In the modern world, fans themselves can directly impact video games by modding and hacking them. Sometimes this leads to hilarious shenanigans, sometimes this functions as social commentary and sometimes it makes the gameplay experience entirely different. Let’s delve into some of the more interesting video game mods out there-from Game of Thrones crossovers to battling butlers, there’s no shortage of creativity in video game fans. Be sure to mention your favorite mods that didn't make the list in the comments!
Mods that turn a damsel distress into the main hero
Gender in video games has been a hot topic as of late. Many find themselves craving more female heroes and less of the damsel in distress trope and take it into their own hands to get the results they desire.
Probably the most well-known example of this in the news was Mike Mika hacking the original 8-bit Donkey Kong game and swapping the roles of Pauline, one of video games’ prototypical damsels in distress, and Mario, the hero. Reportedly, getting to play as a girl made his daughter very happy.
But as an article points out, damsel-turned-hero hacks are hardly a new trend. Peach and Daisy: The Ultimate Quest was released in 1999. The hack of Super Mario 3 allowed players to traverse the game as Peach and Daisy, even adding new levels and powerups.
Inspired by the Donkey Kong hack, Kenna W. did aZelda Starring Zelda patch, where she switched the roles of Link and Zelda in The Legend of Zelda.
Hacks that switch a male protagonist to a female protagonist are common too, even if the ones dads do for their little girls-such as Mike Hoye’s hack of Legend of Zelda: Windwaker hack that makes Link a girl- tend to get the most attention. Rachel Simone Weil points out in her article that she herself made a woman the hero of Mega Man 2 with her live hack “Mega Mam 2” as well as other hacks.
The Macho Dragon Randy Savage mod
Skyrim is a game that attracts a lot of modders, and one of the more hilarious ones is the “Macho Dragon”, a mod that switches the Skyrim dragons heads with that of Macho Man Randy Savage. The dragon even gets a little speedo!
The Play as Alfred (Be the Butler) mod
There are many out there who would agree that Batman’s snarky and beleaguered butler, Alfred, is cool enough to deserve his own series. After all, where would the Dark Knight be without him? But this mod of the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight finally allows you to be the butler, taking out bad-guys in slo-mo without ever messing up your cufflinks. It is pretty great to tower over Gotham’s skyline in a suit and tie.
Grand Theft Auto Meets Jurassic Park
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas gets the mod treatment in the aptly titled Jurassic Park: Operation Andreas. The mod includes over 20 different dinosaur species, from Dryosaurus to Tyrannosaurus and the games map is modified to be based on Isla Nublar.
Grand Theft Auto Meets Maro Kart
Grand Theft Auto sure is ripe for modding. This time it’s a mod for Grand Theft Auto V that allows players to race on Mario Kart tracks. It’s quite a treat to see gamers whipping past the Yoshi Sanctuary in photorealistic cars. The physics of the game are more realistic too.
Lord of the Rings meets Medieval 2
It’s hard to play games focused on medieval things without craving some Tolkien. Well, a mod of Medieval 2: Total War satisfies that craving. The mod is called Third Age: Total War and it allows you to play a strategy game based in the world of Middle Earth. This mod represents twelve different races from Tolkien’s work, including Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. You can play in a hundred different locations and your hero can be a man of Gondor, an elf, an orc or so forth.
This isn’t the only Lord of the Rings style Total War mod either. Lord of the Rings: Rise of Mordor modies Total War: Atilla to take place in the Tolkienverse.
Game of Thrones meets Crusader Kings 2
This mod for Crusader Kings 2 takes players into the world of Game of Thrones. This full conversion mod allows players to pick any era from 300 years before Aegon’s Conquest to the end of A Feast for Crows. You can interact with characters, fight them, marry them and capture land. There are several locations to play in. Not only can you goof around in Westeros, but also other locations like Quarth. You can play as Ned Stark, Daenerys Targaryen or many other characters.
It’s not only the big players in the game either, there’s also many characters that were only mentioned in passing. You can be a Wildling, a member of the Night’s Watch, a lord or so much more. There’s also a Game of Thrones encyclopedia that’s very useful.
Kool-Aid Man and more in Left 4 Dead mods
Do you find the Kool-Aid man slightly unsettling? Well, you’re not alone, and more people will likely join you thanks to this Left 4 Dead mod. This mod allows you turn the tanks in the game into, well, the Kool-Aid man. He crashes through walls and bears down on you terrifyingly.
There are many moreLeft 4 Dead mods with similar levels of strangeness- one allows you to play as a bunch of velociraptor. Another allows you to fight giant bugs and wear formal wear. You can also swap out the zombies for Droids or Storm Troopers from Star Wars.
The Pokemon: Ash Gray mod
Pokemon: Ash Gray is a hack of Pokemon: Red and Blue that makes the original Gameboy Advance game follow the events of the Pokemon anime. The player’s sprite is now Ash Ketchum and his journey is reflective of the one in the anime. There are 116 different events and 2 movie events in the game. You hang out with Misty and Brock, face stronger rivals, and so on.
The disturbing Moemon mod
In the game, the Pokemon are replaced with cute girls in cosplay. Which means the player is imprisoning girls and making them fight each other. That’s pretty gross. Despite the bizarreness of the concept, it’s a very popular game hack and has been applied to many different games like FireRed and Emerald.
The Unsettling Nicholas Cage meets Legend of Zelda mod
Have you ever played Legend of Zelda and thought to yourself,“Wow, you know this game would be improved if every single character had the face of Nicolas Cage?” No? You’ve never thought that. Well, too bad, because someone did and thus a Nicolas Cage-ified Legend of Zelda was forced upon the world.
This Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask mod is called Legend of Cage: Beneath the Mask and includes a texture pack that gives every character the stretched, photo-realistic face of Nic Cage. The real question, though, is why.
The Trippiest Skyrim mod
The You Can (Not) mod for Skyrim has a title reminiscent of Neon Genesis Evangelion, presumably because like Eva, playing it is a lot like tripping on acid. Highlights of the mod include a mob of Thomas the Tank engines, shirtless dancers and Tommy Wiseau as a rideable dolphin horse. Oh, and also spiders that look like Spider-Man and a lightsaber.
Star Wars meets Call of Duty
Star Wars: Galactic Warfare totally converts the world of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare into the world of Star Wars. This 2011 mod allows you to play as a rebel soldier or Stormtrooper. There are seven different Star Wars maps, including “Mos Eisley” and “Jundland”. Both Tie-Fighters and Y-Wings are present
The Neo-Tokyo mod
This mod converts the world of Half-Life 2 into a future, dystopian version of Tokyo. The mod has a cyberpunk backdrop and cites the anime Ghost in the Shell and Akira as inspiration for that. It features a national security squad pitted against a faction of nationalists aiming for a government coup. The soundtrack of the game has been described as “haunting”. When it was released in 2009, it got fantastic reception, winning several awards for mod of the year.
The Portal: Prelude mod
The Portal: Prelude game functions as a fan-made prequel to the original Portal games, telling the story of how GLaDOS came to be. Tbe game spans 8 chapters and with 19 test chambers, 48 challenge map and 6 advanced test chambers. It is fully voice-acted and includes new game elements like localized gravitational fields.
Hello Kitty meets Mario
Rachel Weil created Hello Kitty Land, which is hack of Super Mario Bros that replaces Mario and Luigi with Hello Kitty and her sister Mimi, using sprites from the game Hello Kitty World. The game is unashamedly girly, featuring lovely pastel backgrounds with lavenders and pinks.
Rachel Weil meant for this game to spark discussion about gender, wanting to show that there is nothing inherently shameful about girliness in video games. She asks “How might game designers help to legitimize femininity in gaming?” The mod is extensive, including revision of graphics, levels and even game physics.
You can find out more about Weil’s hack here and also find out more about similar projects on the website Femicom.