Borderlands 2 for Mac OS X
Borderlands 2 Review for Mac OS X
Gameplay Video
Multiplayer
The Steam edition of the game supports drop-in/drop-out co-op multiplayer (via SteamWorks), so you can play with people who have the Windows version of the game. The Mac App Store edition will only allow co-op with players of that edition (see this article on setting up multiplayer with the Mac App Store edition).
The game has been designed with co-op in mind, and as with Diablo III, more players means tougher enemies but better loot. That said, you’ll probably want to keep a character for each group you play with, as everyone in a group needs to be at a reasonably similar level in order for it to feel properly balanced. As mentioned earlier, some character classes seem more appropriate for cooperative play than others, but that will depend on your particular play style.
DLC
Several expansions have been released that add new locations, missions and playable characters to the game, as well as those that increase the level cap. A “season pass” is available for the Steam edition of the game that includes most of it, there’s also a “Game of the Year Edition” of the game that comprises most of the DLC.
There’s also an official map app for iOS devices available:
Aspyr have announced that they plan to make all the DLC available for the Mac version, but there may be a short delay (of a couple of weeks) between the Windows and Mac versions.
Ratings
Your Rating
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Mac Game Store
Steam
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11 Comments
Crispian Chan says:
“We maxed out all the settings on our Nvidia 670-enabled Mac Pro (which in theory means the new iMacs will also run it at maximum spec), and on the MacBook Pro with Retina, the default settings worked fine. ”
This is very strange as I have just downloaded it and it runs very poorly on my iMac mid-2011 (3.4ghz, 12GB RAM, AMD 6970M, 2GB). No matter how low my settings are, i can’t seem to get the smoothness or excellent framerates that i was getting through Bootcamp (which is on high settings too).
Can anyone help me with how i can improve performance??
staraffinity says:
It runs like crap for me too compared to in Windows and I also have an Nvidia GTX 670 card. If the reviewers thinks it’s okay in OS X the reviewers must have a very forgiving sense of what is low frame rates. 🙂
The only way for me to get decent performance in OS X is by turning off Dynamic Shadows. Done by altering the ”WillowEngine.ini” file in username/Library/Application Support/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/Config
From the review:
”Note that your Mac saves are not compatible with the Windows version, so your profile, multiplayer stats, and unlocks are not transferred between the Mac and Windows versions of the game.”
Not true, you can manually copy the save data between the two operating systems. Not very convenient, but it works.
NinjaFoodstuff says:
ATI Radeon 6970 is on the list of supported video cards that I have. I presume you are on OS 10.8.2 and have Time Machine etc switched off? I know other people are reporting that it works fine with that Mac model– all our tests were on Nvidia hardware. would strongly suggest you contact Aspyr support.
yossy says:
Does anyone know whether steam cloud is compatible between mac and windows or not? In my case,it seems there’s no compatibility.
NinjaFoodstuff says:
It isn’t, as I pointed out at the end of the review
yossy says:
thanks, i missed those lines. i hope they’ll have a compatibility.
Ric @ macgamerhq.com says:
Nice review! I have to agree that this game takes too long to really start (first levels are pretty plain) and I was also disappointed that most skills are mostly incremental. I would have been cool to unlock actual different abilities…
Anyway, I did really like the game however, I’m running it with a GTX 660ti and to be honest, the performance isn’t that good for me (can’t max it out, yet on windows i can max everything out and still get better FPS!)! Did you find specific drivers or something?
NinjaFoodstuff says:
I used 304: http://www.controlcommandescape.com/news/nvidia-304-00/ you’ll probably need to make sure the CUDA drivers are up-to-date. I can tell you that performance is significantly worse with OS 10.8.3 (beta) right now. You should also try turning off ambient occlusion, as mentioned above (if you haven’t already).
Joe stumps says:
This game is really shitting me!
The first one was brilliant on my mac. This time around.. nothing but problems.
First of all i was really disappointed that you cant use a PS3 controller in BL2 like you could in the first one.
Secondly im having problems with the gun controls on my mouse.
Im using a standard issue Mac mouse and when ever i slide my finger down the mouse to change between guns it changes the guns around like a million times in one second. Im lucky if it lands on the gun i wanted.
The third problem…
Now I’m finding that my mouse wont let me zoom in when im using a sniper type sight on the guns.
I would really appreciate any help with these issues.
Ninja Foodstuff says:
Well the controller support is not good, yeah. As for your mouse issues, personally I’ve had no issues whatsoever (I was experiencing problems like you described on other games with a Logitech mouse which I have since returned). I used a Razer Deathadder for the many hours I’ve spent playing Borderlands 2 and had no issues (granted, that doesn’t help you). I would strongly suggest you contact Aspyr Support if you haven’t already.
Alex (@aponsin) says:
To me the setting that has the most impact on the game’s FPS is the view distance…
Everything else is maxed out, even Occlusion and Dynamic Shadows, the only thing that gets me down is the view distance…I have to resort to Medium, and even then I get in the low 20s sometimes..
(Mac Pro Early 2009, Quad Core 2.93ghz, Nvidia GTX 680)