Holy Skag Poop! Borderlands 2 Coming To The Mac in Two Weeks

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borderlands-2

Borderlands 2, one of the most anticipated games to hit consoles and the PC this year is now coming to the Mac. The fact that it’ll be available for download two months after the game saw its main release speaks volumes about the attention the Mac gaming market is beginning to get. More importantly though, it means Mac gamers can get ready to blast their pants off this holiday season.

For those unfamiliar with the Borderlands franchise, the games straddle the line between first-person shooter and role-playing game. Yes, there are heaps of big explosions, adrenaline-filled battles and careful tactical considerations; but all that seat-of-your-pants excitement is given huge scope with a big world you’re allowed to roam or drive around in freely, different types of characters to play — like a elemental-weapons specialist or long-range sniper, all with their own level-up trees — and a cooperative play system. The whole thing is set in a cartoonish post-apocalyptic backdrop that gives the Borderlands games a slick, heavily stylized feel. Then there’s the most unusual aspect of the game, a system where weapons (mostly guns and grenades) are randomly generated with different stats, assigned a rarity value based on their impressiveness and then tossed in lockers or slung off dead bodies for players to find.

While the original was fantastic, reviews of Borderlands 2 say the sequel is even better: New character classes, more varied, prettier environments (the original mostly stuck to desert backdrops, even in some of the DLC) and a much-expanded random-loot system that isn’t just about guns and grenades, but adds shields and alien artifacts.

Borderlands 2 will initially be available on Steam and Aspyr’s GameAgent for $60, but will eventually show app at the Mac App Store. Two DLC packs, Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty, and the Mecromancer Pack will also be available on launch day. Multiplayer will be cross-platform, allowing Mac users to frag skags alongside their PC brethren. Wired Xbox 360 controllers are supported too.

Here’s a look at the system requirements from Aspyr. Note that the cards listed aren’t supported; the actual list of supported cards is happily quite extensive.

  1. CPU Processor: Intel Quad Core
    CPU Speed: 2.4 GHz
    Memory: 4 GB RAM
    Video Memory (VRam): 512MB
    *Apple original CPU’s only, CPU upgrades not supported.

NOTICE: The following video chipsets are unsupported for Borderlands 2:

  • ATI RADEON HD 2000 series
  • NVIDIA 8600m
  • NVIDIA 9400m, 9600m

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