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Total War On Mac

Total War games are famous for the scale of their battles. Hundreds of soldiers on a single battlefield is certainly impressive.

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Add to that a deep gameplay that requires smart tactics and strategies and you get some of the best Strategy games for Mac. Warhammer is all that plus orcs, heroes, and other fantasy creatures.

Plus, Total War: Warhammer’s Mac version is the newest Total War game available on MacOS.

In this review:

Total War is a series of strategy games developed by The Creative Assembly for personal computers.They combine turn-based strategy and resource management with real-time tactical control of battles. The first of the series, Shogun: Total War was released in June 2000. The most recent major game released was Total War: Three Kingdoms on 23 May 2019. The series has sold over 20 million. Buy Total War: ATTILA as a Steam Key. Against a darkening background of famine, disease and war, a new power is rising in the great steppes of the East. Total War: THREE KINGDOMS is the first in the award-winning series to recreate epic conflict across ancient China. Combining a gripping turn-based campaign of empire-building & conquest with stunning real-time battles, THREE KINGDOMS redefines the series in an age of heroes & legends. A Total War Saga: TROY depicts the late Bronze-Age conflict between the Achaean Greeks and the Trojans, building upon classic Total War gameplay with features and mechanics inspired by this age of heroes, myth and legend. Sep 02, 2013  About Total War: ROME II - Emperor Edition:Emperor Edition is the definitive edition of ROME II, featuring an improved politics system, overhauled building chains, rebalanced battles and improved visuals in both campaign and battleEmperor Edition contains all free feature updates since its release in 2013, which includes bug fixes, balanc. Download Total War: SHOGUN 2 for macOS 10.14.4 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. ‎Before you buy, please expand this description and check that your computer matches or exceeds each of the requirements listed. As leader of one of twelve competing clans, use political ambition, military brilliance and ruthless cunning to unify 16th century.

But all those units and great graphics must require a powerful Mac to run right? No need to jump to conclusions, we are here to figure it out together.

Ready? Let’s see if your Mac has what it takes.

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On top of introducing a fantasy setting that makes it more appealing to casual gamers, Total War: Warhammer remains an excellent strategy game.

Our score: ★★★★☆


First things first, is the game any good?

Released for Mac almost a year ago, there are more than enough reviews to give us an idea of the quality of this game.

With an impressive 86 Metascore (weighted average of scores given by critics), Warhammer can be considered a great game:

Reading what the big guns had to say, it certainly seems like this is a fun, satisfying and well-made game.

IGN, for example, gave it an 8.6/10 score and said:

Total War: Warhammer brims with exciting ideas, awesome characters, and delightful units and faction mechanics.

Gamespot gave it a 9/10 entirely and praised the way the Warhammer Universe meshes naturally with Total War’s gameplay, it’s massive AI improvements and stellar audio design.

On the other hand (like it’s often the case) gamers were far more challenging than professional critics. The game has 75% positive reviews from over 21,000 total users. By Steam reviews standards, that’s a good score too.

My take?

Total War games are usually not for everyone. They feature campaigns full of accurate historical elements and battles that require a lot of thinking and strategy.

But with the introduction of a fantasy universe and monsters and griffons, Warhammer is a better Total War with more appeal to casual gamers.

Until Thrones of Britannia comes to MacOS, this is the Total War to have.

Total War: Warhammer Mac requirements

Remember, if you don’t pay attention to the system requirements, you risk buying a game you won’t be able to play!

These are Warhammer’s minimum system requirements:

  • OS: Mac OS X 10.12.4
  • Processor: Intel 2.0 GHz
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Hard Disk: 37GB
  • Graphics: 1.5GB

The game is supported on the following graphics cards:

  • All AMD graphics cards released from 2014 onwards
  • All Nvidia cards with 2GB+ VRAM released from 2012 onwards
  • Intel Iris Graphics 540 & 550 cards released from 2016 onwards

The following graphics cards are capable of running the game, but do not consistently meet the standards required for official support:

  • All Nvidia cards with 1 GB VRAM released from 2012 onwards
  • All Intel Iris and Iris Pro cards released from 2013 onwards

If you don’t have one of these, I’m afraid this game isn’t for you…

Or does it max out anyhew? Can

The Test: Can you play Total War: Warhammer on Mac?

I can confidently tell you this is a good game. But can your Mac run it? We went ahead and tested the game on the following Mac models:

  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017): 3.1 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, Intel Radeon Pro 560 (4GB)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
  • iMac (5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
  • Mac Mini (Late 2014): 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012): 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000 (1.5GB)

As you can see, the purpose is to go wide and cover Macs that are as different from each other as possible. In this case, we have the:

  • New high-end Macs (the 2017 MacBook Pro).
  • Older high-end Macs (the 2014 iMac).
  • New, but basic Macs (the 2016 MacBook Pro).
  • Older and basic Macs (the Mac Mini and 2012 MacBook Pro).

Hopefully, your setup will closely match one of these.

Notice neither the 2012 MacBook Pro nor the 2014 Mac Mini are officially supported.

These are the settings we used to run the game’s internal benchmark :

  • 1280×800 (or equivalent 1344×756) resolution
  • Medium Preset
  • Anti Aliasing: OFF

Why 1280×800 and not more? Because most Mac users have slightly old MacBook Pros. 1280×800 is a little better than basic High Definition (720p), but still low enough to give MacBook Pros a chance…

The Results: A pretty but demanding game

It goes without saying that this great looking game requires power to render those beautiful and chaotic battles.

We expected this game would be demanding. And we were not wrong:

Keeping in mind that we aim for 30 frames per second (FPS) or more, these results are discouraging for anyone but those with very powerful Macs.

Unlike turn-based games such as Civilization 6, Total War: Warhammer on Mac really shines during its huge real-time battles. Are 10-15 FPS enough to enjoy them?

We’ll have to take our tests a little further to answer that question. And the answer will obviously depend on your setup.

As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:

  • Below 20 FPS: Unplayable: Laggy gameplay, full of stutters and slowdowns.
  • 20-30 FPS: Borderline: Can be OK in slow-paced games. Still, not optimal.
  • 30-45 FPS: Playable: Acceptable for most (most gaming consoles do this).
  • 45-60 FPS: Smooth: Fluid gameplay, with no perceivable stutters.
  • 60+ FPS: Very Smooth: For hardcore and professional players, a luxury for most.

Can my Mac run Total War: Warhammer?

This one’s easy. If you have a high-end Mac (or a Mac with a dedicated graphics card and 2GB of Video RAM or more), TW: Warhammer will run beautifully on your machine.

In fact, you can confidently play the game at higher settings and resolutions and still have over 30FPS of smooth gameplay.

Can you play Total War: Warhammer on a MacBook Pro?

This is where it gets tricky. Looking only at the results, I’d be inclined to say you should not get this game. 15 FPS is much too low to enjoy a game.

But what if you’re prepared to compromise and play the game at lower settings?

Testing the game at the same resolution as before (1280×800), but using the Minimum settings, we got 23.0 FPS running the in-game benchmark.

Still low, but barely enough to enjoy it.

But before you run out to purchase a copy, keep in mind that compromises are needed. If you need to play your games at 60 FPS and 4K, don’t bother.

If you want to enjoy the game at lower settings but decent performance, you can go ahead and buy it.

Do you have an older and basic Mac?

If you have anything older than our 2016 MacBook Pro with integrated graphics, I advise you pass on this game. Unfortunately, performance will be too low.

Bottom line: If you get anything lower than 12 FPS (like the 2016 MacBook Pro we tested), I wouldn’t recommend it

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Download Total War: Warhammer for Mac

Total War: Warhammer is available from most digital stores and prices are stable across the board. You can really get it from your store of choice:

On top of introducing a fantasy setting that makes it more appealing to casual gamers, Total War: Warhammer remains an excellent strategy game.

Our score: ★★★★☆


Total War: Warhammer Mac Review

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With the introduction of a fantasy universe filled with monsters and griffons, Warhammer is the Total War for casual gamers who are usually intimidated by the series. And on top of the fantasy setting, this remains an excellent strategy game. That said, you will need a powerful Mac to run it.

Editor's Rating:
4

Playing Total War On Mac

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