Postal: Redux

When looked at through a modern lens, it is difficult to recommend Postal Redux to anyone who didn't play the original on the PC decades ago. The early attempts at being edgy backfire now into groan-worthy territory, while the singular focus gets tiresome if you're playing through the short campaign. The inaccuracy of your guns and their muted damage makes ammo management almost impossible, while the larger hitboxes create far too many missed shots and accidental deaths. The result isn't a terrible game since there's still some grim fun to be had, but there are certainly better shooter titles out there unless you're set on experiencing the shooters of yesteryear.

Postal Redux is a great definitive version of a subversive late nineties classic that men of a certain age can wistfully look back on as a naughty pleasure from adolescence. Still, returning veterans and new players alike will notice that this 24 year old game can only be polished so far and there’s a janky lack of refinement in the core gameplay. There’s enjoyment to be had in Postal Redux, but it’s best enjoyed if you’re able to set your mind and expectations back to 1997.

A lot of blood and brutality, but not so much fun.

POSTAL Redux was exactly how I remember it, a mindless murder simulation game that rewards you for killing everything that moves. Although it may seem controversial and offensive to some people, the concept revolves around a guy who feels the world is against him, and that there’s someone waiting to kill him around every corner – it’s all about losing control and simply going postal and expressing his anger. This enhanced edition contains a few fun extras, such as different visual filters, the ability to play as The Antagonist from Hatred, and the option to play all 23 stages in one single campaign. It’s the perfect game to settle down with if you’ve had a bad day in the office…

Thanks to its budget price, Postal Redux may well be worth checking out if you’re a fan of twin-stick shooters and have the stomach for it – its atmosphere makes it wholly unique. It is undoubtedly dated though, and doesn’t try to do anything interesting other than shock you. Will it succeed? Probably – it can be quite a harrowing game if you think about it too much. Kick back and accept it for what it is, however – a video game – and some enjoyment can be had.

Postal Redux lives up to its reputation of ultra-violence, but its dated gameplay mechanics means it’s not always all that fun to play. I’ll admit that it certainly isn’t an awful game and the revamped visuals and controls go a long way in modernising the experience for new players, but outside of the initial shock value there’s nothing about the game that’ll keep you hooked in for hours on end.

POSTAL Redux brings the original controversial shooter to arguably the most family-friendly of consoles. Remastered visuals, expanded content, and new portability means that there are many new things for returning fans, but anything that could be viewed in a positive light is marred by the offensive content that's advertised and encouraged. Who is this game for?

I'm left wondering just who would want to play Postal Redux. The game works, sure, but there are a lot of top-down isometric shooters that work. I understand the appeal in playing both transgressive and offensive games, but Postal isn't actually transgressive, since it has so little to say and while it clearly caused offence in the '90s, there are games that are much more capable of causing offence now if that's what you're looking for. Play Hotline Miami. Hotline Miami upset plenty of people. Postal, meanwhile... Postal in 2020 comes across as bland, and for a game (and series) that relies entirely on upsetting people, even when the gameplay is competent, for it to be "bland" is to make its very existence pointless.

One of the original scandalous and exploitatively violent games on the PC an eon ago, the name Postal has a certain degree of deserved reverence...

If you’re open to some edge, Postal Redux is a fun, if not slightly repetitive, twin-stick shooter that knows what it is and embraces its tone.