Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Best Game for < $20?

J

jbstew32

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 15, 2007
146
1
I'm not much of a gamer anymore, hence my MB purchase, but I'd like to pick a cheap game up just for killing time.

Any suggestions? I know I could just pour over countless reviews, but I trust the opinions of people here, especially when it comes to what games will run best on my lackluster GMA video. I'd prefer something along the lines of an RTS, RPG, or something similar that won't really require an external mouse.

It can be for either OSX or WinXP.
 
Mac games for under $20? Hah! ...:p ... sorry, had to wipe a tear from my eye, that's funny! I still would like to but refuse to buy KOTOR b/c it's how many years old and still sells for $50? Mac games never seem to drop in price.


Tom B. said:
StarCraft, Diablo II, Warcraft III. They're all excellent.
Click to expand...

These are the big ones I'd also suggest. The Battle Chests may go for closer to $30, but are quality.

Try gogamer.com for bette prices on new stuff.

...oh wait, you also said WinXP. Well she-oot, probably lots of good games for under $20 there. Civ III or even IV may run OK on XP and be cheap.
 
jbstew32 said:
I'm not much of a gamer anymore, hence my MB purchase, but I'd like to pick a cheap game up just for killing time.

Any suggestions? I know I could just pour over countless reviews, but I trust the opinions of people here, especially when it comes to what games will run best on my lackluster GMA video. I'd prefer something along the lines of an RTS, RPG, or something similar that won't really require an external mouse.

It can be for either OSX or WinXP.
Click to expand...

THe Intel 950 GMA is much maligned, but it's really not bad at all for an integrated first-party graphics chipset, even for some games. Since you mentioned WinXP versions were fine, that's where you should look as the ones compatible with the 950 GMA will be in your price range, whereas the OS X versions, if they exist, will still be as much as $40 or $50. THe chipset will indeed respectably play Half-Life 2 and Halo. Though FPS isn't your bag. Age of Empires 2 and Command & Conquer Zero Hour are good RTS choices.

Look around. Target Stores or Wal-Mart, etc., if you're in the States. You can find some older but not *old*, very good RTS titles, that will play on your MB under WinXP, for as little as $10 in repackaged bargain-title versions -- only the packaging is different; they are the same, full games.

Unfortunately some of the newest RTS titles depend heavily on the GPU when, in my opinion, the extra eye-candy does little to enhance the game, and those won't play well or not at all. Civilization IV is an example. It will play in the Mac version, but hardly well. The WinXP version will probably run better, although I expect both versions still exceed your target price range.

Most of the demos for even the older titles are still out there on the Web; trying downloading them and see how they run. If the demo runs well, the full game will also run nicely.

Enjoy. Sorry I can't be more specific. I actually, along with other work, review console games, but that's *console* games: I have all the top-of-the line consoles and AAA titles coming out my ears, but I bought a MacBook for work as I don't play games at all on my computer.
 
jbstew32 said:
I'm not much of a gamer anymore, hence my MB purchase, but I'd like to pick a cheap game up just for killing time.

Any suggestions? I know I could just pour over countless reviews, but I trust the opinions of people here, especially when it comes to what games will run best on my lackluster GMA video. I'd prefer something along the lines of an RTS, RPG, or something similar that won't really require an external mouse.

It can be for either OSX or WinXP.
Click to expand...

Heroes of Might and Magic IV goes for $7 on Amazon right now. Easily the greatest strategy RPG ever created for PC/Mac, in my humble opinion. It also sounds like it's exactly what you're looking for.
MMORPG fan? World of Warcraft seems obvious, given it's $20 price tag (although monthly fees have to be taken into account). Otherwise, virtually any other Blizzard game is a good bet (most of them come in Battle Chest collections at about $20 now).
Unreal Tournament 2004 is available for $25 right now on Amazon - incredible game, easily one of the best multiplayer shooters of all time, if not THE best, although I know you're not especially interested in FPS's.
Age of Mythology is decently fun, available for $14 on Amazon.
Baldur's Gate 2 is also $14 on Amazon, and is arguably the greatest RPG of all time. Definitely look into this one.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is an entertaining RPG/beat-em-up going for the incredible price of $3 on Amazon right now. I'd buy it if I didn't already have a copy that I got for $10 the other month (thinking I was getting an excellent deal).
Fallout, another one of the best RPGs of all time, is going for $12 on Amazon, and its even superior sequel, Fallout 2, is going for $15.
Alien vs. Predator 2 is going for about $7 on Amazon. Another FPS, but well worth looking into, as it's easily one of the greatest shooters I've ever experienced, both in singleplayer and multiplayer.
Stubbs the Zombie is $7 on Amazon, an excellent title but runs horribly on Intel Macs from what I've been told (I've only played it on Xbox).
Rune goes for $1.49 on Amazon. A first-person fantasy hack-and-slash/shooter, this classic title may be rather dated graphically but is still well worth playing today, if you ask me. Especially at a price like this.

Hopefully that gives you enough options to look at. There are plenty of incredible budget titles available for Mac, if one bothers to search for just five minutes on Amazon alone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back