Postal²

Postal² is a 2003 computer game by Running With Scissors. It is a sequel to the 1997 Postal. Both are highly and intentionally controversial due to high levels of graphic violence, particularly aimed at unarmed civilians. Unlike its predecessor, Postal² is a first-person shooter based on the Unreal Graphics Engine.

Gameplay

In Postal², the player takes on the role of 'Postal Dude', a tall thin man with a goatee, sunglasses and a big black leather coat. 'Postal Dude' lives in a trailer park with his nagging wife (only identified in the credits as 'Postal Dude's Bitch'.) in the fictional Arizona town of 'Paradise', and the game is split into days of the week. At the start of each day the player is given several tasks to accomplish, such as 'Get milk', 'Confess sins', etc. The rest is, supposedly, up to the player.

Related Topics:
Goatee - Trailer park - Arizona

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Like the Grand Theft Auto series, the game aims to be non-linear by allowing the player to explore the town of Paradise. At first, the Postal Dude can only enter the neighborhood areas directly adjacent to his own neighborhood, but new areas are unlocked as each day of the week passes. However, the local inhabitants also become progressively more violent and heavily armed as the week goes on, and on the final two days of the week, SWAT teams patrol Paradise. According to the storyline, they are there for a convention.

Related Topics:
Grand Theft Auto - SWAT

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Unlike Grand Theft Auto, the game world is not one single large continuous map, but rather several different neighborhood maps broken up by loading zones (which are marked by road-signs saying 'Load Zone'). One of the main gameplay complaints about the game was that the loading time for each new map was too long, seriously interrupting the flow of gameplay and reducing the motivation for exploring new areas. A vendor-released patch managed to significantly reduce load times.

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The game also features a cameo by Gary Coleman, who appears early on as the objective of one of the game's tasks (get Gary's autograph). If the player chooses, he can fight and kill Coleman as one of the game's two boss characters.

Related Topics:
Gary Coleman - Boss characters

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The town features many cars but they are all stationary and cannot be driven, although they can be blown up and sent flying into the air. In addition to cats and dogs, other animals presented as targets are elephants, which can be shot or set on fire which causes them to trumpet with rage and attack anyone within stomping distance.

Related Topics:
Cars - Cats - Dogs - Elephants

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