Age of the Geek

Just right
     Typically speaking, video games are designed to be played as is. Developers pour hours and hours into building an experience for the player and, as the player, you are generally not allowed to stray too far from their original intent. At most, the only variance allowed will be the difficulty setting.
     Then there's "XCOM 2."
     On the surface, "XCOM 2" is a typical tactics based RPG that has you directing teams of procedurally generated characters to combat alien invaders. The game is clunky, its UI is lacking, the mechanics are unfairly balanced, and it is poorly optimized for the PC.
     And for some people it was their favorite game of last year.
     In theory, you could play "XCOM 2" the way it was initially designed, but I don't know a single person that would attempt such a task. Not when the game has such an active modding community.
     The Steam Workshop for "XCOM 2" showcases more than 2,000 player-made mods for the game, letting you customize it to your liking. Some of these mods are purely cosmetic, adding voice packs and character models to the game. For instance, if you want to replace your team of generic resistance fighters with a squadron of Clone Troopers from Star Wars, there's a mod for that. If you want those Clone Troopers to be led by Captain America, who speaks with the voice of Twilight Sparkle, there's a mod for that too.
     In my current game, my closest friends and family fight alongside characters from the Resident Evil franchise, the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and an assortment of columnists from the New York Times. Because where else are you going to see Paul Krugman providing cover fire for Jean-Luc Picard?
     Other mods let you make more substantial changes. Keeping the staff of the Washington Post properly armed costs more resources than the game is willing to provide, so I've got a mod or two that adjusts the in-game economy. Of course I don't want to make the game too easy so I've got a couple other mods that add new enemy types for an extra challenge.
     When it comes to customization, the options are just about endless.
     As a result, in spite of putting nearly 200 hours into the game since it came out, I've yet to actually beat it. Most of that time has been spent starting new campaigns and testing out the various alterations I've made to the game. Every time I get halfway through a campaign, I'll come across another set of mods to install and start over from scratch.
     On occasion I've even found myself modifying the mods. Recently Firaxis, the game's developer, teamed up with one of the more well regarded modding groups to release "The Long War 2," a mod that greatly overhauls the base game with new classes, mechanics, and abilities.
     The mod is great, but there are things about it I would change if I could.
     And, as it turns out, I can.
     In between actually playing the game, I've been digging into .ini files trying to decipher the arcane text that dictates how it works, which is not nearly as difficult as it sounds. For the most part it's simply a matter of finding the right line of text that you want to change and adjusting it accordingly, like taking white out to a rulebook and penning in something different.
     But even that can only get you so far, so I'm just a few YouTube tutorial videos away from developing mods of my own.
     And that's the beauty of "XCOM 2." It's an okay game, but a great development platform. Building your own unique version of the game, specifically tailored to your preferences, is like the gaming equivalent of building a model train set. Sure, maybe I'll get around to beating it eventually, but the real fun is putting it together.
     Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and if you don't like the rules, then change them.