Editor’s Note: Postal 3 is not for kids. It has some very graphic violence and mature, or immature, situations.
Postal has never been a series which played to a politically correct crowd. Postal 3 however, takes the toilet humor to a whole new level. The missions range from the mundane to the absolutely confusing and disgusting.
Blasting through the boundaries of good taste
If crude jokes are your thing, that is what Postal 3 sells itself on. It has a huge variety of ridiculous situations and some decent one-liners. However they really push it to the extreme here. The early missions involve a porn shop and cats with either Aids or Syphillis, the game can’t decide. Overall it does have some decent humor if you aren’t thrown off by vomit, etc.
The upside of the gameplay
While they are still polishing it, the gameplay is decent. The overall controls seem to work fine, with the notable exception of the gas can. It feels rather clunky. Other than that the weapons are very easy to use and satisfying. The Stun Gun is a very useful weapon, and all of them have an interesting alt fire. The catnip is particularly strange, that above picture is how it looks in-game when you use alternate fire. In fact the weapons are the major draw of the game, and each one has something new and interesting to offer.
And the downside
Postal 3 doesn’t really do anything revolutionary in gameplay. Everything from the basic action to the cover mechanics have either been done by them in previous games or done by someone else. This is the biggest shortcoming of the game, and a major one at that.
The missions also do not have a great flow to them. Some of them are amusing with choices you have to make which influence the story. Others, such as picking up the sick cats, feel like they are in there to kill time. The main problem is that too many of the missions feel like they are there to waste time, consisting of you eliminating a set number of enemies or picking up a number of items.
Star Power
After Gary Coleman, Postal became famous for the stars featured. Postal 3 has quite a cast of infamous figures which includes Ron Jeremy and Uwe Boll. And seeing Ron Jeremy as Mario is, in and of itself, pretty funny. The cameos are another excellent feature of the game.
The Bottom Line
Postal 3 has some excellent weapons such as the rabid badger. The interface is not bad either, and it has some good humor. Unfortunately it doesn’t exactly push the boundaries of the genre, nor are most of the missions amazingly fun. What could have been an excellent package is marred by some flaws that bring it down to average. For those who can’t wait for the final polish and release on Steam, you can get some keys here.
3/5 average
