Best Multiplayer Modern Mac Games

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The weekend's here and if you're worried about being bored, here are some great FPS games you can play on your Mac.

This time around I'm focusing on some of my favorite first person shooters (FPSs) that are currently available for the Mac platform, ranging in price from free to not free. Locked and loaded? Good. Here we go...

Borderlands 2

  • $39.99 - Download now

Every once in a while a sequel comes along that completely eclipses the original game. Such is the case with Borderlands 2, which took everything that was good about the original Borderlands and made it better.

For the uninitiated, Borderlands 2 drops you on the surface of a hostile alien world called Pandora. You're essentially a treasure hunter on a mission. You can choose from one of four different character classes, each with unique abilities, and in a nod to role playing games, you can develop special abilities by assigning skill points that you gain through experience. Borderlands 2 also features a weapons randomizing system that produces an almost unlimited number of variations on handguns, rifles, grenades and other weapons.

A hilarious script and great voice acting provides you with constant laughs through the 30+ hours of single-player fun your first time through (and you will replay this game to get experience with each character class). Add to that fantastic cooperative multiplayer gameplay and downloadable content to extend the game, and you've got a potent mix that will keep you coming back again and again.

Aspyr makes the game available through the Mac App Store and Steam (which we've linked above). Our recommendation is to go for the Steam version so you can get cross-platform multiplayer - Mac App Store downloaders are relegated to Mac-to-Mac play only through Game Center.

BioShock 2

  • $24.99 - Download now

Few recent FPS's have had the impact of the BioShock series. The game struck gold for its detailed storyline involving Rapture, a Randian utopia far beneath the surface of the ocean, run amuck. A survival horror game, BioShock 2 puts you in the role of a Big Daddy - a genetically altered human encased in a heavily armored diving suit. Rapture is filled with psychotic and dangerous people who have been altered by a substance that can record their genes, granting them superhuman powers (and, unfortunately, driving them mad).

The game sports multiplayer action too, but unlike Borderlands 2 isn't available from Steam, so the Mac App Store is a safe bet. BioShock 2 is the sequel to the first BioShock, and if you haven't picked that one up, it's definitely worth your time as well, especially at $19.99 price. Both should wet your whistle until BioShock Infinite shows up for the Mac this summer.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

  • $29.99 - Download now

Short of having its superlative sequel on the Mac, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is the next best thing. Sure, it's been around for a while, but this game stands up to the test of time: it's a phenomenal FPS that puts you in the role of U.S. Marines and British SAS commandos as you travel to the U.K, the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine on the hunt for international terrorists who plan to detonate a nuclear warhead.

Best Multiplayer Modern Mac Games

COD4: MW takes a break from past COD games by bringing the action to the modern era, instead of focusing on World War II, which means you have plenty of modern weapons to choose from. It also sports great multiplayer capabilities with plenty of challenges, unlockable perks at matchmaking to make sure you're paired with players of similar abilities.

Team Fortress 2

  • Free to play - Download now

A team-based multiplayer first person shooter available through Steam, Team Fortress 2 is almost six years old and still going strong. The game pits two opposing teams against each other in a variety of different modes: Capture the Flag, Control Point, Territorial Control, King of the Hill and more. The play maps vary from the ridiculous to the sublime, and you can choose from nine different player classes, some with offensive capabilities (like the Scout), some better on defense (like the Heavy), and some best for support (such as the Medic).

The game's fun to play not only for its varied gameplay modes and different character classes to master, but also for its cartoon-style art. And it used to be you had to pay for TF2, but Valve made it free to play in 2011. (The company makes money through in-app purchases players make to buy unique equipment and character outfits.)

Counter Strike: Source

  • $19.99 - Download now

The original Counter Strike took the world by storm when it was introduced as a mod for Valve Software's legendary game Half-Life. Valve reworked CS as its own independent game using the Source engine (hence the name). It's a team-based first person shooter that emphasizes accomplishing objectives - kill your opponents, rescue hostages and so on. What makes it a bit different than the rest is that when you're shot, you stay dead until the end of the round - no instant respawning.

Twelve years since its first release, Counter Strike still has a huge following and remains ridiculously popular. Last year Valve released Counter Strike: Global Offensive (seen above), so if you've gotten tired of the original, you can immerse yourself in a new game that features updated content from the original, along with new maps, characters and weapons.

Special Mention: Pathways Into Darkness

  • Free - Download now

Before Halo, before Myth, before Marathon, way back in 1993, Bungie Software made a name for itself with Mac gamers with one of the most innovative first person shooters we'd ever seen (and really, we hadn't seen a lot of them, but we knew this one was cool). That game was called Pathways Into Darkness.

Man Up Time has resurrected this 20-year-old masterpiece for modern Mac and they've made it absolutely free. Not 'freemium' - there are no in-app purchases you need to make to keep playing. Free. The game traps you in a mysterious pyramid in the Yucatan that threatens the very survival of the Earth. You must descend into its innermost recesses, battling fearsome monsters to save the world.

PID is a game of its era. Its graphics are quaint and primitive, its interface is awkward by modern standards, but it stands out as a period piece worthy of remembering and enjoying. It's a bit of Mac legend. And it's free, so you have nothing to lose but some download bandwidth.

Your go-to first-person shooters?

Those are my favorite FPS games on the Mac right now, but if there are any other can't-miss shooters on your short list, let me know in the comments below. You can never have too much of an awesome thing!

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Sometimes it’s not the game that shines, but the players. Intricate gameplay and glistening visuals only go so far in making a standout multiplayer title; its humans that can provide surprises and schemes that transform the average first-person shooter or puzzler into a gladiatorial showdown or co-op crusade. That’s the secret to the best multiplayer games on PC.

Fast and frantic or tense and calculated, the best PvP games come in all shapes and sizes. But they’re all connected by the simple pleasure of interacting with other humans. Whether it’s a healer and a DPS attempting to solve a finicky flanking manoeuvre in Overwatch, or a tense head-to-head battle tackling terrorists in Rainbow Six Siege, these games wouldn’t be the same without a bunch of people running around killing, maiming, or, occasionally helping each other.

So banish those bots, break out your friends list, put on your most sociable face, and prepare to embrace the best multiplayer games on PC.

The best PC multiplayer games are:

War Thunder

War Thunder is a free-to-play multiplayer game all about military vehicles knocking seven bells out of one another, whether that’s in aerial dog fights, sprawling tank battles, or naval skirmishes. That pitch might sound familiar, but no free MMO has achieved what War Thunder has in terms of quality, balancing, and the sheer scope of vehicles waiting to be unlocked. While the multiplayer game started out with a humble suite of aircraft and ground vehicles you’ll recognise from WW2 games, it’s myriad tech trees now encompass the military histories – past and present – of several nations, from global superpowers to smaller nations famed for punching above their weight.

What separates this war game from its competitors are its incredibly detailed ballistics modelling and simulation game modes. A 1v1 between two tanks can be affected by countless factors, as armour thickness, armour angle, material, shell size and type, and distance from target can be the difference between a shot ricocheting and dealing no damage, or piercing and wiping out the entire enemy crew. The more you play the more you learn to spot different types of vehicles so you can exploit their weak points and win the fight with a single well-placed shot. It’s an endlessly satisfying loop, and with hundreds of vehicles to earn, it will be a long time before you run out of new content.

Destiny 2

Whether you want to squad up for gargantuan PvE raids, duke it out against others in PvP, or even combine elements of both in PvPvE, Destiny 2 ticks all of the boxes when it comes to the best multiplayer games. A few years since launch and Destiny 2 is better than ever, with the Forsaken expansion addressing plenty of foibles and a free-to-play launch on Steam bringing the game to new audiences.

Read more: All you need to know about Destiny 2 classes

Loot ties all of the multiplayer arms together, so no matter how you’re playing Destiny 2, your goal is always to acquire powerful new weapons and armour like Destiny 2 Exotics. Every mission completed, miniboss slain, and PvP match won contributes by rewarding you with mightier gear, creating an ongoing, near endless power fantasy.

Apex Legends

From hyper-mobile gameplay that lends itself to flanking manoeuvres to respawn beacons that bring your mates back into the fight after death, Respawn’s nimble shooter boasts all the usual trimmings of the best multiplayer games.

Where it truly excels, however, is its ability to bring everyone into the fold with its ping system. Should you feel uncomfortable talking to strangers with your microphone or simply don’t want to, you can still contribute by pinging enemies, locations of interest, and even the best Apex Legends weapons you want or think others may find useful.

The post-apocalyptic shooter is also early in its life cycle, meaning that now is an excellent time to jump in and try our Apex Legends tips. There will also be a steady stream of Apex Legends new Legends for players to sink their teeth into, which promises to freshen up the battle royale’s meta every few months. There’s also a very good chance you’ll bump into someone from this office. Be gentle, please.

Fortnite

Epic’s shooter first emerged as an intriguing mix of building, sandbox, and survival elements. The original Fortnite: Save the World mode – in which you construct fortresses to combat a severe zombie threat – has long been eclipsed by the world-conquering Fortnite Battle Royale. Thanks to some phenomenal Fortnite player numbers, and the fact it’s a good deal more polished than PUBG, Epic’s last man standing extravaganza is one of the best multiplayer games on PC.

Where you stand on the great Fortnite vs. PUBG debate depends on personal preference. Both are strong battle royale games with devoted communities, but Fortnite’s eye-catching Pixar sheen, accessibility – helped considerably by being free-to-play – and Fortnite building mechanics give it the edge for some over the detailed, deep military sim sensibilities of PUBG. We’re in no doubt, however, that Epic’s cosmetics game is far stronger: the sheer number of Fortnite skins and Fortnite Wraps (weapon and vehicle skins) is mind-boggling.

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Dota 2/League of Legends

Now before you baulk at the aggregation of these two rival beasts of the MOBA genre into a single entry, we’re intending to recommend one or the other, not both – and let’s face it, while the mechanics, items, lanes, and League of Legends Champions/Dota 2 Heroes offer different gameplay experiences, the multiplayer aspect of both these games is largely the same. Gather four friends and discover how you each cope with blame and failure, or be assigned a team of four strangers who all somehow manage to be much worse than you at the game, even though statistically they are likely to be very close to you in rank.

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The competitive scene around both of these games is gargantuan – almost four million people watched the LoL Worlds Semifinals simultaneously in November 2019, and back in August 2019 the prize pool for Dota’s The International reached over $34 million, the biggest prize pool in esports history.

League of Legends is Twitch’s most watched game of 2019, and with about eight million concurrent players a day to Dota’s average of 400,000, it’s clear to see which of the two is the most popular. That doesn’t mean LoL is necessarily the better game, but the figures do make sense when you consider how Riot churn out absolute bangers to promote their MOBA.

We recommend you try a couple of matches in both games before you decide on the best MOBA for you, but if you’re looking for a game that is a totally different experience every match depending on your draft vs the opponents’ draft, meaning you and your team can enjoy a new challenge night after night – we advise getting into LoL or Dota 2.

Team Fortress 2

If you were not there when Team Fortress 2 launched, it is difficult to convey what a delirious and unexpected pleasure it was in 2007. In development longer than Pangaea, TF2 blindsided everyone when it finally arrived in its cheery and lustrous Pixar sheen. Instead of the anticipated amalgamations of biceps and military garb we expected, its cast is a brigade of slapstick comedians whose interplay provoked frequent, spirited, and genuine lols.

Each had skills and abilities that interweaved beautifully. Heavy mows down Soldier. Engineer builds sentry to mow down Heavy. Spy saps sentry. Pyro incinerates Spy. Sniper takes out Pyro. Scout bonks Sniper on his noggin and runs off. Demo obliterates Scout with his sticky bombs, then resumes flashing people. No, not like that. Medic watches that Uber gauge, and licks his lips.

It’s a very different game today, now absolutely baffling to lapsed players. Still, the rich visual design, the sheer strength of its cast, and the interplay between classes preserve it as one of the best multiplayer games around. An enduring classic… even if the emergence of Fortnite has lead to the biggest Team Fortress 2 player count drop ever.

Overwatch

Beautifully blending Team Fortress 2 and League of Legends, Overwatch remains a phenomenon and easily one of the best multiplayer games ever made. A class-based multiplayer shooter that owes much to TF2’s art style, payload maps, and asymmetrical combat, Overwatch also owes plenty to LoL’s diverse roster and essential teamplay. As our Overwatch PC review attests, its tantalising recipe for multiplayer grandeur is a mixture of popular styles, ripe with possibilities, which has captured the imaginations and evenings of the masses. That much is apparent from even a cursory visit to the fantastically busy Overwatch reddit, where you will certainly never go hungry for GIFs.

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Blizzard are continually updating the game and adding to their impressively diverse and colourful roster with new Overwatch heroes, too. Want to master the best Overwatch characters? Prepare to commit months to the colourful blaster. Somehow, Overwatch gets even better while maintaining a careful competitive balance.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has an underwhelming origin story. A refresh of Valve’s previous refresh of a Half-Life 1 mod, CS:GO was conceived as nothing more ambitious than a console port; an experiment to see if PlayStation and Xbox gamers would engage with the Counter-Strike name. And, if PC players fancied a go, what’s the harm? As it turns out, we got one of the best multiplayer games on PC.

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Thanks to regular CS:GO updates, the shooter sensation is consistently one of the most played games on Steam. Its weapon skins support an entire cottage industry of trading sites. It is an ultra-competitive, high prize pool esport. You cannot move on Twitch for CS:GO streams.

Back in time: our list of the best World War 2 games

Its popularity is self-evident, but its quality requires a deeper understanding of its appeal both as a nostalgia trip and a well-supported, pacey shooter with state-of-the-art spectator tools. Valve’s masterpiece is ripe for tactical exploitation, meaning you should check out our CS:GO tips if you want to succeed. Bristling with razor-sharp weapon feedback, this FPS is more comforting than mama’s homemade apple pie.

Rocket League

The moment someone at Psyonix said “how about football… but with cars?” one of the best multiplayer games on PC was born. Despite the failed first attempt, Rocket League’s success is down to its streamlined design: you just push a ball across a pitch with a car. It is hardly something only hardcore petrolheads can understand.

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Do not mistake simplicity for a lack of depth, however. As we point out in our Rocket League PC review, mastering all the key Rocket League tips and successfully passing, shooting, and scoring is a thrilling learning curve. It leads to a career – not just for new musical talent – of a thousand near-misses and ‘almost!’ moments, your body inching forward in your seat as the tension builds. Headshots in shooters are ten-a-penny, but a goal in Rocket League is something special.

Rocket League’s exceptionally moreish online games are even better in local split-screen multiplayer. Everyone in the room will be ooh-ing and aahh-ing as the ball zooms from one end of the pitch to the other, punctuated by an obligatory elbow-to-the-ribs to prevent an inevitable goal.

Rainbow Six Siege

Despite surface-level similarities to FPS darling CS:GO, Ubisoft have made reinforcing a wall or laying barbed wire as heroic as no-scoping an enemy from two rooftops away. Perhaps more than even the best multiplayer games, Rainbow Six Siege is about planning, communication, and execution of a team-based strategy.

Rainbow Six made its name by taking a quieter, more considered approach than the bombastic shooters against which it debuted in the late nineties, and in doing so it made you feel like a highly-trained, goggle-wearing, silenced MP5-toting specialist. The latest series entry evokes that same feeling despite the meta changes presented by a barrage of Rainbow Six Siege operators with more new operators coming in regular post-launch updates. If that sounds intimidating, Ubi do offer a Rainbow Six Siege Starter Edition so you can try it at a lower price.

Although, of course, there is destruction. Great big chunks of it that can kick up fine concrete dust every round. Just make sure you don’t get it all over your posh new cosmetics. Part of being ‘good’ at Siege is knowing each map intimately, and co-ordinating your team accordingly. The depth, nail-biting tension, and tactical potential of Rainbow Six Siege makes for a memorable cat-and-mouse multiplayer experience. No wonder the future of Siege is bright. As an esport it’s going global, while still allowing inexperienced high school minnows the chance to attain the glory of a major tournament place.

Arma 3

Arma 3 is about as close to finding yourself on a real battlefield, gibbering unintelligibly as the choppers and tanks go by. The large-scale battles and ultra-realism are not the only intimidating things about Arma 3, either. Populated by a diehard community with expertise levels second to none, the game’s players know things you didn’t know you knew.

Read more: Here are the best racing games on PC

Where pretend guns are concerned, this is one of the best multiplayer games around – no wonder Arma 3 sales are into the millions. Every battle is an engrossing spectacle, peppered with complex team chat and ingenious tactical manoeuvres (if you’re on a good server). It might still be buggier than the underside of a rotten branch, but it did its bit to bring about PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Enough said.

Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 boasts one of the best single-player FPS stories in recent memory. However, as if that wasn’t enough, Respawn’s majestic, mech-based shooter is one of the best multiplayer games around, too – make sure to read our Titanfall 2 class guide so you can meet your future robot buddies.

Titanfall 2’s intoxicating multiplayer component is all about interplay. Think David versus Goliath, except it can be Goliath against Goliath. Then, sometimes, David is inside Golia… actually, never mind.

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The opening stages of an online match are redolent of Call of Duty: you start as one of five nimble pilots, using your grappling hook and other gadgets to get the jump on the opposition and rack up kills. Then, everything changes: Massive 20-foot titans with various weapons and abilities rain down and devastate the battlefield. Trading agile, dynamic traversal as a pilot to take control of the slower, but much more powerful titan imbues multiplayer rounds with an endlessly satisfying rhythm that refines the promising core of the original. If you missed Titanfall 2, rectify that now with Origin Access.

Unreal Tournament

Unreal Tournament has made a huge contribution to the world of online FPS games. Chasing power-ups, armour shards, and super-weapons may have fallen out of favour since 1999, but the pace, game modes and map designs ensure Unreal Tournament remains one of the best multiplayer games you can play.

Not that anyone cared at the time, of course. We were too busy headshotting each other, cowering in the opposing towers of CTF_Face away from the best sniper rifle games had offered to date. Or scurrying over to the Redeemer for a chance to turn the tides on a poor round’s performance. It might have lost its initial graphical sparkle, but its level layout and special weapon feedback mean that Unreal Tournament remains perfectly playable all these years on.

Overcooked

The best multiplayer games are all about having fun with friends – and exploding the noggins of internet randoms, of course. That said, Ghost Town Games’ Overcooked will strain even the strongest of friendships.

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The true chaos of this couch co-op cooking game is not revealed immediately. Shrouded beneath a cute, colourful aesthetic, you will likely fly – or should we say fry? – through your first culinary challenges in the Onion Kingdom. Each meal you cook helps save the world from a massive meatball. After your first few kitchen adventures, though, you and your staff/erstwhile friends will be screaming at each other louder than Gordon Ramsay with lego in his shoes.

Read more: Here are the best cooking games on PC

If you fail to assign clear roles and communicate effectively, beef patties will burn, dirty dishes will pile up, and customers will get cheesed off. From swaying pirate ships to lorries that split in half in the middle of the motorway, the kitchens in which you work your gastronomic magic will become increasingly treacherous as the dishes you cook grow in complexity.

The sequel, Overcooked 2, serves up online multiplayer and the ability to throw ingredients across the kitchen, which is also a great time-saving hack for real life cooking. With new Overcooked chefs and kitchens being added since the original game’s release, there’s never been a better time to try this, one of the best indie games on PC.

TowerFall Ascension

TowerFall Ascension is a game all about platforms – apart from the ill-fated Ouya platform on which it originally launched, that is. With competitive multiplayer for up to four, think Bomberman with the camera moved, and bows instead of explosives, TowerFall Ascension’s engaging appeal is easy to understand, as we found in our TowerFall Ascension PC review.

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One of the best multiplayer games for couch co-op, the simplicity of both premise and control scheme – jump, move, shoot – ensures accessibility. You might as well play it long after your friends have gone, too: the game’s refined movement and map design reward extended practice.

Worms

It is easy to be cynical about Worms, now entering its third decade with a penchant for platform proliferation. Chop a turn-based party game from Team17 in half, myth has it, and two new groups of the slippery blighters will spring writhing from its remains. But the (apple) core ensures it remains one of the best multiplayer games on PC: 30 seconds in which you must steer your pink avatar around a pockmarked landscape with the aim of blasting, batting, and Super Sheep-ing an opponent into dust before their turn starts.

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Typically played with three or four players, Worms is a slapstick spectator sport ripe for grenade gaffes, jumping misjudgements, and an assortment of other seconds-left mistakes. The nuance offered by trajectory and wind speed – not to mention elusive mastery over the ninja rope – means there is scope for high-level play, too. It may be disarmingly cute, but Worms is still one of the best strategy games on PC.

Some say that Worms Armageddon was a spiritual high point. But we recommend the subsequent Worms World Party for the potential for customisation, or the recent Worms W.M.D to see the current vehicle-infused iteration of the formula. The latest free update to Worms W.M.D, Brimstone, takes you to the pits of hell in its new map, complete with themed hats and gravestones.

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So there you have it, the best multiplayer games on PC. Of course, we all know playing multiplayer is only fun when you’re winning, so make sure you read our Fortnite tips for Battle Royale and check up on all the new Overwatch heroes for online success. Many of the best upcoming PC games also have exciting new multiplayer modes. It means there’s never been a better time to tap into your competitive side. Solo gaming is fine and all, but beating other gamers makes the best multiplayer modes incredibly moreish.