Postal 2 is absolutely bizarre – and now it’s completely free on GOG. Happy Christmas.
It’s vulgar, offensive in places and really doesn’t pull any punches but Postal 2 is, if nothing else, a fascinating oddity.
To be clear, we can’t exactly recommend the game, but it’s a really interesting experience for gaming historians and fans of vulgar humour. There’s no game quite like it.
Created by developers, Running with Scissors, the game is infamous for its humour. It features caricatured Islamic extremists, cults, extreme violence and plenty of colourful language. Many retailers refused to stock it on release. However, it was popular enough to spawn some add-on content.
The game puts players in the role of an unlucky guy who gets fired in the opening scenes and then completes a range of frustrating menial tasks before “going postal” and shooting a lot of people. Or not, as the case may be. The game largely leaves it up to the player as to how and whether they eventually cave in to the games frustrations.
Will you let loose with a machine gun? Run away? Or simply turn off your PC and eat some more turkey? There is a good level of choice in the game and incentives for exploration, so play-throughs can go very differently and keep offering new challenges.
The game revels in its violence and was highly controversial on release. One particularly perverse moment allows players to use a cat as a suppressor for their shotgun.For a game so wilfully strange, it’s actually quite difficult. Everyone in the small town you terrorise (or don’t) is a crack shot and will quite happily pick you off with their own firearms if you do go mad and start shooting people.
One thing that will frustrate you is the loading times. They’re long. Especially for those used to modern games.
That said, to get annoyed about the loading times you’ll have to get past the humour, which is low-brow and completely lacking in any political correctness at all.
Overall, there are some entertaining elements in Postal 2 but it’s more of an oddity worth goggling at than a legitimate gaming experience. We guess that’s why it’s free.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.