History YMMV / Postal

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Creator/JonStJohn [[TheOtherDarrin becoming the voice of]] Postal Dude in ''Postal 4'' hasn't been as well-received as Rick Hunter, generally considered his best voice actor[[note]]Rick couldn't reprise his role due to having a radio job, though he still makes a cameo in the game[[/note]]. Common criticism is that his performance sounds a bit too much like [[VideoGame/DukeNukem his most famous role]], and lacks the same energy and comedic timing of Rick.

* CrazyAwesome: Just about every major character in this series can qualify as this.
** Krotchy is a ballsack mascot who speaks like Eddie Murphy, is ImmuneToBullets, and becomes a wiseman
** The Bitch can move like a crazed insect, as well as [[spoiler:turn into a giant demon]]
** Mike J. To quote the... Thing himself: '''I AM MIKE J! KOSHER MAD COW ZOMBIE, GOD OF HELLFIRE! ALL BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP MY ASSCOCK!'''
** Uncle Dave is a crazed zealot/hippie who commands a very literal cult of personality, and seemingly claims his words are on par with the Bible's teachings.
** Gary Coleman leads an uprising of midgets, his urine can shrink people, and he's also basically the Dude's arch-nemesis
** Champ can overwhelm dozens of foes by himself, as [[spoiler:well as turn into a literal Hellhound]]
** The Postal Dude himself is possibly this trope ''distilled''. A trailer-dwelling, deep-voiced, incredibly psychotic LowerClassLout with a total bitch of a wife who can, among many other things, throw a machete like a boomerang, carry around an absurd amount of stuff, use dolls as grenades, weaponize anthrax-ridden cow heads, withstand explosions to the face, use cats as silencers for his weapons, and heal himself by smoking crack. And that's not even counting the stuff he does in the actual story.

* ThatOneBoss: A great majority of them in ''Paradise Lost'', especially Champ and The Postal Dude's ex-wife. The third and final fight with the Bitch is especially agonising. For starters, [[spoiler: she is now huge, and all of her physical attacks really hurt. As you may expect, her damage-taking capabilities [[DamageSpongeBoss have greatly increased]], to the extent that it may well take everything you've got to finally put her down. While her physical attacks may really hurt, she can now breathe fire and randomly spawn disease gas. Both of these are even worse, since the fire is ridiculously accurate and will suck your health alarmingly quick. And if she spawns the gas, then [[YouAreAlreadyDead kiss your ass goodbye]], since you'll often be dead before you can even fathom what hit you. The only "attack" of hers that isn't horrible is when she sucks you into her mouth, with your health slowly draining until you can shoot the weak points to get out. Taking all of this into account, she'll also start spawning [[FlunkyBoss mooks for you to avoid as her health drops]], including [[ActionBomb kamikaze-bombing]] [[DemBones skeletons]]. AND she can make herself invincible by spawning Gary Coleman heads to act as a shield. And she [[PunctuatedForEmphasis will. Not. Stop.]] [[MostAnnoyingSound Yelling. At. You]]. Get ready to see her [[FlippingTheBird flipping you off]] [[TheComputerShallTauntYou after you die]] a LOT]]. It makes [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome the Dude blowing her to kingdom come with an I.E.D]] so much more satisfying after that horror!

** Really, who's to say that ''Postal 2'' isn't just a psychosis that the Postal Dude is experiencing (in other words, his version of [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 Pyrovision]])? Considering he was tossed into a mental institution for killing dozens of people in the first game, this actually makes more sense than a killer with a huge body count simply being free with no repercussions a few years later. That is however assuming the first ''Postal'' has it's continuity connected with ''Postal 2'', which is to say unlikely because The Dude is almost nobody in Paradise instead of a wanted mass murderer. [[spoiler: That said, ''Postal Redux'' retconned the first game to be set in 2017, he's out of Paradise with military grade guns and experience, and he's seen fucked up things.]]

** Given its vulgar, deliberately offensive, satirical view of... well, everything, ''Postal 2'' was probably the best ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' game befor ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' came out.

* CrazyAwesome: The Dude is possibly this trope ''distilled''. A trailer-dwelling, deep-voiced, incredibly psychotic LowerClassLout with a total bitch of a wife who can, among many other things, throw a machete like a boomerang, carry around an absurd amount of stuff, use dolls as grenades, weaponize anthrax-ridden cow heads, withstand explosions to the face, steal everything that isn't nailed down, and heal himself by smoking crack. And that's not even counting the stuff he does in the actual story.

* CrazyAwesome: The Dude himself.

** The same can be said for the use of offensive stereotypes. The immigrant running the local grocery store turns out to be a secret Taliban supporter with several heavily armed veil-wearing wives at the back of his house. This would be disgustingly racist if it other groups were portrayed as idealized or even just neutral. But next to that you have the cops being gun-toting thugs who gleefully abuse their authority, the military are thugs with even bigger guns, rednecks are inbred gun-toting sexual deviants, political protestors are hypocritical idiots who turn violent at the drop of a hat... Even seemingly normal civilians walking down the street can suddenly pull out a gun and start shooting for no reason. What you end up with is "[[HatesEveryoneEqually I'm not a racist, I hate everyone equally]]: The Game".

** The same can be said for the use of offensive stereotypes. The immigrant running the local grocery store turns out to be a secret Taliban supporter with several heavily armed veil-wearing wives at the back of his house. This would be disgustingly racist if it other groups were portrayed as idealized or even just neutral. But next to that you have the cops being gun-toting thugs who gleefully abuse their authority, the military are thugs with even bigger guns, rednecks are inbred gun-toting sexual deviants, political protestors are hypocritical idiots who turn violent at the drop of a hat... Even seemingly normal civilians walking down the street can suddenly pull out a gun and start shooting for no reason. What you end up with is "I'm not a racist, I hate everyone equally: The Game".

* TearJerker: If you played the PacifistRun of ''Paradise Lost,'' after defeating [[spoiler:the Bitch, [[VillainousBreakdown she'll break down]] and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone apologize for her constant abuse of the Postal Dude over the years]], confessing her love and begging him to take her back. Postal Dude's response? [[Film/GoneWithTheWind "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a shit."]] Cue the Bitch sobbing loudly and throwing a temper tantrum.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsN1IafC33Y The "Central Park" theme]] becomes this in ''Redux'' mixed with NightmareFuel.
*** What it makes the theme a little more depressing than the original version from the 1997 game is the full sample of [[https://clyp.it/omm21zpf "Is That The Door?" by Zero-G]] used throughout the entire track. Also, it was used for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTWWCpGpkoo "Ice"]] track from ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQCssEOshFQ "Radio"]] from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS1sYig7MQo The "Parade of Disasters".]] It changes back to NightmareFuel in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Taocg2fm5E "Redux", which becomes alot echo-ish]] and incredibly disturbing as the "Rocket" launching noise is even more intense than the original.
** The "[[http://postal.wikia.com/wiki/War_Journal War Journal]]" from the original "POSTAL". It shows up as the original diary entries of the game and have been integrated into the HD remake. Unlike the normal entries, the journal portrays the Postal Dude as a [[TragicHero Tragic]] AntiHero on a crusade against the "[[HatePlague madness plague]]" (regarding the hostiles killing everyone during gameplay) rather than a bloodthirsty mass murderer. According to the Dude himself, he claimed that he doesn't enjoy violence, seeing it as NecessaryEvil. However, in the ending, it was revealed that the Postal Dude was, in fact, [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness insane all along]].

** The same can be said for the use of offensive stereotypes. The immigrant running the local grocery store turns out to be a secret Taliban supporter with several heavily armed veil-wearing wives at the back of his house. This would be disgustingly racist if it other groups were portrayed as idealized or even just neutral. But next to that you have the cops being gun-toting thugs who gleefully abuse their authority, the military are thugs with even bigger guns, rednecks are inbred gun-toting sexual deviants, political protestors are hypocritical idiots who turn violent at the drop of a hat... Even seemingly normal civilians walking down the street can suddenly pull out a gun and start shooting for no reason. This is the phrase "I'm not a racist, I hate everyone equally" in game form.

** The same can be said for the use of offensive stereotypes. The immigrant running the local grocery store turns out to be a secret Taliban supporter with several heavily armed veil-wearing wives at the back of his house. This would be disgustingly racist if it was placed in what was otherwise more or less realistic setting. But next to that you have the cops being gun-toting thugs who gleefully abuse their authority, the military are thugs with even bigger guns, rednecks are inbred gun-toting sexual deviants, political protestors are hypocritical idiots who turn violent at the drop of a hat... Even seemingly normal civilians walking down the street can suddenly pull out a gun and start shooting for no reason. This is the phrase "I'm not a racist, I hate everyone equally" in game form.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: When the over-the-top gore whips back around and becomes funny again.

** If your health dips down to a lower level in ''Postal 2'', the Postal Dude will say "[[Film/AvengersEndgame I don't feel so good.]]"

*** What it makes the theme a little more depressing than the original version from the 1997 game is the full sample of [[https://clyp.it/omm21zpf "Is That The Door?" by Zero-G]] used throughout the entire track. Also, it was used for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTWWCpGpkoo "Ice"]] track from ''VideoGames/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQCssEOshFQ "Radio"]] from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The general consensus of ''Apocalypse Weekend'' seems to be that it misunderstood what made ''Postal 2'' fun and made a game based around it. The linear structure of the levels [[NonindicativeName ironically removed almost all of the ability to go postal]], and were seen as not very interesting and occasionally repetitive regardless. The tasks were very non-mundane, from cutting down elephants to make wastebaskets out of their feet and "relocating" mad cow-infested cattle to invading a terrorist training camp in search of a nuclear weapon and placing that nuke at the heart of a competing game developer, as opposed to ''2'', whose charm in part came from performing everyday tasks like cashing a paycheck and returning a library book that would go spectacularly wrong. The weapons and engine additions, as well as the plot, are seen as positives, however.

** The Postal 2 achievement "Michonne ain't got nothin' on me". All it says is "resurrect a zombie for your own nefarious purposes" but there's nothing in game that tells you how, let alone that it's even possible. To do this you have to bisect a zombie with either the machete or scythe at the waist then smash it's head off with the bat or hammer. Now piss on the corpse to resurrect it as a floating torso.

** In the first ''Postal'', the final scene where [[spoiler:the Postal Dude tries to shoot up an elementary school (but to no avail) can become this in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting]]. Running With Scissors cited this trope as the reason why ''Postal Redux'' didn't have this scene [[spoiler:(it was instead replaced with an equally, although different, surreal "Church" level)]], as [[spoiler:school shootings]] had become a lot more common and less shocking in the nineteen years since the release of the original game.

** Paradise getting nuked may be harder to ponder after a deadly fire mostly destroyed a town of the same name in [[UsefulNotes/{{California}} Northern California]] in November 2018, followed by a flash flood hitting the region.

** Also in the same game, if you ride a segway, the Postal Dude will say: "Right, [[BreakingTheFourthWall POSTAL has vehicles now]]. [[SelfDeprecation VERY funny, assholes]]!" Later, a modification for ''POSTAL 2'' known as "[[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=292353394 Project Marica]]" was released featuring actual drivable vehicles from Postal Dude's 1987 [[PunnyName DaFuQue]] (Volkswagen Golf) to [[UpToEleven a goddamn monster truck]]!
** As for "The Ghetto" loading screen from the original game, the skinny, skeleton-like hallucination seen in the alley isn't that hard to remind of [[Creator/JunjiIto Junji Ito's]] ''Manga/TheEnigmaOfAmigaraFault'' (as the latter came five years after the 1997 installment's release).

* {{Sequelitis}}: ''Postal III'' received far more criticism than even ''Postal 2'', mainly for its linear gameplay as apposed to ''Postal 2's'' open world, poor controls, [[ArtificialStupidity horrible enemy AI]], plethora of [[ObviousBeta technical glitches]] and for [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking changing the Postal Dude's voice actor]]. Even RWS has disowned the game, [[CreatorBacklash not even considering it a canon game in the series anymore]].[[note]] This is mainly because of the TroubledProduction Akella thrusted upon the game during development. See the trivia page for more detail.[[/note]] When it comes to actual controversy generated however, ''Postal 2'' still holds that degree.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The general consensus of ''Apocalypse Weekend'' seems to be that it misunderstood what made ''Postal 2'' fun and made a game based around it. The linear structure of the levels [[NonindicativeName ironically removed the ability to Go POSTAL]], and were seen as not very interesting and occasionally repetitive regardless. The tasks were very non-mundane, as opposed to ''2''; part of its charm came from the mundane tasks going spectacularly wrong. The weapons and engine additions, as well as the plot, are seen as positives, however.

** One of the first mission you do in ''Postal III'' is to vacuum up used cum rags in a porn store. The Postal Dude is rightfully squicked out by the whole scenario.
*** Also, the game itself is the [[BloodierAndGorier goriest in the series and the violence is even more graphic.]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Try shredding a crowd of people with a]] [[MoreDakka M249]] or a [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Benelli M4 Super 90]] and [[BodyHorror you'll see what happens...]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsN1IafC33Y The "Central Park" theme becomes this in ''Redux'' mixed with]] NightmareFuel.

** In the first ''Postal'', the final scene where [[spoiler:the Postal Dude tries to shoot up an elementary school can become this in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting]]. Running With Scissors cited this trope as the reason why ''Postal Redux'' didn't have this scene [[spoiler:(it was instead replaced with an equally, although different, surreal "Church" level)]], as [[spoiler:school shootings]] had become a lot more common and less shocking in the nineteen years since the release of the original game.

%%* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: In the movie. When [[ItMakesSenseInContext George Bush announces the imminent nuclear strike on the USA,]] the Postal Dude takes out a detonator. He then finally utters those three iconic words (Before blowing his bitch of a wife to kingdom come):
''IRegretNothing''

** The Dude's wife, however, takes the cake for being an [[UngratefulBastard Ungrateful Bitch]] and never giving the Dude any respect whatsoever. You finally get to confront her in a showdown in ''Paradise Lost'' [[spoiler: [[TakeThatScrappy and put her out of her misery]].]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In Postal III, the Postal Dude can go down a "heroic" route that involves him becoming a police officer. Shoddy execution aside, an expansion or side-game where officer dude is tasked with enforcing the law in his trademark [[BloodyHilarious violent]], [[HeroicComedicSociopath over-the-top fashion] is a great idea. If given a sufficiently open map and a variety of ludicrous options for how to stop crime, it could potentially be a lot of fun.