![]() Street names like Dutch Oven and Inyo Butte might elicit a chuckle, but sound like names Bart Simpson would come up for a prank call if he didn’t outgrow doing that after over thirty seasons. It’s politically incorrect and doesn’t shy away from vulgar humor, but comes off more like a parody of what was edgy in 2003 and doesn’t have as much shock factor in modern times. Postal 4 doesn’t attempt to change the formula, but somehow plays it too safe in its edginess. The thing with the Postal series is that it has always been intentionally edgy and controversial, proudly flaunting itself as a monument to bad taste. Postal 4 almost seems like an apology for Postal III. It returns to the first-person perspective of the cult classic Postal 2 and tries to propel itself to new levels of absurdity. Of course, these tasks can be ignored entirely if the player chooses to just go on a violent rampage instead. Each day brings a specific new set of tasks that can be addressed at the Dude’s leisure. After these jobs are completed the Dude can find a place to crash to start the next day or take on some optional side missions. There are threats down there in the form of rats, which oddly are more resilient to bullets than prison inmates. It’s about as fun as working in a real sewer. The sewer mission involve fixing valves, replacing lightbulbs and shoveling massive piles of excrement. ![]() This mission is simple since the stray animals are friendly and easy to catch, but keeping a stash of dog treats on hand can have some other perks later on. Dogs are lured with treats and cats are just picked up for hand delivery. The animal control assignment requires capturing cats and dogs for an unseen person who says things that suggest he eats the animals the Dude brings. Even though a few have got their hands on guns, they don’t pose much of a threat and the biggest challenge is navigating the prison to figure out where the computers are to enter the codes. Some will run away and others will just stand there in a catatonic state. Some inmates will attack you when shot if they survive, usually a couple shots is enough to take them down. It’s a simple objective, but does showcase where the game AI could benefit from tweaking. In this process all the prisoners get out and the prisoners need to be dealt with. The prison guard job goes horribly wrong and Dude has to manually find and input security codes to override the lockdown. As weird as these job assignments are, it’s actually kind of nice since it gives the player a variety of situations to handle, each with different mechanics. The Dude goes to the temp agency and is given three jobs he needs to complete before the day is over: prison guard, animal control specialist and sewer sanitation specialist. His tasks vary from day to day, but we’ll do a rundown of a day in the life of the Dude, focusing on Monday’s events since it’s considered the least spoilery day to talk about. The Postal Dude progresses through the story by starting each day and doing everything he is supposed to. One has to admit that for such a small sparsely populated town like Edensin they certainly have a lot going on. But since postal isn’t the typical games there’s also some other less predictable folk such as a local militia and doomsday cult. These include the usual suspects in games where the protagonist has criminal leanings such as corrupt law enforcement, politicians and the mafia. The Dude meets a wide assortment of people in which he engages in dealings. Edensin might be a small town out in the desert, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t full of interesting characters. Fortunately for the player, the type of work he gets through the temp agency are more conducive to game mayhem than what most of us would get offered at a temp agency. Broke and in an unfamiliar area, the Dude needs to take on odd jobs to earn some money and eventually get his car back. Unfortunately for him, his car which is doubling as his home gets stolen. ![]() The Postal Dude and his dog Champ have relocated to Edensin, Arizona where he hopes to get a fresh start in life. But the Postal Dude rides again in Postal 4: No Regerts. The last mainline Postal game, Postal III, was released over a decade ago and was universally reviled by critics and consumers which could have spelled the end for the franchise. Postal might not be as famous as say Mortal Kombat or Grand Theft Auto, but has nonetheless been a thorn in the side of the Tipper Gores of the world. Whether it’s pushing the boundaries of graphic violence or simple bad taste, there’s been a few series that are notorious for riling up the easily offended. Stirring up controversy is nothing new for video games.
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