Mac Gaming

Fallout 3 (Oct 2008) is the game I most anticipated this year. I loved Oblivion and the idea of a post-apocalyptic RPG from the same developers seemed like an incredible idea.

The phrase “Oblivion with guns” has been tossed around a lot to describe Fallout 3, both positively and derisively. Well, it is and it isn’t. There are definitely similarities between the two Bethesda games (for better and for worse), but I’ve enjoyed this game immensely and it runs quite well on my iMac, with a solid 30-50 fps @ 1280×800 in most areas.

My Settings

Below are the settings I use on my iMac.

I started at the preset Medium detail and tweaked individual settings from there. The game looks great to me, but you can judge for yourself by checking out the in-game screens and in-game settings in the gallery at the end of the post.

The Verdict

As I said above, I get pretty solid framerates at 1280×800 resolution — usually between 30-50 fps. The only time this changes is very near the end of the game. I won’t spoil anything, but there is an outdoor segment that can turn the game into an unplayable slideshow for me. When I first tried to play through it, I had to exit the game and turn the settings way down in order to achieve a playable framerate. Other than that, though, Fallout 3 has been a great game and I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth out of it, especially considering the 80+ hours I’ve spent roaming the Capital Wasteland.

Metacritic.com User Score

7.8/10