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Spore is far from a new game. It was released almost four years ago to a tremendous amount of hype, in part due to it’s lead designer having a history of simulation games including the blockbuster SimCity and The Sims franchises. It received some criticism due to that hype, but it still turned out to be a fantastic game even if it hasn’t been awarded the same legacy and future that The Sims holds.
Spore is a simulation game based around evolution where you take a species from being a mere cell in an ocean to a galactic, space-bourn empire. Through the game you are slowly introduced to more civilised concepts of unity and, through hostile or friendly measures, eventually achieve world and galactic domination. As part of our look back on some of our favourite Mac games as part of Gaming Month, let’s take a look at this ambitious game. (more…)
The Sims series is an undeniable icon of PC gaming, selling more than 150 million units and earning a place amongst the best-selling video game franchises of all time. Controlling the lives of virtual people (the “sims”) has become somewhat of a phenomenon and, while hardcore gamers might laugh it off, The Sims has introduced gaming to whole new demographics.
The Sims 3 was released in 2009 as the latest base game of the franchise and the first to be simultaneously released on both Mac and PC. In this review, we’re going to take a look at a game that remains immensely popular on the platform and that’s role in it’s franchise makes it an icon of Mac gaming.
A good video game keeps you on the edge of your seat while you play. A great video game does that and more, with a powerful story and immersive gameplay environment sticking with you far past the time that you set your controller down. It’s games like these that cause nightmares, forcing you to carefully look behind doors and peer into dark corners for fear of the approaching enemy, even in real life.
Lone Survivor is a great Mac game which fits solidly into the second category. It’s a psychological thriller set in a chilling, virtual environment. While the length of each play through the game lasts only a few hours, Lone Survivor definitely continues to stick with you. It definitely caused me at least one nightmare! Read on to learn more about the story, the game and what I thought of it.
Minecraft is a phenomenon. The game that was born from one man’s mind has sold nearly 7 million copies and generated an immensely devoted community of fans. It’s been heralded as one of the best games of all time, and it’s not at all difficult to see why.
When we reviewed it last, Minecraft was still in beta, version 1.9, and has since been officially released, taken out of beta and received a wealth of significant updates. With Minecraft 1.3 hot off the presses and hitting as a free update, it’s time to take another luck at why this game is so successful and offer some update views. (more…)
I love arcade-style games. They offer such simple pleasure, with quick thrills, a mantra of easy to learn but hard to master, and you can drop in and out of them at any time. The Mac has seen its share of great arcade space shooters over the years, thanks to shareware classics from the likes of Ambrosia Software (Maelstrom, SketchFighter, Mars Rising) and Pangea Software (Pangea Arcade), among others.
While Sad Cat Software’s Violet Storm is a decent and mostly-fun game, it doesn’t hold a candle to these or other popular recent games owing to the legacy of 1979 arcade hit Asteroids (such as Geometry Wars, to which Violet Storm is highly indebted). But at $1.99, it might just be worth a look anyway. Allow me to explain why.
As more iOS games are ported to OS X, the library of games in the Mac App Store keeps getting larger. Unfortunately for OS X users, this means that many games in the store were meant for smaller screens, limited controls, and “on-the-go” experiences. Granted, some developers do enhance your experience when porting a game over to OS X, but a lot of them don’t.
Keeping that in mind, let’s talk about Demolition Dash. This somewhat adorable platformer from dreamfab and Chimera Entertainment is one of those ported-to-the-Mac games that sometimes lacks the compelling factor a game should have on a non-mobile platform, but it can also provide a quick fix to your gaming needs.
The development team at Hexage has been creating multi platform games for years, and their recent offering, Radiant Defense, demonstrates they’re still at the top of their game. I first discovered Radiant Defense on iOS and thought so much of the gameplay and design, I sought out everything they’d made, and even tried out Radiant Defense on my Mac.
A tower defense puzzler, Radiant Defense has brought a breath of fresh air to the genre. But can Radiant Defense keep everybody, from casual gamers to hardcore players, happy?
Space… the final frontier. A frontier not often explored by video games — not in a spaceship anyway. While there’s a sea of racing games, first person shooters, and other genres that have way too many clones, space flight simulators that let you explore the vast galaxy while admiring it’s magnificent beauty are very scarce.
This once popular type of game is considered by most to be a “dead” genre, and this is sad because there are many people who love space, spaceships, and space battles. Some have EVE to rely on, but not everyone can afford the monthly price or the hours needed to invest in such deep game.
This is where Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD comes into play. While these are not the voyages of the starship Enterprise, this title will take you were no one has gone before — and it’ll do so with finesse.
This post is part of a series that revisits some of our readers’ favorite articles from the past that still contain awesome and relevant information that you might find useful. This post was originally published on June 28th, 2011.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was a phenomenally fun console that successfully ate up a large portion of my childhood. There are so many classic games from this era that have long been forgotten. If only there were a way to download and play those 16-bit masterpieces on your Mac. Oh wait, there is.
Today we’ll flood your memory with enough digital nostalgia to make you teary eyed by showing you where you can grab these games and play them today. Be sure to read the fine print though as emulating old Nintendo games on your Mac is risky business!
At this year’s E3, there were plenty of spectacular games that impressed gamers, journalist, and developers. However, there were not many surprises during the press conferences, but there was something that a few E3 goers were able to notice. The show was interestingly filled with plenty of free-to-play games. Games like Hawken and Dust 514 were showcased during the event, and they were not only fun, but they looked phenomenal. These games showed us that free-to-play games can rock and look good while doing it.
With that in mind, welcome to the world of UberStrike HD. UberStrike HD is a free-to-play first person shooter game that evolved from a small game known as Paradise Paintball. UberStrike HD gives OS X players a rather fun experience with HD graphics that make the game stand out. Sadly however, the game has a few deal-breakers that stop it from being all it could be.
