Praising Mods!

I love the Mod. That is, Game Modification not the Mod Sub-Culture that originated from the sixties (Mod Wolves are quite a different matter).

My purchases of PC Games have several factors (Re-Playability, Originality, Fun, Specs and Modding if you want the full list) and if a game is more or less open for the successful community that follows to use the tools to transform it into something better or completely different then, Game Developers you've got my sold. Mods are the extreme version of customisation in gaming which also appeals to me.

The first ever Mod I cut my teeth on, what the originally named mod called Mod 1, For Cossacks European Wars (And the Art of War Expansion) which reskinned a huge amount of units and added several more. I was so overjoyed the mass armies of Clone Pikemen and Musket Infantry were gone I cried. At last, many men in the armies of European Wars would not should men on their on side because the blood on their identikit uniforms made them look like the Generic European Red Army.

It also gave me three more cannons. Anything with old fashioned Cannons is awesome. Trust me on this.

Then came Forgotten Hope, for BF1942. I caught the 2nd or 3rd Beta release and it was a pretty big damn Mod. It should be. As much as I loved Battlefield 1942, I hate the rushed design of the 2nd World War (Damn you EA!) , Unrealistic Weapon fire, Tanks with Cardboard armour and Russians not having the PPSh. Downloading the the thing and updates for it was always a hassle, but I think it was worth it because the amount of detail with new armour, weapons and heavily detailed maps based on proper Battles of the 2nd World War was so damn worth it. It also unlocked and added several voice commands for the Axis and Allies as well as introducing the Aussies with the best voice Commands of all. FH plans to return in Battlefield 2 and possibly will be ported over to BF3 (ugh).

Another good Mod? The Creators of Terrae Expungnae for Rome: Total War demand Medals and several Awards for gaming alone. Vanilla Rome Total War is fun, But at times you want tear your hair out at the whacky. Who skinned these Romans? Why is Rome a three state nation!? WTF! PIGS!? DOGS!? Thankfully, TE removed all that rubbish. It also re skinned all the armies, united Rome, added several more factions and revamped the more silly ones (The Egypt is now, thank god Grecian Themed like it was back them instead of Komedy Asterix) made the Campaign Map much much bigger (Right up to India) and tweaked Combat Values with the Units themselves to make it more epic. They also redid the Battlefields in the new map, making each one unique. Worth getting if you want an epic, easier and less silly game of RTW.

The Cinematic Mod of Max Payne is also quite fun. Max swaps his battered leather jacket for a sweeping post Matrix Gun-Fu Trench Coat, shade and stubble as does Mona albeit both contract a lethal form of RSI for holding those heavy hand guns (Trust me, when you unarmed or using the knuckle duster you will know what I mean) and get a load of new guns as well as some excellently reskinned weapons from the usual game. The Minigun and Colt Magnum will be your favourites, they were mine. Also, Bullet time comes with some epic music now and baddies squirt anime-esqe amounts of blood all over the place. Movie epicness in a can.

Star Wars fans, embittered by the odd blandness of Empire At War and the Prequal coat tail rider of the Expansion? Dispair ye not! Empire at War has several promising mods being made our touched up right now, including a Realism Mod (Phoenix Rising) an Extra Content Mod (Steiners Units) or total Conversions that let you play in the Stargate and Battlestar Galactica Universes. Star Wars mods are quite common on both FPS and RTS platforms.

Speaking of Star Wars, tired of the tacky Multiplayer modes in Jedi Academy? Get Movie Battles 2 and enjoying flying around Movie Authentic Maps setting Jedi alight with your Mandalorian Flamethrower. Go on, treat yourself. Just stay clear of those damn Jedi Lightsabers. Different combat system or not, dismemberment still hurts.

Games so open to modding also spawn excellent mini mods, some games like the Garrys Mod and Civ IV evidently show this on their Mod Content Download sites. Modding has even spread to MMO games, like WoW with its crazy client side interface mods and hilarious nude skins. Second Life, The slightly original but slightly creepy at times MMO is infamous for the Modability of it. That is a word now people. On my blog at least.

Even TF2 already has a number of client side mods and tweaked Server Mods coming out now.

I wonder in the history of Modding, has anyone considered going back and Pimping out, let say, Pong. Repaint that white Rectangle Neon Green, make the sound effects scream AWESOME WICKED SICK instead of bleeping when your oppoment doesn't hit back.

I could rant for hours about good Mods, but I don't have the time. Occasional I will do a Mod Mini Review here on this blog, but for now simply check out Mod DB and look out for something you like.