World of Mods: Half-Life 2
Games that are free, so long as you've already paid.
Insurgency
Too soon? Well, frankly, yes. If you're not at least slightly unsettled by the thought of an FPS mod featuring detailed Iraq circa 2007 streets and US soldiers versus insurgent cells - or in other words, a recreation of how people are dying right now - then, well... Well, I'll keep my damned pinko scum lily-livered thoughts to myself, but you'll hopefully forgive me if I don't include any gags about this particular mod.
While we have of course been gunning down polygonal representations of just about every nation's military over the last quarter-century so of videogaming, making any complaint about shooting something resembling a real person moot to a certain extent, this is undeniably something of a further step. To Insurgency's credit, it does avoid the sensationalism of perennial straight-from-the-headlines liberal-baiter KUMA\WAR. The setting aside, this is the Counter-Strike approach to West vs Middle East war, politically-speaking - no narrative and no statement is being made here, beyond what you might apply to it yourself. You're free to play as whichever side you prefer, or more likely are auto-assigned to.
It's a shame that Insurgency has chosen a thematic approach that will present an impasse to many, as it's in many respects a mod with a rare degree of polish. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as its project lead was one of the original team behind Red Orchestra, a mod for Unreal Tournament 2003/4 so successful it saw a retail sequel. Though there's a palpable sense of Counter-Strikiness underlying Insurgency, its maps are very much their own, hugely detailed creations and its changes to the standard team FPS formula are far more than mere tweaks. There's a strong temptation to call it Battlefield 2 in the Half-Life 2 engine, a total lack of vehicles aside, but really its having capture points and order-giving commanders masks its true focus.
While Battlefield still supports playing lone wolf run'n'gun to a point, this doesn't really operate without at least an attempt at team-play. In almost every firefight, one accurate shot means a kill (the impressively minimalist interface is even bereft of a health bar), so moving in squads and communicating constantly is vital, as is using labyrinthine buildings for cover and vantage rather than mere thoroughfare.
'Realistic' may be pushing it, but there's certainly a heightened sense of threat and menace. Though still in beta, it's made a decent fist of melding the brutal, unforgiving challenge of a game like Operation Flashpoint with the pick-up-and-play pop of Counter-Strike. The indelicate setting, the one-shot kills and the emphasis on exacting team-play make it an acquired taste for sure, but nevertheless Insurgency stands out as perhaps the best-realised military mod of late. It's picked up a large audience very quickly too - this one will run and run. Perhaps even for as long as the war it's making light of does. Whoops, showed my true colours there, didn't I?
Pirates, Vikings and Knights II
Very much the exact opposite arm of Half-Life 2 modding to Insurgency, this. The name's something of a giveaway in that respect, let's be honest. Despite being just as clearly built upon Counter-Strike guts as Insurgency, the decision to not take itself seriously makes PVKII an entirely different breed of game.
It's quite epically stupid, almost to the point of existing solely so someone can make a funny t-shirt out of its name, but that's precisely its charm. It is, simply, pirates versus Vikings versus knights, warring over loot. Loot is basically a flag (as in capture the...) repainted as a treasure chest, which you must hang onto as long as possible. Whoever controls the loot controls the universe, at least for the duration of whichever cheerfully low-rent map you're on. The trouble with controlling the universe, though, is that a crapload of pirates, Vikings and knights want to take it from you, which is largely expressed by vaguely hilarious flailing with enormous bladed weaponry. And the occasional pistol (for pirates) or crossbow (for knights), but really those are just for winding the other players up.
In a weird sort of way, the reason this incredibly simple (and in all honesty, very amateur-looking) mod works is, humour aside, because of prejudice. Within seconds of a round starting, you'll decide you passionately hate either pirates, Vikings or knights for no particular reason (or alternatively the very particular reason of being killed by one), and will find yourself hung up on frantically attacking every one of their hated number even when there's much more sensible things to be doing.
The result is cartoon carnage of slapping people with giant axes or throwing exploding barrels at them, and a game very nearly devoid of skill. Picking a real strategy of teamwork and communication out of this huge mess is possible, but simply not much fun. This works because it's the anti-Counter-Strike, a no-rules arena of total silliness. You mightn't ever build a globe-straddling FPS Clan by playing this, but you'll certainly spend a weekend or two giggling like a sixth-former drawing genitalia inside his textbook.