It just muddied the waters and left the gaming feeling more standard to me when, otherwise, it could have been an interesting piece of interactive commentary.Įven setting those issues aside however, these forced firefights often come across poorly thanks to the game’s tone which aims low and never misses. Even so, it still feels to me like a revocation of the game’s efforts to throw you into some situations where you’ll face minor annoyances and then follow those up with gun-toting maniacs that are much out for your blood. ![]() You’re generally responding to someone else and the player can even find a stun gun which can be used as a less than lethal option to deal with threats. Now, it is worth noting that you’re not the aggressor in that situation. As far as I could tell from my numerous reloads, there’s no way out except fighting your way through them. At one point, for instance, you’re returning a library book when a group of anti-reading protesters (“Save a tree! Burn a book!”) storms the building and sets it on fire. The problem is that while it mostly lets you make your own choices, there are moments where it basically throws its hands up in the air, says “to hell with it” and forces you to start shooting people. Or at least I would if the game didn’t completely botch the concept. In fact, as far as rebuttals to the anti-gaming lobby go, I’d toss it up there as one of the smartest that anyone in the gaming industry could have come up with. In essence, the game is only as violent as you make it. It throws annoyances at you left and right, gives you all the tools to destroy them and then makes it possible for you to not do so. The game is rife with moments like this lines to wait in, rude people, protesters. Alternatively, however, you can just wait in line and accept a peacefully earned autograph like a normal person. When you arrive at it, you can kill everything that moves and pick up a signed book off of one of your victims. Take the aforementioned Gary Coleman book signing. That in mind, Postal 2 does everything it can to nudge you towards violence, but ultimately, it leaves you with enough choice that you can get through a lot of it without firing a single shot. Heck, look up any random school shooting in America and you’ll inevitably find some pundit suggesting that it’s all just a side effect of people playing violent video games. Gamers are far from being strangers to the antics of politicians and parent’s groups criticizing video games on account of the violent tendencies they supposedly instill in the people who play them. What makes Postal 2 interesting is the way it uses these tasks to make a point. You’ll find yourself faced with daunting objectives like picking up milk, returning library books, and getting Gary Coleman’s autograph. For its considerable flaws, however, it’s a game with some honest-to-Odin ideas and, whatever other fumbles a game might make, ambition is something I can always tip my proverbial hat to.ĭropping you into the shoes of the disgruntled, trench coat wearing sleeze-ball politicians and parent’s group like to imagine gamers to be, the game starts off on the Monday of a week filled with everyday tasks. Even on the mechanical level, it’s far from the best shooter I’ve ever played. While it tries to sell itself as satire, the game is packed with humor and stereotypes so distasteful that I was frequently left cringing. ![]() Granted, there’s a lot more about it that I wholeheartedly disliked. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like Postal 2 at least a little bit. (Note: This review doesn’t cover the Apocalypse Weekend expansion.) Originally released in 2003, Postal 2 has some interesting ideas but buries them under stinking mounds of tasteless humor, failed satire and mediocre shooting mechanics that make it barely worth booting up.
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