Despite it's very intense asthetic, Postal 1 is a surprisingly casual top-down shooter. While there isn't unlockables in oodles this game has a very similar appeal to something like Tony Hawk's Pro-Skater, where you play the game in your free time for fun or generally to just beat whatever score you set in the past. The controls are very tight as well, though I realize how this game was probably designed with a controller in mind in hindsight, being that it is a twinstick shooter. I found myself flicking around a little too quickly in tight situations which required me to rotate my character more carefully.
As for the narrative, I liked it a lot for what it was. That being almost non-existant. You don't need to know the past of the aptly named "Postal Dude"; instead, what matters here more is the present moment the player finds him in. There's speculative aspects one could derrive from the dialouge given to them between levels in the form of brief journal entries, and ultimately I think the distorted view the main character has of the world provides an eerie narrative for an already chilling game. The Postal Dude is detached from reality and truly believes himself to be somehow rightous in all of this. The world around him corrupted and unpure, and the only person who can right this is him alone. Sure, it all teeters on gross and edgy, but I'm willing to give Postal 1 a pass on this given the era this game came from. The late 90's were very much a time for people to create things akin to this. The 90's had already given us properties such as the comic book series 'Spawn', the classic film 'Seven', & even the cult classic first-person shooter 'Blood' (which is referenced in Postal 1 if I'm not mistaken).
I think the only thing I found off-putting about Postal 1 was its lack of actual music during gameplay. There is hints of it throughout inside buildings, however the game seems to want to leave the player in a moment where the only "soundtrack" to be heard is carnage in the moment. To quote Mr. Kanye West: "Screams from the haters got a nice ring to it. I guess every superhero need his theme music"
So, to cap this all off nice and proper, Postal 1 does a damned good job of making a great first impression. It's very much a fanastically edgy experience I'd like to suggest to anyone looking for a properly dark & violent video game.
As for the narrative, I liked it a lot for what it was. That being almost non-existant. You don't need to know the past of the aptly named "Postal Dude"; instead, what matters here more is the present moment the player finds him in. There's speculative aspects one could derrive from the dialouge given to them between levels in the form of brief journal entries, and ultimately I think the distorted view the main character has of the world provides an eerie narrative for an already chilling game. The Postal Dude is detached from reality and truly believes himself to be somehow rightous in all of this. The world around him corrupted and unpure, and the only person who can right this is him alone. Sure, it all teeters on gross and edgy, but I'm willing to give Postal 1 a pass on this given the era this game came from. The late 90's were very much a time for people to create things akin to this. The 90's had already given us properties such as the comic book series 'Spawn', the classic film 'Seven', & even the cult classic first-person shooter 'Blood' (which is referenced in Postal 1 if I'm not mistaken).
I think the only thing I found off-putting about Postal 1 was its lack of actual music during gameplay. There is hints of it throughout inside buildings, however the game seems to want to leave the player in a moment where the only "soundtrack" to be heard is carnage in the moment. To quote Mr. Kanye West: "Screams from the haters got a nice ring to it. I guess every superhero need his theme music"
So, to cap this all off nice and proper, Postal 1 does a damned good job of making a great first impression. It's very much a fanastically edgy experience I'd like to suggest to anyone looking for a properly dark & violent video game.