People, people, people.
Unless the OP dumps their own game, they are still committing the act of piracy. As well under the DMCA, simply modifying your system is actually against the law. If the OP downloads a prepatched version of the game, they are still breaking the law. No matter how you shake it, if the OP is in the US, they are breaking some law or another. If the OP is not in the US, then it fall under their country's copyright laws.
Before arguing over the legality of this situation, makes sure you know the location and the copyright laws in that location. Not every location has laws like the DMCA and some locations have laxer copyright laws.
I think it would help more the OP actually told us their general location so we can become familiar with the copyright laws in that general location.