Counter-Strike
One of the most successful mods for any PC game in history--and one responsible for hundreds of sleepless nights for gamers everywhere--is Counter-Strike, the incredibly popular mod based on the counterterrorist elements of Valve's popular 3D shooter Half-Life. Counter-Strike's gameplay puts players on one of two teams, terrorist and counter-terrorist, both with specific goals, battling it out online on a particular map. The round ends only when one team has achieved its objective, when the predetermined time limit is reached, or when an entire team is annihilated. During the course of the game, players accumulate money for performing various tasks to help their team inch toward their objective. That money can then be used to buy equipment before the next round of play. There are three different types of game modes: hostage rescue, bomb defuse, and escort the VIP.

Counter-Strike is still extremely popular.

When asked how he came up with the idea for the mod, Le replied, "I was always interested in anything related to the Special Forces. This interest came about from watching movies, reading books, and visiting Web sites on the subject. When I was picking a theme to base my mod on, I wanted to pick something that I felt would be compelling to the player, and I wanted it to be something the player could easily identify with." Le said his favorite aspect of the mod is seeing an entire team operating as a cohesive unit. "The game design of Counter-Strike strongly encourages team play, and, generally speaking, the team that plays with the most coordination tends to win," he explained.

For more information, downloads, and images, consult our previous coverage on Counter-Strike, or visit the official Counter-Strike Web site.

Day of Defeat
The year 2001 began with a bang for Half-Life players looking for a new kind of multiplayer experience. On January 11, the first beta release of a new mod entitled Day of Defeat became available, and the word of the mod spread like wildfire. In a nutshell, Day of Defeat re-creates WWII battles in both fictional and nonfictional environments. The mod puts players in the combat boots of either an Allied or Axis soldier circa 1944 in Western Europe. It also lets them choose a particular character class, be it a machine gunner, a sniper, or a rifleman. Naturally, each class has its own set of attributes, weapons (25 in all), and strengths and weaknesses. The objectives in the game vary depending on the map, but they usually involve capturing or defending an area or simply eliminating enemy forces.

Day of Defeat reproduces the battles of World War II.

Developer John Morello said he and the original Day of Defeat team came up with the idea for the mod "out of a love for history and the desire to see a realistic WWII first-person shooter." When asked about which aspect of Day of Defeat he's most proud of, Morello mentioned the attention to detail in the mod's uniforms, weapons, and sounds and the overall feel of immersion it provides. "Also of particular interest," Morello explained, "is our respawn system, which is designed to simulate waves of reinforcements by delaying the respawns of individuals so they spawn as a group. So when you and your teammates rush an opposing position and the lead starts flying, the experience and nervous edge are unequalled."

For more information on Day of Defeat, check the official Web site.