Best games available for OSX?

My wife inadvertently threw away my Win XP install disc, so when I installed a new HDD in my computer, I found myself with just an OSX partition instead of the XP partition I had for gaming. Since I'm getting a new machine in December (a Windows machine this time), I didn't feel like either buying a new copy of Windows or messing around with third-party software trying to transfer the old partition as a disc image. Instead, I thought I'd just game in OSX for the next six months.

So far, what I've found is as follows. What else should I try?

Starcraft II: Runs seamlessly in OSX, even on old hardware. Just as good as in Windows.

Borderlands: The port is in the app store. Once I bump the resolution and detail down enough to run smoothly (not sure if it's a bad port or just a bit too demanding for my hardware), it's a brilliant game. I've been a fan of the FPS-meets-RPG genre ever since I tried Mass Effect. This is more on the Diablo end of RPG (loot-gathering and stat-building) instead of character interaction, but the gameplay is tight and the world is fantastic.

Call of Duty 4: Bad port--it doesn't run as smoothly as Bad Company 2 did in Windows on the same hardware. And the best part of CoD4, the multiplayer, is hamstrung by not many people playing online given that there are now three newer CoD games available for Windows players. Otherwise a solid game.

Dragon Age: Origins: Once again, the port struggles with framerates, even at low detail, but it's an absolutely great game (though there's a bit too much grinding at times). Luckily, low framerates don't impair combat, given the combat system. It's just an annoyance, not something that actually holds me back.

Knights of the Old Republic: See DA:O. There's absolutely no excuse for framerate problems in a game this old, but otherwise awesomesauce.

 

You can check games on Steam, the ones with the Steamplay logo, you just buy one and get both versions, mac & win.

I tried some ported games (not Steam) when I was a full Mac user... almost all EA Games were bad ported... I tried BF 2142 and was awful. Also CoD. And a couple more. I could port a game to Mac better than EA does (cider).

 

Im no OSX user but this worked for me when i tried out Ubuntu a while ago.
They also offer a free trial so you can see if it actually works.

CrossOver: Windows games emulator for Mac and Linux computers - CodeWeavers

Most ported to OSX games are not real ports but they include a compatability library, hence the low performance.

 

AssaultSuit--I've downloaded Team Fortress 2, but haven't had a chance to try it out (too obsessed with Borderlands right now). And now that you've mentioned it, I think my copies of Portal and Haflife 2 from Steam should both work in OSX as well.

DEagleson--do you know if the whole CrossOver thing works with Steam games, as opposed to games where you have the game on optical disc? I'm not sure I'd drop the $40 or $50, as I'm just trying to hold out for the next six months instead of looking for a long-term solution, but that's something I'll look into more.

 

Yes. Almost all Valve products are SteamPlay. That includes Portal 1 & 2, HL2 + EP1 & 2, L4D/L4D2

Crossover is a great product. You can't play steam games on it, because you need to "install" the game via Crossover... is a WINE branch (if I remember right... but optimized... there is even a "Crossover games" branch). It DO work for many games... I played Vice City with that.

Just buy some SteamPlay games on Steam, so when you got your new laptop, you can use the same account and keep playing those games on their windows versions. Buy L4D/L4D2, brilliant games! Also you have Civilization 4 & 5, Splinter Cell Conviction, Torchlight, Anomaly, Assassins creed brotherhood, Killing floor... there are a lot of good games for mac on Steam.

 

lol i read this and thought hmm you could get cod 4 for 60 bucks for a mac, wait on windows it only costs 10 bucks...

 

Just test the 30 day free trial to check if it will work with your games.

 

Yeah, it's amazing how overpriced some of the old games are on the App Store. I guess it's one of those "what the market will bear" situations...

 

Isn't it cheaper just to get a copy of windows instead of overpaying for a small selection of games?

Isn't XP like $10 anyway?

 

I already owned COD4; I bought it a long time ago before I first set up the Boot Camp partition. Same with SC2. Thankfully, when talking about the price of COD4, I wasn't talking about a price I had recently paid; I was just shocked to see that it was still basically the same price on the App store that it was three years ago when I bought it. The only two games I actually bought since the HDD replacement are KOTOR and Borderlands.

Not unless you have connections (school, work, etc), and I don't. New copies on Amazon.com are actually over $200--it's more expensive than Win 7 nowadays. Remember to look for full versions, not upgrades.

 

Another vote for Steam. They have a nice Mac OSX section for games.

 

Yes, let's keep it legal...

However, since you owned XP at one point and just lost the disk, it would be legal to borrow a retail XP disk and install with a matching retail key you already own.

Note, this requires having written it down or saved it or having an installed copy somewhere that you could extract a key from.

 

I've got my old HDD sitting on a shelf, so if I found someone with an XP disc, I guess I could do that. But it's a bit of a hassle to pop the new HDD out, put the old one in, get the CD key, pop the old HDD out, put the new one in, find someone with a Windows XP disc, create a second partition, install Windows XP, and go. If it would be years till I got a new machine, I would, but not if I'm doing it in December.

Instead of starting this thread to see about how I could get Win XP back on my machine, I was actually just seeing what I could play in OSX as a bit of a diversion and a "now for something completely different." I'll probably just play Borderlands and SC2 for the next four months, maybe some Team Fortress II if I end up liking it, but I started this thread to see if there were any other epic games out there that run in OSX that I was missing out on.

 

That's only because you want to. You can use Steam and the vast Steamplay (win/mac) games there...

 

That's true. And I don't want to under-emphasize that. But the vast majority of what's available for Mac on Steam are indie games, which I personally am not into. There ARE some highly-reviewed, first-run games I haven't tried yet that are for both OSes (namely Civ V and the Assassin's Creed games), there are the Source games (which are really popular but have never really captivated me for some reason I can't explain). But for the more often than not, it's still slim pickings with a lot of popular first-run titles. For example, DA:O and Borderlands are both on Steam for Windows, but if you want the OSX versions, you have to go elsewhere (I got DA:O from GameTree Mac last year, and Borderlands from the App store).

 

Team Fortress 2 is easily the most fun multiplayer game I've ever played, and I've certainly invested way more hours into it in the past few years since its release than anything else.

 

Not to mention it is FREE I really like TF2 ! Was a big fan of TFC

 

Without a doubt the best game on OSX is Boot Camp

 

you can install a free trial of windows 7 good for 120 days. i would go that route.

the problem with SC2 and steam play games are that the performance is higher in windows. sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

I've tested SC2 and most source games, and the performance is significantly higher in windows. It's unfortunate. Any EA games that run on the mac are also going to be much better off in windows.