Postal 2: Share the Pain (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.2 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Greg Kasavin
• Reviewed on: 01/20/2004
• Updated on: 01/21/2004
• Released on: 12/17/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Postal 2: Share the Pain (PC) Review

Last April's Postal 2 seemed to purposely divide gamers into a "love it" or "hate it" camp, the latter of which was considerably larger. The sequel to the controversial 1997 shooter promised to be even more offensive than its predecessor, and it did in fact deliver tons of gross-out humor, racist jokes, and gory violence, all while being perfectly flippant about it. Truthfully, Postal 2's content wasn't far in excess of what you could find on a typical episode of South Park. Yet while the game flaunted its naughtiness, it unfortunately didn't offer enough in the way of entertaining gameplay or longevity to justify all the irreverence. More than half a year later, a rerelease titled Postal 2: Share the Pain addresses the most glaring technical issue of the original--the painfully long loading times between gameplay areas--and adds some goofy multiplayer modes (those who already own Postal 2 can get the multiplayer upgrade at a discount, though it was initially promised as a free download). The result isn't going to convince anyone who took Postal 2 the wrong way to give it a second chance, but it's a better game now than before, and those looking for some seriously lowbrow humor in first-person shooter form would likely get a kick out of it.

The single-player portion of Postal 2: Share the Pain is largely the same as before. Rather than adopt the conventionally linear structure of most first-person shooters, Postal 2 has a more open-ended structure reminiscent of the recent Grand Theft Auto games, only you're stuck running around on foot. The cars lining the streets are apparently just there to mock you. As The Postal Dude (that's actually his name), you're tasked with completing a series of mundane errands over the course of a work week. You may attempt to complete these errands conventionally--for example, on Monday all you need to do is collect your paycheck, cash it, and then buy a carton of milk--but you'll probably end up resorting to violence, and not just because you can. As the week goes on, certain factions will automatically get on Dude's bad side, so going through the game without killing anybody becomes practically impossible after a while. Also, the freedom to explore the town of Paradise is undermined somewhat by the loading times that crop up in between relatively small sections of town. Again, these are shorter and definitely more tolerable than before, which makes the game less frustrating to play, but you'll still find yourself plotting routes through town that require you to go through as few of these transitions as possible.

Mechanically, Postal 2 plays like a straightforward first-person shooter. There's a pretty conventional array of weapons to collect, and you don't even have to worry about reloading these, though you'll instead need to be careful about brandishing them in public (unless you intend to use them). Some of the later weapons are more interesting, such as the napalm launcher and, everyone's favorite, the diseased cow head. But the citizens of Paradise never pose much of a challenge and are usually content to just stand there and get their heads blown off. Some rag-doll physics and even a Max Payne 2-style slow-motion power-up (an effect that Postal 2 did first, for what it's worth) can make the gory action entertainingly over-the-top for a while, but it's probably too simple to hold anyone's interest for long.

Postal 2 is mostly just an excuse to set up a lot of goofy, purposely offensive gags, and some of these can be funny, while many of them fall flat. The Postal Dude himself, for instance, has the voice of a radio disc jockey, and he sounds out of place as he forces cusswords out at every opportunity. On the other hand, when he's out looking for the perfect Christmas tree or trying to get Paradise citizens to sign a political petition or a few other such occasions, you might get a laugh. At any rate, you could easily finish Postal 2's entire single-player portion in a weekend or even in a day, though some cheat codes and multiple difficulty settings are available to implore you to give it another whirl. Share the Pain adds a few new areas and a couple of new, higher difficulty modes to the single-player portion of the game, but these don't really do much to extend its value.

Continue reading

Compare prices for Postal 2: Share the Pain

This product is currently not in stock at any of our online merchants.

Email me when this product is available

Recent user reviews

• Average user rating: 0 stars Not yet available
  Back to product review
• My rating: 0 stars Write review

• Showing 1 of 1 user review

• 4.0 stars

  "Nice Graphic So FAR, Nice Strategy (Time Killing) or Entertainment Instead on Been On TV."

  by koronto on February 21, 2007

• See 1 user review Write review