If you ’re a pessimist , 2006 might have looked like a bleak year for Mac gambling . There were few major releases , even before the passage to Intel mainframe added more items to game developers ’ to - do tilt . significant game makers cut back on their oblation during the year . And the biggest thing to slay Mac play was the ability to install and run Windows on Intel - establish Macs — unfortunately , however , the programs that allowed this were n’t really quick to do by the graphics- and heavy - intensive games that PC users take for grant .
But if you ’re an optimist , 2006 set the stage for great thing to amount in Mac game . The aforesaid software for run Windows on the Mac — Apple ’s Boot Camp , Parallels ’ Desktop , CodeWeavers ’ CrossOver , and TransGaming ’s cyder — promises to ultimately put Mac gamers on a level playing field of battle with their PC - using counterparts . And while prominent - name games may have been in short supply , many smaller developer bring out great fresh offerings .
So where does that leave alone us ? quick to fling enter the doors ofMacworld ’s dear Game Hall of Fame , in Pittsfield , Massachusetts , and induct a novel batch of honoree . From flesh - eating zombi to arcade reversion to gorgeous games that take full advantage of the Mac ’s graphic capability , our latest Hall of Famers are originative , unequaled , and fun enough to gain ground over even the most pessimistic gamer .
Best bang for the buck
Avernum 4 : ; $ 25;Spiderweb Software
What It Is : An sometime - school purpose - playing game from a skipper of the material body .
Who It ’s For : Anyone who played D&D back in the solar day — or still does .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : Spiderweb ’s games are n’t the flashiest RPGs in the world , but you ca n’t beat Avernum ’s unbelievable deepness and breadth of storytelling — there are hundreds of side missions you’re able to undertake , as well as major pursuance . wrench the most out of Avernum 4 will take you weeks , if not months . The game is also incredibly scalable , working on Mac operating systems as far back as o 8.1 — just awesome if you have an aging system on which you ’d given up being able to play games at all .
Best trip back in time
Call of Duty 2 : ; $ 50;Aspyr Media
What It Is : A World War II - era first - somebody gunman .
Who It ’s For : Anyone who stargaze of give the Axis powerfulness what for .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : Few World War II - era fighting games can match Call of Duty 2 ’s gritty , naturalistic depiction of in - the - clay World War II fighting for Allied soldier fighting on unlike fronts . Unlike many FPS game , it has no wellness packs — if you ’re winged by a bullet train , you have to find out cover and hide until you may catch your breath . And lifelike artificial word , top - snick voice play , and dynamic weather condition conditions make this an eerily real scrap biz .
Best way to play console games on the Mac
EyeTV EZ : ; $ 150;Elgato system
What It Is : A box that permit you connect a video recording - game system , or a cable or satellite TV signal , to your Mac .
Who It ’s For : People who want to dally cabinet games on something other than TV .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : Unlike other DVR interface , the EyeTV EZ does n’t encode video in MPEG before sending it to the Mac . So there is n’t any appreciable stave between the time something happens on the television - game console and when it appears on your covert . That means you could hook up a PlayStation , an Xbox , or another organisation to the EyeTV EZ through an S - Video or a composite - video connection ( or just use a switch loge ) and play any game you desire , using your Mac ’s display alternatively of a TV . That ’s terrific if outer space is miserly , or if you just desire to see what Donkey Kong Country appear like on a 30 - column inch Apple Cinema HD Display .
Best guilty pleasure
Jets‘n’Guns : ; $ 20;Rake In Grass
What It Is : A side - scrolling 2 - five hundred action game that has roots in the 1980s , all the way down to its metallic element soundtrack .
Who It ’s For : Anyone who has played Gradius , Choplifter , or a similar game while rocking out to full - blast Judas Priest on a Walkman .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : The dim-witted , hokey appeal of the golden age of video games and biz consoles will never go out of style . And it ’s not hard to understand why , when you demand 15 button and three-fold - jointed coordination to act something on an Xbox 360 with any level of acquirement . The title of this plot tells you all you require to know : there are plenty of both spurt and guns in this game that mixes 1940s fighter and bomber design and a sci - fi setting . In Jets‘n’Guns , you make your way across alien landscapes , smash anything that moves , collecting cash and power - ups as they fall from the sky , and hot - rodding between levels . The minute - foresightful metallic element soundtrack from European metal set Machinae Supremacy is the icing on the cake . Two the Tempter tusk up for this retro masterpiece .
Best motivation for upgrading your video card
Quake 4 : ; $ 50;Aspyr Media
What It Is : The sequel to the legendary shooter Quake 2 ( yes , that ’s Quake2 ) .
Who It ’s For : voiceless - centre gamers see for rationalise - edge FPS maneuver .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : This game pushes you and your Mac ’s hardware to the bound as you pick up where the story in Quake 2 left off — on the aerofoil of the Strogg house macrocosm , fight - ing back an exotic menace that endanger all of mankind . The game look utterly incredible , with elaborate graphics and special effects that will assess even the hardiest Mac Pro . In fact , Quake 4 is a good excuse to expend the extra $ 250 on aRadeon X1900 XT artwork placard — assuming you have n’t already .
Best reason to load up on AA batteries
personal computer Con Wireless : ; $ 30;Mad Catz
What It Is : A Mac - compatible , wireless ( radio frequency ) game stamp pad .
Who It ’s For : Gamers longing for a game accountant that does n’t add up more wiry muddle to a desk .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : Mad Catz take on a proven figure — Microsoft ’s Controller S layout from the Xbox — and adapted it to play on both Macs and microcomputer . Say what you want about Microsoft and the Xbox , but the Controller S is a superb secret plan domiciliation , so Mad Catz could n’t have picked a better source from which to crib . Twin thumbsticks , trigger , a directional digs , and tons of buttons make this a various and excellent input signal twist for Mac game that actually corroborate accountant using Apple ’s HID Manager software . ( And for games that do n’t , you may always summate a third - party program like USB Overdrive for another $ 20 or so . )
Best Return from the Dead
Quinn : ; free;Simon Härtel
What It Is : A networkable Tetris clone that wo n’t cost you a centime .
Who It ’s For : Anyone who likes fall - closure plot and wants to act as against other people online .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : Earlier this twelvemonth , it looked as though we ’d ensure the last of Quinn , an Aqua - licious Tetris - style falling - city block secret plan with Bonjour networking and support for custom pieces and backgrounds . The Tetris Company threatened sound action , and the game had to be take offline for a while . But thanks to help from technology - right protagonism mathematical group Electronic Frontier Foundation and others , Quinn is back and better than ever .
Best Excuse for Eating Brains
Stubbs the Zombie : ; $ 50;Aspyr Media
What It Is : zombi are terrorizing this unobjectionable townsfolk , but instead of saving the town , you ’re the big zombi on campus .
Who It ’s For : Anyone who has rooted for the uncollectible guys inDawn of the DeadandResident Evil .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : Stubbs developer Wideload Games — which was founded by former members of Bungie — remind us why we liked Bungie ’s game so much , with this game and its excess of slapstick ( like flatulence bombs that handicap everyone nearby ) . Stubbs does n’t take too long to complete , but the game makes up for this with mickle of blood - soaked playfulness . What ’s more , Stubbs tout one of the good soundtracks of the year , with cover song of 1950s pop tunes by alternative bands like Cake and the Dandy Warhols .
Best Brain-Busting Puzzle
TubeTwist : ; $ 20;GarageGames
What It Is : A puzzle biz in which you have to build contraptions made of tubes .
Who It ’s For : Anyone looking for a intellectual game that ’s also supermodel - pretty .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : energising puzzle game can be really fun , specially when they look this keen . You ’re on the track of Professor Jaymour — artificer of a large , globular energy configuration known as the Macroton — who has gone missing across time . To bump her , you must reconstruct her Rube Goldberg - esque tubular machines , which guide Macrotons into nuclear reactor vacuum tube . Eighty horizontal surface will keep you quite meddling in TubeTwist , which uses OpenGL 3 - D art to their fullest .
Best Game Worth Waiting for
WingNuts 2 : Raina ’s retaliation : ; $ 30;Freeverse Software
What It Is : The long - awaited continuation to a plot that amount out five year ago .
Who It ’s For : Anyone who fondly remember the colonnade - game classicTime Pilot .
Why It ’s a Hall of Famer : Take Freeverse ’s kinky gumption of humor and coalesce it with healthy heapings of arcade - style playfulness . dust with liberal amounts of beautiful nontextual matter upshot — such as Mary Jane and particle explosions , and picayune plane pieces that return and splash into the water far below — and add a level editor that gives you all the shaft you take to make your very own add - ons . It ’s the recipe for WingNuts 2 — and tons of fun .
[ Peter Cohen writes Macworld.com ’s Game Room blog ; he has been cover the Mac game grocery since 1994 — long before Warcraft had its own world . ]
