2008 Mod of the Year Winners feature

This is it, the big one... the one everyone is waiting for: the result decided by you and 115,000 other gamers who voted for their favorite mods in January. As always, we expect the results to be argued - but one thing I think we can all agree on is that 2008 was a top year for mods, with 150 high-profile releases. 2009 is already on track to beat that number, but for now, it is time to showcase the very best of 2008!

Honorable Mentions

We would like to recognize the mods Insurgency (Half-Life 2), Sven Co-op (Half-Life), Empires (Half-Life 2), Forgotten Hope 2 (Battlefield 2) and Dystopia (Half-Life 2) which have placed higher in previous MOTY awards and therefore were not included.

10.Half-Life 2: Wars
^{Half-Life 2}

Half-Life_2:_Wars wrote:"Half-Life 2: Wars" is a real-time strategy (RTS) modification set in the Half-Life universe. Although development is in its early stages, much has already been implemented. Currently there is only singleplayer, but multiplayer is planned. There is thorough mapping documentation available on the forum for those who wish to make custom maps, which may be included in the mod.

9.Stargate Empire at War
^{Starwars Empire at War}

Stargate_Empire_at_War wrote:"Stargate Empire at War" The fight goes on,on your PC! Experience the biggest battles you've ever seen in the Stargate universe. You are the commander,it's your mission to free the galaxy or to lead it into eternal darkness! Huge space battles: Lead the ships of the Tau'ri, Goa'uld, Asgard, Ancients and Ori to victory and fight the threats like the Replicators or the Wraith. Thrilling land battles: Play with all the units you know from the series: SG Teams,Jaffa,Kull warriors and many more. Fight on the planets and locations well known from the series SG1 and Atlantis. Prove your skills in multiplayer battles and show your enemy,who's the ruler of the galaxy. The latest version of the mod is Final 1.0 for the Normal EaW.

8.Age of Chivalry
^{Half-Life 2}

Age_of_Chivalry wrote:Age of Chivalry is a total conversion for Half-Life 2 currently being developed by Team Chivalry. We are a close group of friends who are dedicated to creating a fun story driven multiplayer experience set in a fantasy world in the medieval ages. We are creating a fast paced and fun first person melee combat system that will take the player to a new level of immersion. The players will be able to take part in sieges, town raids and open war in a story driven game. Our goal is to let the players write the history of the game as the teams battle it out over a sequence of user controlled map cycles depending on the victor.

7.Eternal Silence
^{Half-Life 2}

Eternal_Silence wrote:A massive deep space artifact from long-gone Earth was found and spawned a renaissance on the human colonies of the United Terran Forces. A gigantic assault from the UTF on the now independent colonies spawned the Neo Galactic Militia and started a deep space war the likes of which the world has never seen. Your role in Eternal Silence will be within vital strategic battles between massive capital warships. You will need your wits, your precision, your strength, your endurance, and above all your courage to take on the fierce challenges which await you.

6.Pirates, Vikings and Knights 2
^{Half-Life 2}

Pirates wrote:Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is a unique, total conversion of the Half-Life 2 Source engine. 3 teams fight each other for kills, objectives and total domination! With a melee combat system that's unique to the modding community, game modes you won't find in other games and parrots that can be trained to peck at enemies, it's no surprise PVKII is so entertaining! If you enjoy getting together with friends and having an exhilarating time.

5.Zombie Master
^{Half-Life 2}

Zombie_Master wrote:Zombie Master is a multiplayer Source modification, centred around a zombie-apocalypse, which throws all but one player in the shoes of human survivors. Pitched against a relentless tide of rotting flesh, they must scavenge for weaponry and equipment just to stay alive. But that one player, chosen randomly at the beginning of the round, is not bound by mortal restraints. To speak his name is to invite the wrath of hell - but most call him the 'Zombie Master'. He is nigh omnipotent. His invisible hand controls the legions of undead like puppets on strings; slowly closing the net on the humans while they run to and fro like rats in a maze.

4.First Strike
^{Battlefield 2142}

First_Strike wrote:First Strike is a Star Wars total conversion modification for Battlefield 2142. The goal of First Strike is to totally immerse the players into the amazing universe of Star Wars by presenting the most accurate representations of famous Star Wars locales, weapons, and characters, and combining them with exciting, fast paced gameplay and features new to the Battlefield scene. Within this mod you'll find yourself as a soldier of the Galactic Empire or as a freedom fighter for the Rebel Alliance. You'll fight across lovingly detailed recreations of various Star Wars locations with a wide array of weapons and vehicles.

3.Portal: Prelude
^Portal

Portal:_Prelude wrote:Portal: Prelude, as its name states it, is an unofficial prequel to the game Portal. Its story revolves around the pre-GlaDOS epoch, even before she was plugged in. At this time, test subjects were monitored by real Aperture Science employees, whose work was tedious, lengthy and repetitive. This is why they decided to build a great artificial intelligence that could both replace them in these difficult tasks, and also take responsibility for many other tasks within the complex and compete with Black Mesa's superiority. All employees of the Aperture Science complex are now eagerly awaiting GlaDOS. Maybe even a little too eagerly, as the upcoming events will tell... This game is totally free. It offers a bit more gameplay hours than the original Portal, with 8 chapters, 19 test chambers, 48 challenges, 6 advanced maps, a brand new storyline and more than 400 lines of english speech with dozens of subtitles translations.

2.Zombie Panic: Source
^{Half-Life 2}

Zombie_Panic:_Source wrote:Zombie Panic: Source is a co-op oriented Survivor Vs Zombie multi-player survival horror modification for HL2. While our main priority is to make the mod as fun to play as possible, ZP:S plans to greatly expand on the core features of "Zombie panic" For HL1, with the obvious new features, impressive visuals, and of course atmospheric maps. More importantly ZP:S will not force players to fend against dumb and predictable AI, but instead keep the same intense thrill of surviving against intelligent and persistent player controlled zombies as the original.

1.Project Reality
^{Battlefield 2}

Project_Reality wrote:Welcome to "Project Reality", a free to download game modification for the Battlefield 2 (aka BF2) retail Windows game. The focus of this mod is to rework the original game engine developed by Digital Illusions of Sweden (Dice) within legal and feasible constraints to create a more realistic combat environment for the gaming community. This includes adjusting various game play elements including physics, visual effects and overall game play formats. Along with changes to how the game handles, the Project Reality team has been introducing British and Insurgent factions, plus a number of community assisted factions are currently in the works to introduce Canadian, Russian and IDF forces to the virtual battlefields. This Mod is not for the masses, due to the fact that it has a much higher learning curve then your classic arcade game. This is the real deal.