Apple enjoys margins more than market share. It’s a simple truth that impacts the amount of videogames available for the Macintosh platform. It also keeps our optimism in check. Most big ports -- the few there are -- ship hobbled.  This isn’t the case for Mythic Entertainment’s Warhammer Online. The MMO runs like a dream.

WAR for the Mac launched at the end of the July. Still in beta, the client isn’t without its faults. Patching takes hours and a nasty bug causes the installer to freeze during the download process. But these are the only two issues I’ve noticed. The game is a smooth joint. The character animations are clean, the controls are responsive, the textures are impressive and the frame rate is steady.

I’ve played this port for a little over eight or so hours scattered over the course of several days. Because it’s an older MMO, you’ll have to take into account that my experience with the game has been in an area that is largely under populated by both characters and vicious villains. I have spent time in a few RvR conflicts and haven’t noticed any lack of responsiveness or stutter.

You’ll need a new machine to run this game. When I first tried it out, I was using a GMA 950-equipped Macbook. It didn’t work for obvious reasons. Now, I’m using a 15”-inch Macbook Pro with a NVIDIA card and four gigs of RAM. The actual requirements for the title are available below the fold.

I’ll keep playing WAR and definitely update if I notice anything bonkers, but its looking like this is a clean-running emulation. If you're a Mac owner with a hankering for an MMO, you should definitely give it a spin. WAR is a good title on its own, but its even better now because its available on a superior* platform.

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

dipnlik

"Now, I’m using a 15”-inch Powerbook with a NVIDIA card and four gigs of RAM"

Since the game requires Intel, I think you mean a MacBook Pro, or at least an unibody MacBook.

On-topic: YAY for Mac Games :) altough my Mac won't run it and I'll keep playing Kill Monty instead.

Frohike

Joke? Where?

Anski

meanwhile, companies like Blizzard release both Mac and PC versions of all their games at the same time.

runtheplacered

"Because it’s an older MMO, you’ll have to take into account that my experience with the game has been in an area that is largely under populated by both characters and vicious villains."

The game is less then a year old, isn't it?

Exquisitor

And in MMO standards, a year old MMO not named World of Warcraft is a relic that's destined for shutdown.

Brad Nicholson

@dipnlik - Yep. Sorry. I guess my brain locked up there. Apologies.

aaronf

Downloaded it. Played it. Deleted it.

This game is so unoriginal and uninspired, I don't even know where to begin. Seriously, if you are on a Mac and need to play an MMO, do yourself a favor and just stick with WoW. Any other game is just a poor copy.

shogunu

What is this thing called Macintosh? I ran it through Google image search and all i got was some gay coloured apple and a thin balding dude in turtleneck sweaters and jeans...

If that's what Macintosh is, no wonder it only plays last year's games ;)

Brad Nicholson

@shogunu - Be careful when you use the Internet, shogunu. I heard it has tons of viruses that can negatively effect inferior operating systems.

shogunu

Brad, thanks for the heads up. Never knew that about inferior operating systems. Better use protection from now on:

Interstate78

I don't agree that WAR is "unoriginal" and "uninspired". It doesn't reinvent the wheel but most of what it does, it does it best.

The classes are wildly varied, most people roll alts all the time because it's so fun to replay the early game PVP.

PVP is where this game shines. The 'scenarios' are battles that you queue for and jump in from anywhere on the map. They last no longer than 15 minutes and reward you with xp, loot and renown* (a second type of levelling, your rank in the army, kinda).