Half-Life fought valiantly, but it was Gothic that came out on top in the poll for best mods of 2025

ModDB has released the list of best mods of 2025, chosen by the gamers themselves. Over several weeks, 62,000 of them cast votes for their favorites, and the resulting ranking turned out to be quite diverse.

10. C&C Tiberian Odyssey

C&C Tiberian Odyssey is a modification for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, designed as an unofficial sequel to the game. It features heavily expanded armies and many new gameplay mechanics, all of which can be enjoyed in an extensive story-driven campaign set 11 years after the events of the Firestorm expansion. A multiplayer mode is also included.

What’s important is also that Tiberian Odyssey is a standalone project. You can download and run it like a free game, without needing to own Tiberian Sun.

1. Download Tiberian Odyssey

9. Horn of the Abyss

Ninth place went to the huge mod Horn of the Abyss for Heroes of Might and Magic III. In practice, it is an unofficial expansion that introduces two new factions, numerous campaigns and scenarios, as well as a large number of gameplay changes and improvements.

Last year, the project also became one of the mods distributed through the GOG.com service.

1. Download Horn of the Abyss
2. Horn of the Abyss on GOG.com

8. Zero Signal – An Entropy: Zero 2 Mod

Zero Signal – An Entropy: Zero 2 is set to offer a new, extensive single-player campaign for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, in which we’ll face the Combine forces in theArctic.

So far, the developers have only released the Prologue, but as it turns out, that was enough for the project to break into the top ten mods of 2025.

1. Download Zero Signal – An Entropy: Zero 2 Mod

7. Voxel Duke Nukem 3D

In the case of Voxel Duke Nukem 3D, the title really says it all. The mod transforms the game into a fully 3D one by replacing sprites with voxel-based objects. The effect is excellent — we get truly three-dimensional visuals (one player even jokingly called it “Duke Nukem 3D 3D”), while retaining the pixel-art style of the original.

1. Download Voxel Duke Nukem 3D

6. Half-Life: Insecure

Half-Life: Insecure is a modification for HL1. The project offers a new campaign that tells the story of the Black Mesa incident from the perspective of a security guard employed at the facility.

1. Download Half-Life: Insecure

5. Call of the Void

Call of the Void introduces a new story-driven campaign into Quake II, combining the setting of that game with elements from the first entry in the series. During the adventure, we must face not only familiar monsters from both games, but also new ones — most notably stroggified versions beasts from the original Quake.

1. Download Call of the Void

4. Raising The Bar: Retail

Raising The Bar: Retail is a rather unusual modification for Half-Life 2: Episode Two. The project is a reworked version of the popular mod Raising the Bar: Redux, placing all of its content — including weapons and enemies — onto the maps from the standard retail version of Half-Life 2. These levels have also been heavily redesigned visually. The final result is interesting even for players who know the HL2 campaign like the back of their hand.

1. Download Raising The Bar: Retail

3. Half-Life: Extended

The goal of Half-Life: Extended is to expand the campaign of the original Half-Life. A large number of new elements and challenges have been added, the storyline has been significantly expanded, and the gameplay has been refreshed.

1. Download Half-Life: Extended

2. Diffusion

Second place on the podium went to another mod for the original Half-Life. However, Diffusion is a standalone project, so you don’t need HL1 to play it.

In practice, it is a free FPS that takes us to a new futuristic universe, allowing us to step into the role of a SWAT veteran who becomes accidentally entangled in mysterious experiments.

In Diffusion, virtually everything is new — maps, objects, enemies, and weapons. The gameplay mechanics have also been heavily modified.

1. Download Diffusion

1. Golden Gate 2: Goddess Heart

The winner in the category of best mod of 2025 should come as no surprise to anyone. Golden Gate 2: Goddess Heart is a truly outstanding modification for Gothic II. The project can effectively be considered a completely new RPG built on the engine of this classic game. It offers a campaign lasting over thirty hours, a new universe, and a wealth of new gameplay features. All of this is executed at the highest level, both visually and in terms of audio (including full Polish voice acting).

The mod had quite a few technical issues at launch, but as we can see, this did not discourage players from voting for it in the ModDB poll.

1. Download Golden Gate 2: Goddess Heart

Half-Life

November 19, 1998

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