While mods can be a lot of fun and can help spice up some of your favorite video games, total conversion mods can take games to a whole new level entirely. For those who aren’t familiar, total conversion mods essentially take existing video games and either turn them into completely different titles or change them in some sort of significant way. Today, we’ll be taking a look at some total conversion mods that can turn popular games into history lessons.
Half-Life 2 - Age of Chivalry
The beauty of total conversion mods is that they can sometimes be something entirely different than the original game that they are based upon. Half-Life 2 has to be the most modded game of all time, and in 2007, one team of modders had the brilliant idea of turning the sci-fi first-person shooter into an online medieval hack-n-slash game. From that, Age of Chivalry was born - the precursor to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. It’s interesting to see that the origins of this series originally came from Half-Life 2, as the series has now become an exciting franchise in its own right. Fans of Chivalry should give the game’s sequel Chivalry 2 a look when it releases on June 8.
Crusader Kings II - The Historical Immersion Project
The Crusader Kings series has always been somewhat well-known for its historical authenticity, with it allowing players to rule their own medieval dynasty, with a wide selection of different historical figures and dynasties from the Middle Ages. While it’s already very historically accurate, the Historical Immersion Project (technically an assortment of various mods, compiled within one project) attempts to make the base game even more authentic by adding in many more dynasties and historical events and figures. The mod alters various in-game features and mechanics to make Crusader Kings II the ultimate dynasty-ruling simulator.
Players looking to experience the most authentic historical video game possible should definitely check out the Historical Immersion Project. You’ll be hard-pressed to come across a mod (or collection of mods) that does a better job than this one.
Rome: Total War - Europa Barbarorum
Like the Historical Immersion Project, Europa Barbarorum is a total conversion mod of Rome: Total War aiming to make the game even more historically accurate and authentic. The mod replaces most of the assets from the original game, including the unit models, statistics, and musical score. Additionally, the mod changes the game’s geographical area and period slightly. Europa Barbarorum has been widely praised and is considered by many critics to be the best mod out of all of the Total War games released for PC.
Mount and Blade: Warband - Gekokujo
Another fantastic total conversion mod, Gekokujo completely changes up Mount and Blade: Warband by changing the game’s setting and period from the Napoleonic era to the Sengoku period of Japan. The game adds in many historic clans, units, and various real-life historical figures. The mod is incredibly ambitious and changes nearly everything from the base game.
Overall, there are tons of incredible total conversion mods out there, and these are just a few highlights. Fans of historical video games should check these mods out, but there are plenty of other ones that are also worth a look.
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At Epoch XP, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch XP’s service on our parent site, SJR Research.
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(This article is credited to Ben Price. For as long as he can remember, Ben has always loved playing, discussing, and writing about video games. Since receiving his B.A. in English, he now writes about them for a living.)