker

Games of killing each other.

Hell Let Loose

This is a 50 v 50 multiplayer army first person shooter set in World War II. Unlike the previous PvP games I've been trying where there are no servers to play this one was the opposite: most of the servers are full! I did manage to finally get in to experience the pretty decent game play which pits teams in historical battles and lets you drive vehicles without going to the ridiculous stunt level of the Battlefield series. Your class determines your (somewhat editable) load out and what vehicles you can drive (tanks need a tank crew person), and bullets are one hit killers: you'll probably never see who shot you (though bleeding out is lengthy enough for a medic to reach you).

That's a pretty accurate simulator right there, though it obviously can be a frustrating one. Squads with good leadership will dominate, and the leader is usually the guy with the binoculars because it is really hard to spot people in the distance. If you like this sort of game and don't mind the fatal bullets, definitely give this one a try.

Dark and Darker

A different sort of PvP game for sure, in this one you make your fantasy character class and then can optionally team up with up to two players to enter a dungeon to loot its spoils. The kicker is there are other adventuring parties in there, and they aren't friendly! I think the term for this now is extraction PvP? Loot the dungeons, loot the monsters, loot the other guys and get out when you find the exit portals which appear at some point late in the match. I went in as a solo rogue and was surprised with the amount of things I could interact with. Furniture, traps, light sources, giant spiders biting my face... Unlike Hell Let Loose you will definitely see what kills you in this game.

And no, it wasn't the spiders - it was some cleric player who came around the corner with a flame strike. :P Definitely interesting and this time frustrating for a different reason: you don't escape, you don't get any loot but anything you used is gone. PvP isn't my cup of tea but there's better odds of me trying this one again than Hell Let Loose.