Another game that would really benefit from a "mixed" recommendation.
This is a hard game to rate because it's based on the player more than the game. But there is a game behind it that needs to be reviewed.
So the game is an old 13-year-old game (released in 2003 so the future people have the actual time scale). When Postal was popular with the mass murdering gameplay, Running With Scissors worked on a sequel, and took their time, 6 years later, Postal 2 came out, and it's certainly different.
3d graphics versus an isometric game, story instead of random murder, and actually a very different tone as well.
The problem is similar to other games it hasn't aged amazingly. 13-year-old 3d technology is quite interesting to see. At the same time, Postal 2 is unlike any other game, and that's both a positive and a negative.
Postal 2 tries very hard to be edgy, but it does so in a way that definitely makes it almost a time capsule. Putting Muslim suicide bombers in the game in 2003, was extremely tasteless, now... Not as much? Osama Bin Laden's name is in the game, is that edgy any more? Shooting bullets through cats (in oddly enough not as tasteless a way as someone would do now)
I think a majority of the humor of the game has actually fallen away. I mean there's a voting joke and it's referencing the 2000 election... It's actually a little funny, but that's one kind of humor you're going to get. The other? Well, there's a way to pee on, anyone you want. You have a very juvenile humor in this game, and yet it kind of works on some level.
The thing is the entire game tries VERY hard to be edgy, so if you can be offended, you will be. Almost every woman is big breasted, and I don't mean 'there's a lot of Buxom characters'. No, there's like ONE female player model and it's a big breasted woman, there are two males that I noticed, a skinny and a fat guy. If that's going to offend you, you're going to get very annoyed. The only Muslims in the game are the terrorists/Taliban who will attack you on sight, if you're going to be offended, you'll have a problem. The list goes on. If you can get offended, this game will try to find that button.
But overall, I mean it's insults from 2003, that kind of don't hit anymore. I don't know, I can't really be offended by it, because it's made to offend, not because it's an honest opinion expressing itself.
There is a bit of cognitive dissonance when you get the trophies as they were added recently. There are numerous references to both the League and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as well as other recent pop culture in the trophies. It's actually a weird touch, but you know what? It kind of helps.
As for the technical parts of the game, the majority of the game works perfectly, with the exception of the sound. Ugh, the sound. I'm going to guess this was the beginning of 3d sound technology, and maybe something's changed since then, but the main character speaks VERY loud, and every other important character is near impossible to hear. A shame.
I could go into more, but honestly. If you want to see what got a lot of people's panties in a bunch in 2003 this is a perfect game for that. It's not an amazing game, it's not going to blow you away. This isn't going down in the hall of fame of gaming (except for its attempt at offensiveness) but I've played a lot of worse games, and Postal 2 seems to understand it's not a top-tier game and has priced themselves at a realistic number.
Overall there's a game that works well (though I did see a few crashes). It's both incredibly playable and interactive. It actually has a lot of choices involved in it (you can beat the game without killing anyone or ignore the story and go on a murder rampage, the game allows both options). And with the exception of the sound issue that was an annoyance, it's still a solid game.
If you're unsure, I would probably not recommend the game, but for what it is, it's a positive gaming experience. Just be sure you know what you're getting into and aren't going to get offended by 13-year-old jokes (that are probably also aimed at 13-year-olds)
3.0