Postal 2
Decidedly controversial FPS gets the Ferrago verdict
Postal 2 is one of the worst games I have ever had the misfortune to play. It is technically poor, artistically bereft, morally and ethically corrupt, devoid of any good gameplay and has not a single shred of intelligence to be found in it. The most offensive thing about it though is that the people responsible seem so pleased with themselves for releasing this bloody tampon of a game into the marketplace. The included press material we received proudly proclaims that Postal 2 has received an eighteen certificate, as if that is some kind of badge of honour. "Postal fans will now be able to experience Postal 2 in its purest form," "fresh and unadulterated" cries a joyful Chris Warrender, publishing director of Whiptail Interactive. This new publishing company wants to "[set itself apart] from other games publishers from the outset, Whiptail Interactive began what is set to be a long legacy within the industry by publishing Postal 2." I hope that their legacy makes a very swift move to better gaming or its dead before it even begins. The developer says that "Whiptail's decision to make Postal 2 its debut title proves that this is a publishing company with guts." Releasing this game isn't courageous it's just misguided.
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The people behind this game would have you believe that in buying it you are somehow flying the flag for free speech. That you are standing up against censorship in video games. Do not be fooled, they are just trying to make a 'cheap buck' at your expense. The game is obviously an attempt to poke fun at these issues but they are handled in such a unintelligent manner that any point they make is lost amidst the sea of profanity and low brow humour. A small example is in the difficulty level menu, the choices range from the easiest, Liebermode, to the hardest, Hestonworld. The latter is meant to be satirical I suppose, being a reference to Charlton Heston, the ex-chairman of the NRA. Most of you will probably recognise the first name also; they are referring to an American Senator called Joseph Lieberman who has been a vocal opponent of violent games. With ammo like this at his disposal it's hard not to see his point. In the game you come across small groups of protesters sporting tight yellow tops and short skirts calling out "burn a book, save a tree". It's about as much fun as a tax audit. Had they decided to really make an intelligent political statement about free speech there are all manner of things they could have done. They could have constructed a world inspired by Orwell's 1984, with 'big brother is watching you' posters everywhere. They could have made references to Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' or had famous speeches about freedom being played out as you move around. Just imagine if you were walking in a game world and heard a famous speech by Martin Luther King, only to have that character taken away by the 'Ministry of Justice'. That would have made for a daring and controversial game. Instead they squander every opportunity to insert puerile humour that falls as flat as the the texturing.
The aim of the game is purposefully pointless. You take the role of the 'postal dude' and you have to complete various mundane tasks, like get milk, in the city. You wander around and pick up various weapons, from shovels to guns, and you are free to explore and fight different people. When you get to the store to pick up the milk you can choose to steal it or wait in the queue and pay for it. Obviously if you break the law in some way a small indicator on screen lets you know that the police will be after you, to get away you need to remain undetected while the timer goes down. It all gets very tired very quickly. Doing black comedy is hard to do well. If you take South Park for example it is offensive, but it is also deeply satirical and hilarious. The humour of Postal 2 just isn't funny. Take one task where you have to go to the mall and pick up an autographed book from Gary Coleman, the small chap from 'Different Strokes'. It's about as funny as it sounds. A few scripted sequences are thrown in as an attempt to break up the monotony of this aimless walking around, such as when you cash your cheque at the bank some robbers arrive. I was already so bored by then though I just walked out and left them to it.
From a purely technical standpoint the game is down right shoddy. They are using a version of the Unreal engine which you'll have seen used to great effect at the hands of a talented developer. Here it is used it in such an amateurish way that you'd swear you were looking at the original Quake. Buildings are big blocky cubes with a couple of large holes for windows. The texturing is bland and repetitive. Huge chunks of the world are simply copied and pasted together. You can walk down a corridor and every room along it will be exactly the same. All level designers will reuse elements at some point but they make clever subtle changes to give the illusion of a diverse and dynamic world. Tricks range from placing random objects, like desks/chairs in different positions and lighting the rooms in various ways to give the place mood and atmosphere. Here you'll see the exact same room over and over and over and over again. Even the storage rooms have been copied and pasted with the boxes in identical positions. You could download any mod or levels put together by an amateur hobbyist and see level design that's more professional than what's produced here. Just take a look at some of the screen shots and you'll see what I mean. There is a physics engine bought into the mix which has no bearing on the game other than to just be there. The city as a whole is far from seamless and is actually quite small. It only feels large because you have to run everywhere, no driving for you here, and the load screens in between each area are so long it takes forever to get from one place to another. Most sections of the village are linked with a long empty tunnel. You walk into them and up pops the loading screen, after about thirty seconds you will then appear at the far end, as if catapulted into the next part. So exploring on your own is painfully slow, in a world that is blocky and dull, with nothing interesting to find, so your only option is to follow the main story that is non existent. Oh dear, that doesn't leave anything for gameplay, bingo!
In our free society people can make and release a game like this if they so wish. Thankfully I am then also free to tell you just how bad Postal 2 is. You are then free to buy something else. See, capitalism does work. If you want to explore a city, enjoy some operatic gun battles, alongside a great story buy "Mafia". If you want a more free form driving/action game get "GTA3" or its sequel "Vice City". If you want a truly huge world, where can literally be anyone and do anything, buy "Morrowind". If you want a genuinely funny game get the "Grim Fandango" or "No One Lives Forever 2". If you want an action packed shooter buy "Medal of Honour" or "Return to Castle Wolfenstein". If you want to waste twenty five pounds you' have more fun simply burning it. There are literally hundreds, no thousands, of games out there are far superior than Postal 2 in every respect. Is it controversial? No, just plain old bad.
It seems only fitting to mark them with their own, proud, certification. Now that's irony.
18%
Comments
Richard Clifford is quite obviously the worst reviewer i have ever seen.He either reviewed a completely different game to the one im playing, or just doesnt get it at all.
This game is possibly the most fun ive had for a long time and you really should try it.
Make sure you install the 1337 patch tho as it improoves load times and other stuff in the game
quite a lot.......
Well done RWS a masterpiece..
I am mentioned in the above review so i feel like I should make an exception in this case and reply to some of the points that Richard makes about Postal 2 (we seldom reply to reviews, good or bad for the usual reasons).
Firstly, am i right in saying that you didn't enjoy the game Richard? I must admit to smiling as I read the review as we have had a couple of similiar reviews in the USA too, all with the same unoriginal points being made, banging on about the same issues and scalding the game for gameplay, technical state and any number of things that the reviewer thinks are bad.
Let me make one thing very clear - RWS and Whiptail have never once expected this game to be enjoyed by everyone and there will always be those who don't like this game in the same way that there will always be people who want to ban games like this.
We are pragmatic about it, but i think that sometimes reviewers tend to think this gives them an excuse to 'make a stand' and attack the makers of the game rather than objectively review the game.
I will not answer the points made in the review - frankly, I'm tired of any attempt to sway people like Richard Clifford and don't intend to even try.
I will make some points about the review itself though; Gary Coleman is NOT a Dwarf - that is just an ignorant statement to make. In my press release i said Postal fans will be able to experience Postal 2 in it's purest uncut glory - that was for Postal fans - not eveyone....... and that is the point - Postal 2 is made for the Postal fans old and new, if you don't get that then walk away and let the ones who want to play it - play it - after all IT'S A GAME.
At the end of the day we have had many more good reviews than bad - and the mails from people who have had fun playing the game have been in the thousands.
Do we feel bad about reviews like this one from Richard? No! We take them on the chin and move on, but Richard, as a journalist (I'm assuming you class yourself as one) maybe you should proof read your reviews before they get published?
Chris Warrender, Whiptail.
I can't help but smile at the fact that Chris is berating Richard for calling Gary Coleman a dwarf.
I don't really have a problem with the game's morality, but to take offense about an innapropriate name for a person of diminutive stature (does that satisfy your prudish sensibilities, Chris?) when the game you made was completely amoral, well, that just strikes me as humorous, if not also evidence of clutching at straws.
Hey, if the game sells, man....
Nick - no comment (although my wife had a good laugh at me being called a prude!).
Richard - i think I've said all i need to say, appreciate the reply.
I guess we'll agree to disagree.
Chris
Boy, does this game look bad
Ha ha ha ha! This game is, in the Glasgow vernacular, complete pish.
oooooo not as good as Half life 2..
ps i like that fat man dead on da floor and the man throwin up on the last picture
Or as we say in Aberdeen, it's totaly glaikit
I was going to delete this comment, but as TemplarMONK says below... it makes a point about the kind of person that would buy this game.
it's not that bad, it's as violent as you want it to be. so it's up to you, really. and there are some very funny scenes / missions. like getting signatures for your vote from people on the street, you walk around with your board asking people to sign your petition. or the protesters on front of the running with scissors studio... original and funny.
i think the reviewer was blinded by the sheer amount of (possible) violence in this game. as i said, the amount of violence is asolutely up to you. i wouldn't say it's a great game, but it shure offers some good laughs.
You obviously don't have a clue about gameplay .....
No need to start insulting people... ^_^ But as was said earlier this game is pretty dull, gameplay does become repetitive and boring as does everything else, I was bored with the demo after 2 minutes...
ps i downed it off winmx so i aint wasting no money :-p
Thanks Nick. The game is in fact selling and selling well. 2 - 1 over Devastation released at the same time. Yes I know, Devastation isn't exactly a great benchmark.
Not bad though for an irredeemably awful game as you put it.
Not all developers & Publishers can please all of the people all of the time. We are in the business of pleasing loyal Postal fans (of which there are a great many, believe me) and of course running a succesful enterprise.
It's a game and it's business.
It was of course GREAT fun bringing this game to market and there will be many more. 3 more Postal releases this year!
By the way, I have known Chris for 27 years and he is definitely not a prude!
too brutal
Bill Hicks is a god, and that is an excellent quote.
Have i ever said i love you bushido?
I like how at the end you try and pass off all the things you can do in postal 2, but listing all the them and then saying why not buy theses 7 games instead. Even tho they only offer 1 or 2 of the things that’s possible in postal 2.
Postal 2 is full of gameplay and funny moments. The bit where you wake up as the gimp and have to fight your way out... very half-life level design don't you think?
and why are people complaining about the level times STILL! they are gone with the patch..
Postal 2 is indeed a very well made Unreal engine game, for one of the engine's debut titles! As a games student at university I know how tricky it it to make large environments such as the expanses in postal 2 in UnrealEd 3, and RWS have done a great job of making a large, detailed world that doesn't kill your PC. The environments are a little barren and such, but that's what trailer-trash america's like! As for satirical humour - it's a game, unlike a TV show it has to choose carefully what it pokes fun at as it's only released once, not every week, so it must anticipate changes in events and try to stay current. I still laugh at the Bin-laden clone fundamentalist suicide bombers taking over the church, for example. The character models are very well done, nicely detailed with a nice system of two male, two female bodies with interchangable heads and textures. Plus there are animals, including brilliant elephants! OK, so the things you can do with a cat (pick one up, and press enter while holding a shotgun - not nice) are a bit sick, but hey, the whole thing's a great stress-busting gross-out! It actually uses environmental Karma physics well! Only Max Payne 2 since has made environments with physics-enabled objects that worked well and bug-free. Plus nobody else has done liquids that flow down hills! Ok, so it's just a texture, but its innovative!
This is the game where you can do anything you please, with no consequences, just for the fun of it, and it's great.
you fools, i am a professional reviewer, and the graphics on this game are magnificent. what are you running this game on, a 486?? try running it on a pentium 4 3.2ghz geforce fx 2500 and things will start running better. and as for the humour and violence, as the back of the box or dvd case in my case, its only as violent as you are
Im sorry that some cant understand the joy of killing innocent people and Im not angery with Richard Clifford. I do however belive that he has a 12lb. dildo shoved up his ass.
these games arent free i want a refund
You people seem from outta north america so the humor is lost on you
Haven't heard much outa Whiptail lately. Hope everything's OK. Somedays the sun just won't shine.And somedays you never know who's watching you.;-)
Wher I find the postal 2 sp? ID of messenger: sebi_no1_boss(@yahoo.com):(