The best FPS of 2024 just got a surprise free update with 30 new maps, 9 new weapons, and just one cheeky cosmetic
Usually it's a very different ratio of cosmetics to maps is all I'll say.
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STRAFTAT, the winner of our Best FPS of 2024 award, has just come out with a beefy free update that consists of 30 new maps (plus three more for DLC-owning players), nine new weapons, new features and QoL tweaks, as well as a lone new suit for the arena shooter's delightfully ugly little potato men.
While I'm stuck on weekend news duty, PC Gamer's FPS-likers have been having a gay old time with the new goodies, fragging out like it's a 2002 LAN party amid the terminal decline of 2025. Among the new weapons, the katana feels so right it's shocking there wasn't one in the initial release of the game. I'll be curious to see how the AP mine changes up STRAFTAT's slapstick mines-only maps, while the failed '80s/'90s experimental "future guns" represented by the H&K CAWS and G11 were practically made for games like STRAFTAT—they certainly didn't get much play with the Bundeswehr.
As for the maps, "ReeperBahn," "Patio," and "Highwall" all have the names that most pique my FPS sicko interest, but I'll have to reserve judgement until I have time to check them out myself. I was also tickled by the addition of a lone new cosmetic suit—usually you expect FPS updates to be all cosmetics and maybe a map or two if you're lucky.
But STRAFTAT is a different kind of FPS, a free 1v1 arena shooter with a $5 DLC that doubles the size of the game. Fraternal developer duo The Lemaitre Bros told us they just made the 1v1 FPS they were dying to play, and I'm extremely grateful they did. You can check out STRAFTAT for yourself for free on Steam with no strings attached, but you'll probably be back for the DLC just like we were.
2025 games: This year's upcoming releases
Best PC games: Our all-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.


