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Only my weapon understands me......

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 32 / 37
Date: April 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Spend a week with a nutcase in Postal 2. Complete with a "Jackass" style warning label on the loading screen, developer Running With Scissors (RWS) gambles that they can stuff a game full of enough blood and gore to guarantee an assault by family-values groups, yet still make enough after the lawsuits to turn a profit. Let me be clear upfront, this game definitely delivers in the sick and twisted department and deserves the "M" Mature rating more than any game I've seen. Postal 2 is not designed for kids, but just like trashy rated R movies, I'm sure this game will be appreciated more by kids than adults.

In order to push the envelope (snicker) RWS enlists the services of the Postal Dude; a goateed Gen-X slacker in a Matrix-style trenchcoat that starts the morning by kicking the dog and shooting the air conditioner for making too much noise. His nagging trailer-trash wife/girlfriend sends him on a list of ordinary missions like shopping for milk, cashing a paycheck, or picking up a christmas tree (in July), yet the situations our buddy Postal Dude finds himself involved become anything but ordinary.

You see, Mr. "Dude" just wants to keep to himself and get through life without being hassled, yet all these people just won't leave him alone. He goes to his job at RWS and a bunch of video-game protestors bust in and start blasting away. He goes to the mall to get a book signed by Gary "I ain't going the the joint again!" Coleman and cops turn the place into a war zone. He goes to ... his dad's grave (seriously) and he's captured by a bunch of rednecks, locked in a brewery basement, and turned into a gimp - Pulp Fiction style.

Politically-correct this game is not and you can tell the developers had fun dreaming up scenarios that many will find offensive. Animal-lover? You probably won't like how the neighborhood cats become a shotgun accessory. Religious? You probably won't enjoy the holy war that the catholics and the muslims declare on each other. African-american? You probably won't enjoy the ghetto-slang of Krotchy, the child action figure... I shouldn't need to comment on the violence in this game, but after a particularly bloody and brutal episode involving a meat-processing plant you may not want to eat a steak again.

So you've got a sick sense of humor and not one politically-correct bone in your body. What's not to like? The problem with Postal 2 lies in the execution (not the people, the game.) Like the previous Postal, the graphics and gameplay seem very amateurish compared to the others currently out there. I didn't think it would be possible to create a bad game using the Unreal Warfare gaming engine, but this comes close. As a first-person shooter, it fails miserably. Everyone attacking hits you instantly, sometimes through walls, yet even on the easiest difficulty settings you have to pump about 40 rounds into someone to drop them. ... this game offers almost no interaction with the outside environment. Even the Postal Dude comments on the cars being "useless exploding props."

Most annoying, however, are the godawful load times. The installation was probably the longest I've endured in any game and crossing from one tiny section of town to the next subjects you to load times resulting in waits of over a minute. Since you are frequently sent from one side of town to the other, you will spend more time waiting for the game to load than you will actually playing the game.

There are some fiendishly clever moments and I'll stand neutral on the "garbage-in garbage-out" controversy this game will inevitably generate. What I will say is you will need to overlook some serious flaws in the mechanics of the game to be able to enjoy its twisted humor.

Hope the review helped.

POSTAL 2: Overview and Comments

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 30
Date: March 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Index:
1: The Game
2: System Requirements
3: The Design
4: The Outcome

The Game
Postal 2 is a true 3D interactive game in which you play "The Postal Dude". He is a regular guy with regular chores to accomplish. However, you (as a player) decide on how to interact with the NPC (computer controlled) characters. This is astonishing.

Example of game play: Your walking around a huge town to meet Gary Coleman (yeah he is a guest star). You accidentally bump into someone (an NPC). Let's say the NPC reacts by yelling at you and then hitting you. Well, you have the choice to either walk away, defend yourself or use this as a reason to GO POSTAL on the town. It's so real and you are not required to go nuts and shoot everyone like other games. For lack of a better comparison, it's like DOOM meets The Sims. Except you don't have to feed the fish and pay the bills and all that other repetition.

System Requirements:
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Direct X 8.1 (download direct from Microsoft)
733MHz Recommended
128Mb RAM
8X CD-ROM
Windows compatible sound card
32Mb 3D video card
16 bit stereo Direct X compatible sound card
1.2 Gig available hard drive space Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

The Design:
Postal 2 designers (Running With Scissors), created a stew of the best gaming ever created. If the game was a car, it would be like Ferrari speed, big SUV comfort, the body of a Super Model with the kitchen sink in the trunk.

The game takes full advantage of:
Epic's Unreal Warfare Engine
Liquid Dynamics: Pours, drips, runs and puddles
AI: Sophisticated people and animal interactions
All in a non linear, wide open to explore world.

The Outcome:
I not going out on a limb here. With that said, Postal 2 is the coolest game ever created in the genre of a shooter game. It takes shooter games to beyond the next level. We all remember our old favorite game that we got the sequel to and it had a couple of neat things that we really didn't want or need to warrant buying another game. Usually you have to wait for 3 versions for any real advancing in a game. Postal 2 skips version 2, 3, and 4. This game is like getting a steak with all the dressings when all you expected was a plain old ham sandwich with an extra slice of ham. For real.

This game will sell out. Order it ASAP.

Don't mean to burst anyone's bubble

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: May 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was excited about this game when I heard about it. It sounded like a really cool game that would push the limits and maybe finally get video games to the point where they had the same freedom as movies.

The over-the-top violence and subject matter isn't a complete novelty, other games have done much of the same stuff, though none have pushed the envelope quite so far. In this first person shooter, you can [urinate] on people, You'll here quite a bit of the F word, Racial stereotypes (such as a pakistani or indian quickimart owner who is running a terrorist cell from the back) and you can smoke weed, set people on fire, kick around severed heads and other such things. It's pretty cool, and fun for about 20 minutes.

After the shock value wears off, you're left with a game that isn't very compelling. Postal has some cool concepts, for instance you play the game by doing various day-to-day tasks, like going to get milk or the mail or going to get Gary Coleman's autograph. In theory, the whole game can be played without breaking the law and without resorting to violence. There are various ways to do any task. You can go pick up the milk and pay for it legitimatley and leave. If you try and cut in line the owner yells at you, so you actually have to wait your turn. Very cool. You can pay and leave and that's that. Or you can walk out without paying in which case the owner pulls out an M-16 and starts sparying hails of bulltes your way.

This open endedness is very welcome... but often itself is a bit less compelling than it could have been. The game seems a bit one dimensional, despite the freedom it allows. The city isnt particarly fun to explore because it isn't completely interactive and you cant drive vehicles, or work different objects. Most objects wont evenb show damage (I smacked a TV with a shovel and it didnt even break). The graphics are good in some places and in others feel bland and uninspired. The gore isn't very realistic (Except after a person burns to death), and a system like Soldier of Fortune 2 would have been a big improvement. The weapons have a good variety, and offer some interesting combinations (soke somone with gasoline, then throw on a match, and then [pee] out the fire). But the guns arent very authentic feeling, it's basically just arcade style killing.

Postal does have some nice details in some places. Comments canbe entertaining. Bump into someone and they might flip you the bird and say some obscene things to you. {pee] right in someone's face and they might vomit all over... nasty stuff. This is a game you prbably want to keep out of the hands of your 6 year old, but for us adults... that's just good fun.

The problem is the fun gets old fast because there isnt much else and the depth is really an illusion. The game feels dated, like a better version of redneck rampage with better graphics (not very much better... the unreal engine offers much more than they used).

Bottom line: After you get sick of setting an innocent person on fire and then [urinating] on their red, burnt corpse, this game will feel empty and unpolished. Others will love this game, and I had fun for a bit, but I probably wont shell out the money for this one. I reccomend playing the demo before you buy, and make sure to play more than 30 minutes, because the cool parts of the game get old pretty quick.

Sick, horrid, violent, evil... you'll have barrels of fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: April 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First off, I'm going to say something that I am sure someone else writing a review for this game has already said, "This is NOT a game for the faint of heart..." If there were a definition for, "violent" or "controversial" this would be it. You are a white [man] known as Mr. Peepshell, or the, "Postal Dude,"whom lives in a trailer behind someone's house and your soul task throughout the game is to run around a city commiting tasks that you would think to be simple for your .... wife. Freedom-wise, this game outdoes any of its predecessors tenfold. You may go into ANY building, interact with ANYONE you see on screen, and do virtually anything you want, from sticking a cat on the barrel of your gun to use it as a silencer, to urinating all over the place in some poor fool's house. This game pushes new boundaries in ignoring what the rest of the world thinks. You can pour gasoline on someone, light a match, throw it on them and they will be engulfed in a ball of flame and slowly burn to a charred corpse, crawling on the ground crying desperately for help. Even kick bodies and watch them flop around realistically, splattering a grotesque decal of blood on the wall. Walk into convenience stores and kick merchandise into people's faces, only to soon be attacked by enraged policeman. Something I may need to mention is that this game is extremely racist. The convenience store is controlled by a bunch of arab women who attack you if you decide to go into the "employees only" section. Gay dance clubs are strewn throughout with in which you can interact with some, let's just say, "interesting" NPC's. Anything you would not want your innocent little darling of a child to see is thrown in this game tenfold; do not expect anything wholesome. Even the kindest of people can have their heads blown off by, well, you. Religious references are intact and mocked horribly. (For example, you go to a church to confess your sins in one of the missions and a bunch of psychotics....burst through the door, and before you know it, the priests whip out shotguns and say they must, "Do it all for the glory of God."

I suppose you are wondering why I enjoy this game. Simple answer; I'm sick. That and the fact you can run around with virtually no restrictions and fulfill all the dirty little thoughts that go through your head. If you have a strong stomach and a gamer's desire for, "No limits," buy this game. Otherwise, get over it.

Decent game, horrible load times

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: April 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I got my copy of Postal 2 a few days ago, and have played it through about halfway. Overall, the game is fun, but there is one big drawback - the load times! It seems like every 2 or 3 minutes, I'm waiting for a section of the map to load. This can take up to a minute and a half, even though I turned down some of the settings and am running it on a 2 Ghz system.
The graphics are good, if a little repetitive (there are only about 5 or 6 different NPCs, they just have different colored outfits on, and some of the indoor environments are kind of boring), and the gameplay is great. I found the controls easy and how you interact with the environment good. But, you can't really "go postal", because it's too hard to kill your enemies. It takes several shots to kill anyone, even if you shoot them in the head. In fact, it doesn't seem to matter where you shoot them. I found myself running away most of the time, just 'cause it's easier.
Overall - A fun game, but the load times pretty much ruin it.

Like working in Levittown, PA again

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: May 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The object of this game is to get through the working week. This is a difficult thing for all of us at times, but when you live in the trashy town of Paradise, Arizona, the concept takes on new meaning.

The player takes on the role of the antihero, whose name is actually Postal Dude. All you really want to do is relax and smoke your "health pipe" but your nagging wife keeps sending you out on errands. Since anything is better than listening to her voice, you grudgingly accept your assignments: get some milk, vote, pick up a toy at the mall, and so on. But there is trouble in Paradise. Book burners are protesting at the library. Your church is taken over by Muslim terrorists. And in the most obvious bit of satire, a certain game company is assaulted by parents protesting violent video games.

Most of the "missions" are interrupted by incidents like these, and it's your job to get out of them alive and move on to your next goal.

In addition, you can have fun just wandering around and messing with people. Disrupt a parade or a carnival show. Set people on fire, or go on an all-out shooting spree. If you run afoul of the police, you will find yourself on a new adventure.

It's an amusing game, and it is fun discovering what you can do as you wander through the various areas, but after time it becomes very repetitive. Your tasks almost always follow the same pattern: fight your way through whatever annoying special interest group is standing in your way. The character AI isn't particularly advanced, and the dialogue is very limited. Some of the lines may be funny the first few times you hear them, but not for much longer. It might be hard to believe, but urinating on people and making them vomit does get old after awhile. In the end, traipsing back and forth through the city in a most inefficient manner is simply tedious. If the setting weren't such an eyesore (which, I know, is the point) it might not have been so.

I love that the game is so outrageous and doesn't care who it offends. The charm of the gameplay itself, though, wears off quickly.

Eh... Why?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Everything Im about to say concerning Postal 2, you've probably already read. The shock value of lighting innocent people on fire and going on random ... crazy rampages ebbs away rather quickly. And when I say LONG load times, I mean exactly that. The gameplay map is divided into about 8 or 9 main sections. You traverse this map section by section. Everytime you wish to travel to a new part of the map you get stuck between areas with load times that can last up to 5 minutes. - Yep, I said 5 minutes. I ran the game on a 1.8 gz cpu with 512 ram. - Still took a ridiculous amount of time to load. The constant 'hurry up and wait' in this game extinguishes a gamer's lust for blood and nulls any interest you may have had for its mundane storyline. Considering how brilliant and user-friendly today's FPS can be, this game has no excuse for being so outmoded in its playability. 3 years ago this game would have knocked my socks off. Now it comes across as too little to late and so much wasted potential.

Be Sure To Download The Patch!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: August 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is kind of a pain to play, since the load times are so long, but the extreme violence and twisted things you can do make it a nice, wholesome experience. I bought this game, and went home and played it. I was almost offended at how violent it can be(almost). Do not let kids play this game!! The patch makes the game load faster, plus it adds some new weapons, like a cat launcher!! The cats also come in handy as silencers, but you will have to get the game to check that out. I applaud the develpoers for making a game that mimics real life. You can choose to be good, or you can go postal.

Postal 2 promises to be the best stress relief of all time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 14
Date: March 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The fine folks at Running With Scissors have done it again. The original Postal was condemned by Senator Liebermann, banned in 10 countries, pulled from major retailers store shelves and sparked a lawsuit by the US Postal Service. Apparently it's considered okay to have violence in books, TV, movies, art, etc., but not video games, even those developed and marketed to adults (i.e., the MSRB 17 rating). This game will no doubt stir up that hornets nest again, with the same predictable result - lots of free press (translating to sales) for Postal 2.

The basic premise of the game is that you play the Postal Dude and have to get through a week in his shoes to complete the game. You are placed in a variety of situations where you can react passively or um, "not so passively". Violence is optional, it is not required to complete the game successfully (RWS's web site states the game is "only a violent as you are"). They do however, give you a lot of resources in the event you decide to take the "not so passive" approach, including various machine guns, explosives, a gas can & lighter, and a, er, "cat silencer" (don't ask). The violence is supposed to be very over the top and humorous in a twisted way. How Gary Coleman fits in to all this should be something to see...

This game will be stress relief for a lot of responsible, mature adults who understand the difference between fantasy and reality. That said, observe the rating code and don't let your kids anywhere near it ("Oh my God, that video game has warped my fragile little mind!").

As for the mentally un-hinged or those on the verge of performing some violent act being "driven over the edge" by this game, they can get their influences anywhere. Not having video games with violent content will not make that issue go away (or guns or violence on TV, movies, etc.). Sometimes people just go berserk.

I have Postal 2 on pre-order and I'm anticipating hours of mature, engaging, stress reliving virtual mayhem (GTA 2 was getting old). Thanks RWS!

Faster load time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

All the other reviews describe the game really well. I just wanted to say there was a new patch and it helped the load times. It cut the load times in half atleast. Postal 2 is a great game.

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