Postal: Brain Damaged is the love child of, obviously, Postal and 1990s Boomer shooter. With its fast-paced gameplay, a diverse arsenal of weapons, key cards, and plenty of strafing, the game gets a lot of things right. The art style, with its crooked edges and dream-like corridors, creates a completely whacky overall experience reminiscent of titles like Psychonauts. While some levels feel like blatant copies of "Milkman Conspiracy," the game also takes us to dark asylums, a video game convention, and even the US/Mexican border??? Yes, the humour is a bit off. It feels like a mix of the usual Postal humour and incredibly outdated pop references, including Elon Musk, Trump's wall, Corona, toilet paper hoarders, 5G towers, and more. It's as if the game was in development for too long and they had to go with the humor of that time. This might make it challenging for the game to age well in the coming years.
One aspect that almost always works well in Postal: Brain Damaged is the weapons. From the regular pistol, which despite its appearance feels incredibly satisfying and impactful, to the nail machine gun, Holy Hand grenade Launcher, A Dildo Bow (!!!), and more, the game offers a variety of entertaining tools of destruction. However, the shotgun, seemingly riding the wave of Doom Eternal, falls a bit short. It lacks the necessary punch and takes too long to reload. Rarely did I feel the need to use the chainsaw because the shotgun's weak damage couldn't finish off enemies efficiently. I rarely found myself utilizing the secondaries, although this might be different on higher difficulty settings. On the standard difficulty, I managed just fine without them.
Unfortunately, there are occasional bugs that can be frustrating, such as falling through the floor or encountering unclear level instructions. For instance, encountering a laser grind that appears to have enough space to jump through, only to meet an untimely demise. The enemy design is just as whacky as the levels, featuring Bloodborne-like creatures, Texans running on their moustaches, bondage crawlers, Mexican poops, and more. There isn't always a strategic approach to weapon selection; most of the time, it's about using the one that gets the job done quickly and has ammunition. However, ammo can be scarce, forcing you to switch weapons frequently.
The placement of enemies and weapons, especially after a level transition where you lose all your stuff, can feel arbitrary. For example, starting the third chapter with just a shovel and the cat blaster (with very little ammo) while facing an overwhelming force of shooting enemies. This undermines the otherwise fast-paced gameplay. Nevertheless, despite its numerous issues with game design, humour, and level design, I still had fun playing Postal: Brain Damaged. Fans of the Postal series and Boomer shooters, particularly those who enjoy this whacky ambience, will definitely have an enjoyable time.
One aspect that almost always works well in Postal: Brain Damaged is the weapons. From the regular pistol, which despite its appearance feels incredibly satisfying and impactful, to the nail machine gun, Holy Hand grenade Launcher, A Dildo Bow (!!!), and more, the game offers a variety of entertaining tools of destruction. However, the shotgun, seemingly riding the wave of Doom Eternal, falls a bit short. It lacks the necessary punch and takes too long to reload. Rarely did I feel the need to use the chainsaw because the shotgun's weak damage couldn't finish off enemies efficiently. I rarely found myself utilizing the secondaries, although this might be different on higher difficulty settings. On the standard difficulty, I managed just fine without them.
Unfortunately, there are occasional bugs that can be frustrating, such as falling through the floor or encountering unclear level instructions. For instance, encountering a laser grind that appears to have enough space to jump through, only to meet an untimely demise. The enemy design is just as whacky as the levels, featuring Bloodborne-like creatures, Texans running on their moustaches, bondage crawlers, Mexican poops, and more. There isn't always a strategic approach to weapon selection; most of the time, it's about using the one that gets the job done quickly and has ammunition. However, ammo can be scarce, forcing you to switch weapons frequently.
The placement of enemies and weapons, especially after a level transition where you lose all your stuff, can feel arbitrary. For example, starting the third chapter with just a shovel and the cat blaster (with very little ammo) while facing an overwhelming force of shooting enemies. This undermines the otherwise fast-paced gameplay. Nevertheless, despite its numerous issues with game design, humour, and level design, I still had fun playing Postal: Brain Damaged. Fans of the Postal series and Boomer shooters, particularly those who enjoy this whacky ambience, will definitely have an enjoyable time.