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Thursday, January 31, 2013
The 12 Best Mods For PC Games
January 31st, 2013Top StoryThe 12 Best Mods For PC GamesBy Luke Plunkett
Because some mods are so extensive, transforming almost everything about the source title, we felt it was only fair to list 12 of the best of them here, since they may as well count as their own new games. Note that due to the nature of these lists we do - highlighting the very best titles on major platforms - we've decided to only include mods that create a significantly new experience, whether that be in the form of a "total conversion", or advances that fundamentally alter (or repair) a game. If all a mod is doing is tweaking features or adding items, while that's great for users/fans of that game, it doesn't warrant a shout-out on a standalone list like this.  Black MesaA mod so good that it shouldn't even count. Really, it feels, and plays, like a standalone game, a professional remake that you'd pay $50 for. But hey, it's not, it's a mod, and a free one at that, one which took an insane amount of time to make but which turned out to be worth the wait. A Good Match For: Those who have heard how awesome Half-Life is, but could never get into the original due to its...antiquity. Not For Those Who Want: An all-new experience. It looks new, but it's the same old Half-Life. There's no sticking cover or regenerating health here, kids. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. DayZWhat more needs to be said about DayZ, one of the success stories of 2012 and a rare time a mod doesn't just improve a game, but creates an all-new experience that teaches full games a thing or two about design. It's soon to be released as a standalone game, but for now, the ArmA 2 mod is the only way you can experience the horror of zombie survival. A Good Match For: People who want a true zombie survival experience, not just an action game where zombies are used as a substitute for aliens/monsters. Also, those capable of getting a handle on a first-person game more complicated than your average shooter. Not For Those Who Want: A quick, exciting experience. The game can drag, and being based on a serious combat simulator, isn't exactly "pick up and play", either. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. DiasporaThe world has been starved of quality official Battlestar Galactica games. Thank the Lords of Kobol, then, for the team behind Diaspora, which takes old space shooter Freespace 2 and turns it into a Viper simulator the equal of any retail space shooter. Few of the usual pitfalls for mods of this kind - poor voice acting, a lack of polish - exist. It's fantastic. A Good Match For: Fans of space shooters and Battlestar fans alike. Not For Those Who Want: A truly cinematic Battlestar experience. The devs have done a fantastic job, but if you're hoping for guest starring roles from the cast of the show, you'll be sorely disappointed. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. DOTASure, successors and imitators have come thick and fast over the years, but let's not forget that the inspiration behind League of Legends was a mod. A mod for, of all things, Warcraft III. It's a little long in the tooth now, at least visually, but the core experience is as strong as it ever was, and there are still plenty of people hanging around to play against. A Good Match For: History buffs and those who'd like to see where the whole MOBA genre began. Not For Those Who Want: To take this a little more seriously. The attention and crowds have moved on to more modern interpretations like Valve's DOTA 2 and Riot's League of Legends. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. Eastern FrontIt was tough choosing between this and Modern Combat, but in the end I had to settle for Eastern Front. The original Company of Heroes shipped with only three real sides: Germans, Americans and, later, the British. No Soviets. The upcoming Company of Heroes 2 fixes this, but to get a taste of the Eastern Front now, you should download this mod, which not only adds new units, but goes all out to make it an authentic Soviet experience. A Good Match For: Those a little tired of the existing factions in the game and after a new challenge, a new experience. It's also a totally free way to play as the Soviets in the Company of Heroes games, for cheapskates who don't want to pay for Company of Heroes 2. Not For Those Who Want: All the improvements we're going to see in Company of Heroes 2. While there are dramatic changes here to everything from units to maps, this is still based on the original Company of Heroes, so this won't be a direct substitute for CoH2, especially in terms of things like the new advanced weather systems Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. Just Cause 2: MultiplayerThis is somehow more than just a mod. It's a video game experiment. You can fit over 1000 people on the same enormous map, resulting in some of the most hilarious and explosive multiplayer this medium has ever seen. One round of this and you'll never think 64 players is "a lot" ever again. A Good Match For: Pranksters, griefers and those who are prepared for the fact that when so many people get together on the one map, crazy and unpredictable things will happen. Not For Those Who Want: A quiet, peaceful time. This mod does not feature quiet, peaceful times. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. The Nameless ModThe Nameless Mod is a total conversion of Deus Ex, improving the visuals and building an all-new world, one bursting with thousands of lines of spoken dialogue and five endings. Its a shocking achievement, one that makes this feel like an official spin-off rather than the fan-made project it is. A Good Match For: Those yearning for the days of old, when a Deus Ex game was a little uglier, but also a lot more complex. Not For Those Who Want: Something like the new Deus Ex. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. Nehrim: At Fate's EdgeI shudder to think of the amount of work that went into this. Most Elder Scrolls mods, regardless of which game they're for, are about adding things to the world that's already there. Nehrim crafts a whole new "campaign", with new terrain, new buildings, towns, and even a new storyline. It's not even set in the Elder Scrolls universe! A Good Match For: RPG fans who'd like an accessible, enjoyable and gorgeous game that's not set in the Elder Scrolls universe. Not For Those Who Want: An Elder Scrolls game! Because this is an all-new world and story, the only things it has in common with Oblivion are visual assets. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. NEOTOKYOTough, old as boots and utterly uncompromising, Neo Tokyo isn't just one of the longest-serving mods on this list, it's also one of the prettiest. A Half-Life 2 mod designed to look like the coolest anime you've ever seen, it's a must-play for anyone who's wanted to shoot their way through a dystopian future Tokyo, but never had the chance. Because, you know, reality. A Good Match For: Fans of games like Counter-Strike, who value fast-twitch response times above all else. It's also worth a look just for the art design. Not For Those Who Want: An easy-going shooter. This thing is hard, particularly so for fresh meat who have never played the game before. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. The Sith Lords RestoredThe sequel to Knights of the Old Republic was a crushing disappointment. Not because its content was terrible; it was pretty good! it's just, it wasn't all there. Parts of the game were missing, especially near the end, leaving players feel under-done. This project takes an unfinished game and finishes it. It's pushing the limits of my "must be transformative experience" rules for this list, but seeing as what it does salvages and restores a great I wouldn't otherwise recommend, it makes the cut. Just. A Good Match For: Star Wars fans perhaps looking for a more involving experience than the cold embrace of the Old Republic MMO, who might have been put off by KOTOR 2's lukewarm reception pre-mod. Not For Those Who Want: A modern Star Wars RPG. Going back to these games after, say, Mass Effect shows how far BioWare's systems (even though this particular game was handled by Obsidian) have come. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here. Star Wars: Galactic WarfareGalactic Warfare transforms Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare into a Star Wars game. Aside from the weird shuffle of the infantry, the transformation is a complete one, from the levels to the weapons to the sound. Given the lack of new Battlefront games, this is as close as you're going to get to engaging in some contemporary Star Wars multiplayer gaming. A Good Match For: Shooter fans longing for a new Battlefront game, who know deep down they're probably never going to get one. Not For Those Who Want: A direct substitution for Battlefront. This is based on Modern Warfare, after all, so maps are tight and team sizes (relatively) small. Click to view Here's how it looks in action. Get it here. Third Age: Total WarI love Total War. My personal favourite mod is Darthmod's overhaul of Empire, for example, but under the rules of this collection, that doesn't count. What does count is the incredible Third Age mod, which strips Medieval: Total War 2 back to its bones and replaces it with an epic strategy game straight out of Peter Jackson's original Lord of the Rings trilogy. The massive army sizes and melee combat of Medieval 2 were born for a mod pitting Rohirrim against Orcs. A Good Match For: Anyone wanting to control the vast armies of Middle Earth, and left frustrated by the more "intimate" nature of EA's official RTS games from a few years back. Not For Those Who Want: That same kind of "simple" experience you got from EA's games. The Total War series is a bit more involved, and requires more of your time (and brain cells). Click to view Here's how it looks in action. You can get it here.  |
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Five Survival Skills the Movies Taught You Wrong
January 31st, 2013Top StoryFive Survival Skills the Movies Taught You WrongBy Thorin Klosowski
Movies and TV shows are meant as entertainment. As such, they tend to take shortcuts so they get to the point as quick as possible. Occasionally the survival methods they "teach" carry over into the real world, and our understanding of things like CPR, getting punched in the head, or even the best way to deal with a snake bite get skewed. Here are the correct ways to handle those situations. Myth: CPR Takes Seconds and Brings Most People Back to LifeOn countless TV shows and in thousands of movies, CPR is used on a victim minutes after they've passed out (or actually died) and they're resurrected safely and easily within a couple seconds. The problem is that CPR doesn't work like you see on TV. CPR is meant as a life-prolonging technique, and it's typically not meant to bring someone back to life. Instead, it's supposed to keep their blood moving long enough for help to arrive. Worse, CPR isn't nearly as effective as it's depicted on television. On TV, CPR saves about 75% of victims and takes about a minute to perform. In reality, the effectiveness of CPR is between 2% and 30% depending on the reason for giving it. Instead of giving up after a minute, you should continue administering CPR until help arrives. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't learn CPR. You should, but knowing when to administer it—and how to do it properly—is key, since most movies and TV shows get it wrong. You're best off taking a class, especially since standard CPR training changed in 2010 to reflect new research that chest pumping is more effective than initially thought. Myth: Knocking Someone Out (or Getting Knocked Out) Is No Big DealGetting a blow to the head is usually portrayed as a minor annoyance with no serious long lasting problems in movies. It's also a lot harder to knock someone out with a punch than you'd think. The problem is that if you get knocked out (or knock someone out), the effects can be a lot more severe than movies portray. In general, a concussion isn't too horrible provided you're not out for longer than five minutes, after which you're susceptible to longterm damage. Of course, repeated concussions, like the ones athletes deal with (along with bravado types like James Bond) are suspected to lead to serious brain damage. While movies often show getting knocked out as an everyday occurrence, medical help is usually a good idea. If you get a concussion, the best thing to do is see a doctor within a couple days of the injury. If you experience vomiting, a prolonged headache, visual disturbances, slurred speech, confusion, blood discharge, or another loss of consciousness you should see a doctor right away. Myth: Tilt Your Head Back to Stop a NosebleedAlthough it has been recommended not to tilt your head back when you have a nosebleed for years, movies and TV shows still show people doing it all the time. Tilting your head back to stop a nosebleed isn't just ineffective, it's also dangerous because it causes complications by allowing blood into the esophagus, which increases the risk of choking and vomiting. The New York Times explains how to stop a nosebleed the right way:
It's a simple little thing, but chances are the last thing you want to deal with when you have blood falling out of your nose is a bunch of blood down your throat as well. Myth: Suck Out Snake Venom After Being Bitten
Instead, keep the person as still as possible, cover the wound with a loose bandage (do not apply a tourniquet), and get the person (or yourself) to an emergency room as quickly as possible. The general rule is the less you move the victim, the less likely the venom will spread through the body and cause damage. Myth: Most Wild Animals Will Attack You UnprovokedOne thing that Hollywood seems to truly hate is the wilderness. As far as movies are concerned, it's the most dangerous place out there, and every single animal is dangerous, even the cute ones. The truth is that while many animals are dangerous, most want nothing to do with humans, and the last thing you should do is taunt them. When you run into most animals in the wilderness, it's best to remain calm, and back away slowly. Do not run from most bears, cougars, or wolves because they are way faster than you. In most cases, seek some kind of shelter if possible (and no, playing dead isn't a good all-around strategy, but it does work if the animal isn't aggressive). If they do attack, go for the eyes, and make as much noise as possible. Of course, in reality, the best way to avoid animal attacks is to not mess with them. Don't leave food sitting out, don't wander into their territory, and don't go looking for them. Generally speaking, they want nothing to do with you, so if you stay away from them, they'll stay away from you. Bonus Urban Survival Myth: Anything Any Movie Has Taught You About Computer SecurityWe couldn't help ourselves from taking on one of Hollywood's biggest urban survival myths: computer security. Hacking is represented in all kinds of goofy ways in movies. While these scenes are characteristically over the top, they also suggest that hacking is a fast process that just about anyone can do with the right mixture of Mountain Dew, Hot Pockets, and antisocial behavior. Of course, hacking isn't easy, nor is it fast. While some fast hacks exist, like Firesheep, they're pretty rudimentary and easy to block. More complex hacking, like Stuxnet or Zeus take months (or more) to find the exploits, code the hack, and implement it. In most cases, hacking also takes a lot of work and wits to do it. Even if you have tools like Reaver at your disposal, it still takes a fair amount of time, and just guessing passwords takes a special skillset. In general, finding an exploit and taking advantage of it is incredibly difficult. The fact is, hacking into any secure computer takes a ton of effort, and it's rather boring to watch on the screen. The same goes for how viruses are typically represented. Viruses are a pain, but they can't damage your hardware, browse for porn under your name, or infect alien spacecraft. As far as virus prevention is concerned, the built-in Microsoft Security Essentials is all you really need. And don't even get us started on "zoom and enhance" and Nokia gum hacks. We've barely scratched the surface here, and countless other examples of terrible Hollywood survival skills exist out there. Of course, the lesson here is to not trust what you see on TV when it comes to anything important, and if you want to prepare for anything, research the correct way to do everything first. Our guides to wilderness survival, urban survival, and disaster survival are good places to start.  |
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