Steam released their platform for “cloud” gaming for Mac OS X last week and I have had a full week of gaming to assess whether or not Macs can handle full-time gaming.  The verdict?  It is OK.

Just OK.  Since this is the first huge release for gaming on the Mac, there will be a lot of issues and bugs.  There have been a lot of crashes on my MacBook Pro and when Steam is running, it is still very glitchy.  There are currently 2 games that I have been playing (1 replaying) on OS X:  Portal and Torchlight.  Portal issues can be found at Tom’s Hardware, where they have given a full comprehensive review with benchmarks for Steam.

Torchlight on the other hand, works.  And I use work loosely as the graphics are almost the same as a PC, but I’m not sure MacBooks are meant to handle gaming like Alienware laptops can.  I’ve already had my MacBook shut off on me due to overheating, and the fan is constantly running… loud and fast.  I can’t even play with the MacBook on my lap! While Torchlight is not very graphically intense, I can only imagine what would happen if Macs try to run Crysis…

So while everything seems fine and games can be played, my hopes aren’t too high when it comes to the future gaming on Macs.  Yes, you might be able to play less intense games, but what about us hardcore gamers who play BFBC2, MW2, Crysis or L4D?  Looks like PCs to me…

What is there to say about an FPS game (first person shooter)? Besides the occasional knife in the back with the random swearing in the game that makes everything more comical, the game is fairly realistic. Let’s take into account sniping… something that everyone usually gets mad at when playing multiplayer. The game takes gravity into the bullet’s physics and in most cases the bullet goes lower than what is normally aimed at. Sounds simple right? The incorporation of real-life physics into games is fairly new, especially when buildings are blown up and you are hit by slabs of concrete… But back to the bullet… imagine sitting there looking through your scope (which is constantly moving up and down due to heart-rate). You are trying to aim for the head and the cross-hairs are lined perfectly with the other player’s head. you shoot and miss because of gravity! So how do you compensate? Aim higher!

Besides gravity, I love demolishing buildings with tanks, rocket launchers and grenades. It just makes the game fun to blow up a shack with a tank and then shoot down a helicopter. Anyways, enough ramble! Check out my really quick killing montage video below!