Posted May 08, 2009
Postal 2 is by far one of my favorite games. I liked the original, and though it's a very different animal, you can definitely get a sense of the seeds that were planted there, and how they grew into this.
Take Postal 1, ramp up the humor value and the absurdity, add an open city to run around in as you please, and make it a 3D FPS with passable visuals, and you've got Postal 2. It's still chock full of over-the-top violence, and now it has a heaping helping of stereotypes, actually making Postal 2 less politically correct than the first game.
For those not easily offended by such things, though, the humor is what makes this game shine. The plot is minimalist (though greatly felt in comparison to the first game), and the gameplay still amounts to killing things, but it's the flavor and the touches of style that make all the difference. Snappy one-liners from the demented Postal Dude, some memorable characters that are hilarious (Krotchy is priceless, and who doesn't enjoy blowing away Gary Coleman?), pop-culture jokes and little jabs at consumerism and real-world items, and a very tongue-in-cheek view of itself. What other game has you swearing at people and threatening them with bodily harm just to get them to sign a petition about violent video-games?
Interestingly, the game adapts itself to your level of psychotic abandon. If you're violent, the game quickly becomes just as violent as you are. If you just try to run around and do your errands like a regular guy, the city around you goes insane, and you're forced to react. Ultimately, the end result is the same, but a different feel can be gained from just how demented you choose to be. I've derived a great amount of enjoyment just by people-watching in this game, as you'll often find strange accidents or people blowing each other away, and you can just sit and watch, or you can join in.
Gameplay is definitely simple, but it's really as fun as you make it. While it's certainly possible to just beeline to your objectives, this game was tailor-made for exploration. Caches of weapons and items, secret stashes, and even distinct game areas can be found just by poking around. The methods of your madness are also entirely up to you. At average difficulty, your survivability is quite good, so you can worry less about your health, and focus more on having fun blowing away badguys, setting them on fire, hacking off their heads, luring them into traps, or seeing how far you can make them fly with explosives.
Apocalypse Weekend adds even more insanity into the mix, quite literally. Demonic Gary Colemans (Colemen?), frenzied cats, a boomerang scythe, Tourette's zombies, and frequent voyages to tripout city, courtesy of a head wound.
All-in-all, if you liked the first one, you'll probably like this one. If you like dark humor and a mountain of mindless violence, you'll probably like it, too.
Take Postal 1, ramp up the humor value and the absurdity, add an open city to run around in as you please, and make it a 3D FPS with passable visuals, and you've got Postal 2. It's still chock full of over-the-top violence, and now it has a heaping helping of stereotypes, actually making Postal 2 less politically correct than the first game.
For those not easily offended by such things, though, the humor is what makes this game shine. The plot is minimalist (though greatly felt in comparison to the first game), and the gameplay still amounts to killing things, but it's the flavor and the touches of style that make all the difference. Snappy one-liners from the demented Postal Dude, some memorable characters that are hilarious (Krotchy is priceless, and who doesn't enjoy blowing away Gary Coleman?), pop-culture jokes and little jabs at consumerism and real-world items, and a very tongue-in-cheek view of itself. What other game has you swearing at people and threatening them with bodily harm just to get them to sign a petition about violent video-games?
Interestingly, the game adapts itself to your level of psychotic abandon. If you're violent, the game quickly becomes just as violent as you are. If you just try to run around and do your errands like a regular guy, the city around you goes insane, and you're forced to react. Ultimately, the end result is the same, but a different feel can be gained from just how demented you choose to be. I've derived a great amount of enjoyment just by people-watching in this game, as you'll often find strange accidents or people blowing each other away, and you can just sit and watch, or you can join in.
Gameplay is definitely simple, but it's really as fun as you make it. While it's certainly possible to just beeline to your objectives, this game was tailor-made for exploration. Caches of weapons and items, secret stashes, and even distinct game areas can be found just by poking around. The methods of your madness are also entirely up to you. At average difficulty, your survivability is quite good, so you can worry less about your health, and focus more on having fun blowing away badguys, setting them on fire, hacking off their heads, luring them into traps, or seeing how far you can make them fly with explosives.
Apocalypse Weekend adds even more insanity into the mix, quite literally. Demonic Gary Colemans (Colemen?), frenzied cats, a boomerang scythe, Tourette's zombies, and frequent voyages to tripout city, courtesy of a head wound.
All-in-all, if you liked the first one, you'll probably like this one. If you like dark humor and a mountain of mindless violence, you'll probably like it, too.