While most seemed to prefer Counter-strike, my childhood gaming was dominated by an Unreal Tournament mod called Tac Ops. While the games looked similar, the mechanics felt very different than Counter-strike. It was a much faster-paced game.
There were a ton of servers with wacky mods. I spent a ton of time on the low-grav servers. There were also some that made the top-scoring player huge. Those odd game modes were a blast.
I love Tac Ops! Was one of the most realistic mods out there (it was sooo easy to die).
I seem to remember there was some behind-the-scenes political / financial shenanigans with Counter Strike and the Game of the Year edition bundle that kind of killed it.
Haha realistic... reminds me that one of my favorite mods back in the day was Action Quake which was more action movie styled and less realistic. Last second sideways jumps in and out of the way were its claim to fame, imo.
> which was more action movie styled and less realistic
Another HL mod I remember fondly in similar veins is "The Specialists". If I remember correctly, it came out around the same time as The Matrix, and had all the fun moves like running on walls in slowmo, jumping forward/sideways and shooting in slowmo, and lots of other stuff. I think I recall it being possible to play both in 1st and 3rd person too, something that was kind of new at that point, unless I misremember.
I think at that I point I probably spent as much time with The Specialists as with Counter-Strike itself (and a cracked copy of 3DS Max 8 for making my own models of course).
That mod was awesome. They somehow managed to make slow motion powerups work in a multiplayer action game without forcing it on every player in the map!
Also had a strange RPG community entirely separate from the main game… funny how these random subcultures evolve in unexpected places.
Wow thats a name I haven't heard in a long time! I really miss the way tacops 2.2 felt, never did get along with 3.x versions. Was definitely a formative gaming experience for me as well
There were a ton of servers with wacky mods. I spent a ton of time on the low-grav servers. There were also some that made the top-scoring player huge. Those odd game modes were a blast.
EDIT: Also looks like people are still playing!
https://www.gog.com/dreamlist/game/tactical-ops-assault-on-t...
https://tactical-ops.eu/