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Dancing on the edge of depravity - pity it's boring. A discussion about Postal

Writer's picture: Indy GoodwinIndy Goodwin

Updated: Jan 27

3EDGY5ME
3EDGY5ME

TW: Mention of suicide, mentions of school shootings, disturbing imagery, swearing


I knew this game had been banned for gratuitous violence before and given the label of one of the worst games ever made. My curiosity got the better of me. I wish it hadn't.


As far as I can gather, Postal is about a guy who goes on a murderous rampage for reasons best known to himself. You go through a selection of locations, murdering everything in sight until you get to an elementary school and can't hurt any of the children. This causes you to realise you were having a psychotic break and you get caught and locked away to be studied in an institution for the rest of your life. The narrative is not this game's strong point.*1

A Completely Sane Statement.
A Completely Sane Statement.

Gameplay wise - it's a shooter with a variety of guns and different locales for you to put bullets into people. Nothing groundbreaking. There are 22 levels of this (yes I completed the extended version, to better comment on it). The only thing I can really say about it is it is functional, basic. The devs have done enough for the game to be called a shooter. There is zero excitement and zero tension.


The only thing that was interesting - and slightly baffling - was the inclusion of a suicide button. With just one press, Postal Dude will say he regrets nothing and kill himself on the spot, restarting the level. I don't know why this has been included, probably to add greater shock value. I pressed it by accident. The internet says it's an easier way to reload an earlier save than going back to the main menu. I feel like there were better ways to achieve this. Even so, I wouldn't say gameplay is this game's strong point either.


So what IS its strong point? What I did find really intriguing (in a good way) was the sound design. It may have been by necessity or accident, but within the levels the sound is quite sparse. There's no BGM, just the sound of you unloading round after round of ammunition into innocent people and kids(*2) and various screams. Really gives it an unsettling vibe that I'm not sure they were going for. Especially since Postal Guy will make humorous quips like "Oh did that hurt?" or "OJ, you were the man!". I get the feeling that I'm supposed to think this guy is badass and cool and... No. Honey, no.

This is a high school marching band.  Being burned alive.
This is a high school marching band. Being burned alive.

Unsettling is really the only way I can descibe this. You are given no reason, no justification for your wholesale slaughter. Just a series of steadily more disturbing loading screens glorying in the destruction you are wreaking. It's genuinely one of the more haunting video games I've ever played, a power fantasy made for people who would have become school shooters if only they'd had the balls to steal Daddy's gun.*3


It's the absolute purposelessness of the violence that is the important thing here. I do not know why he's killing people except for perhaps a sense of superiority over his victims. The only game that has made me feel this icky is Manhunt. You could argue that even in Manhunt the violence had a purpose. Kill for The Director to earn your freedom. This murder spree seems to happen purely for the joy of killing.


Not to mention it's fuckin' boring. Once I'd got over the initial unease the gameplay did not vary at all. Maybe that's because of the limitations of the software at the time, or maybe the devs were arrogant enough to think that was enough, but there's not a lot of variety here, and rather too much game. You go into a level, you shoot some dudes, you go onto the next one. Who knew wholesale murder could be tedious.


Arrogance does seem to be a key factor here. The 'plot' I had to google is basically non-existent within the game. Did you know the voice of Postal Dude is actually the voice of a demon possessing him and making him do these horrible things? Because I didn't. Did you know this game was supposed to be funny? Because yet again, I didn't. It feels like devs Running With Scissors are telling half a story that was only funny to begin with if you were there. It has the knowing snigger of a tiresome edgelord all over it and even without the rest of it I'd dislike it on principle. The absolute audacity of this company to look at what they've created and then release it proudly is something I've previously only seen in nightmares.

I'm not sure why a Kid mode setting exists.  It changes the level title card images, the main menu image and removes the blood.  Everything else is intact.  All the murder with none of the mess I guess?
I'm not sure why a Kid mode setting exists. It changes the level title card images, the main menu image and removes the blood. Everything else is intact. All the murder with none of the mess I guess?

But hey, at least you gave me a new gaming related litmus test. "Did you enjoy Postal? What do you think of Postal Dude?". If this is someone's favourite game - run. Block, delete and leave the country.


This is a game for people who think it's cool and edgy to use slurs and make dead baby jokes and I want no part of it. *4 I will leave you with the knowledge that they made 4 of these games and a movie. It was directed by Uwe Boll though so at least that was a fitting punishment.


Footnotes for greater context and tangents


*1 Wikipedia tells me there is in fact a justification for the murder spree and even, surprise of surprises, a plot! I would just like to ask where, because I have not seen one and I have finished the game.

*2 There are frequently character models in the game that are in short trousers and too small to be adults. The marching band is also said to be a high school band, so even if the other models are just small adults, you're definitely able to kill teens. If they're not supposed to be kids fair enough but I'm pretty sure they are, which makes Postal Dude's inability to kill the children at the school a bit of a wasted gesture. Bit performative.

*3 I know this is near the knuckle please do not @ me. Obviously video games do not cause violence - insufficient gun control laws and inaccessible mental health care does. Read this while you're here: You Don't Need Jesus You Need Gun Control

*4 I'm almost positive the devs would use the phrase anti-woke unironically. Ew. Also, they use the r-slur when replying in Steam threads. Proof


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