In terms of gameplay, Postal: Brain Damaged is great! It nails everything that a boomer shooter should. It's fast, violent, and incredibly fun to play. Level design is interesting and fun to explore, each area felt extremely distinct from one another, making each level feel unique.
The weapons were great too. The worst thing I can say about them is that they mostly feel like a boomer shooter checklist rather than a strongly unique arsenal. There's the Rocket launcher ✓, Shotgun ✓, Assault rifle ✓, Chain Gun ✓, Rail Gun ✓, etc. The only really unique weapon was the cat gun, but it kind of ruins the game since it basically has infinite ammo if you use it right (which is why they excluded it from survival mode). Though while the weapons could be more original, they work extremely well for what they are (Though I do think the game could have benefited from some sort of BFG weapon). It made me feel like I was playing a slightly more unhinged version of Doom Eternal half the time, and that's a positive!
Though what really stand out in this game, and what puts it above other shooters in my eyes, is the enemy variety. Dear God there are so many different enemies, it's crazy! The gameplay never got stale for me because there were just so many different types of enemies to fight, all the time! And while some of them were just blatant Doom rip offs, they were still crazy fun. It kind of got overwhelming during certain segments, but every fight felt really satisfying by the end.
Now I've been doing nothing but singing this game's praises so far, and it definitely deserves it, but there is one, big problem I have with it. And that is the fact that the game tries really, really, really hard to be funny... when it just isn't. In fact, I'd say this game can be PAINFULLY unfunny at times.
Now the Postal series isn't really known for high brow humor. Most of its comedy is almost always downright juvenile and offensive. Kind of like a bad episode of South Park. But it still works (mostly), and while I can't defend mot of its humor in any real way, I can at least say that it's definitely a part of Postal, and it partially defines the series.
But...as for this game...well, it's just that...so many of its "jokes" are just...ugh...memes. Memes that are, for the most part, already dead. Like, there's a reference to god damn Harambe in this game. HARAMBE! The gorilla meme from 2016! Come on, why?
There's also just...way to many references for my taste. Like, the entire final chapter is a giant, annoying, Evangelion reference that just doesn't shut up. I can handle a reference here and there, in fact, I can even like them when they're done well! But here? It just kind of reminded me of Duke Nukem Forever's humor. Just in your face shouting: "Hey! Look at this thing! You know this right!? Haha! Also, here's meme!" Ugh...
The best, and nicest way I could put it, is that the comedy feels like it was made for Reddit. It feels like the jokes were written in hopes that redditors would see them, say "yooooooooooo", and post their memes and refences in their respective subreddits for karma. And that just sucks.
Ultimately though, while I violently despise this game's humor, it doesn't really get that bad until the third act (the only thing that sucked prior to that were the bosses). And everything else is so strong that I can, for the most part, look over the painful comedy. If the gameplay was even a tad worse, I'd lower my score. But as it is, this game is plenty of fun, and if you're a Postal fan, you'll definitely have a great time with this. Just...don't go in expecting to laugh too much.
The weapons were great too. The worst thing I can say about them is that they mostly feel like a boomer shooter checklist rather than a strongly unique arsenal. There's the Rocket launcher ✓, Shotgun ✓, Assault rifle ✓, Chain Gun ✓, Rail Gun ✓, etc. The only really unique weapon was the cat gun, but it kind of ruins the game since it basically has infinite ammo if you use it right (which is why they excluded it from survival mode). Though while the weapons could be more original, they work extremely well for what they are (Though I do think the game could have benefited from some sort of BFG weapon). It made me feel like I was playing a slightly more unhinged version of Doom Eternal half the time, and that's a positive!
Though what really stand out in this game, and what puts it above other shooters in my eyes, is the enemy variety. Dear God there are so many different enemies, it's crazy! The gameplay never got stale for me because there were just so many different types of enemies to fight, all the time! And while some of them were just blatant Doom rip offs, they were still crazy fun. It kind of got overwhelming during certain segments, but every fight felt really satisfying by the end.
Now I've been doing nothing but singing this game's praises so far, and it definitely deserves it, but there is one, big problem I have with it. And that is the fact that the game tries really, really, really hard to be funny... when it just isn't. In fact, I'd say this game can be PAINFULLY unfunny at times.
Now the Postal series isn't really known for high brow humor. Most of its comedy is almost always downright juvenile and offensive. Kind of like a bad episode of South Park. But it still works (mostly), and while I can't defend mot of its humor in any real way, I can at least say that it's definitely a part of Postal, and it partially defines the series.
But...as for this game...well, it's just that...so many of its "jokes" are just...ugh...memes. Memes that are, for the most part, already dead. Like, there's a reference to god damn Harambe in this game. HARAMBE! The gorilla meme from 2016! Come on, why?
There's also just...way to many references for my taste. Like, the entire final chapter is a giant, annoying, Evangelion reference that just doesn't shut up. I can handle a reference here and there, in fact, I can even like them when they're done well! But here? It just kind of reminded me of Duke Nukem Forever's humor. Just in your face shouting: "Hey! Look at this thing! You know this right!? Haha! Also, here's meme!" Ugh...
The best, and nicest way I could put it, is that the comedy feels like it was made for Reddit. It feels like the jokes were written in hopes that redditors would see them, say "yooooooooooo", and post their memes and refences in their respective subreddits for karma. And that just sucks.
Ultimately though, while I violently despise this game's humor, it doesn't really get that bad until the third act (the only thing that sucked prior to that were the bosses). And everything else is so strong that I can, for the most part, look over the painful comedy. If the gameplay was even a tad worse, I'd lower my score. But as it is, this game is plenty of fun, and if you're a Postal fan, you'll definitely have a great time with this. Just...don't go in expecting to laugh too much.