History VideoGame / Postal

On 20 May 2016, RWS released POSTAL Redux, an HD remake of the original Postal, on Steam, and later [[http://runningwithscissors.com/?p=2318 open sourced]] the original version of Postal 1. Four years later, it was ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on October 16th 2020, making it the first time the ''Postal'' series has appeared on a console. It then received a UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 port in March 2021.

On April Fools 2023, RWS released ''[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/2362740/POOSTALL_Royale/ Poostall Royale]]'', a free to play twin stick shooter and a wackier throwback to the first game. It also marks the debut of the Postal Doe, the Postal Dude's female counterpart.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: While the [[MindScrew confusing nature]] is kept, in ''Redux'', [[spoiler:the Dude doesn't try and fail to shoot up an elementary school, but instead finds a church with a funeral occuring, with the screen shaking and darkening as the casket lowers, leading into the original game's ending sequence.]]

* ScareChord: A subtle one can be heard when preforming an execution in "Redux."

* WouldHurtAChild: Averted '''hard''' in both the original game and ''Redux''. Lead designer and co-creator of RWS Vince Desi has made it clear that for all the things he's okay with a player being able to do in videogames, murdering children is effectively the one line he refuses to ever cross. In fact this is part of what caused the game to become so controversial because at the time the New York Times wrote an article saying you CAN kill the children, and when Vince called them up over it and they were so nonchalant about the lie told and their refusal to print a correction, he sorta implied he was going to go over there and bash the writer's face in, which got him a call from the FBI.

Before Creator/UweBoll brought us 2007's ''Film/{{Postal}}'', there was the ''Postal'' video game series, developed by Running With Scissors, which started with 1997's ''Postal''. The game puts you in the shoes of "The Postal Dude", who believes himself the OnlySaneMan in a world gone mad ([[AxCrazy he's not]]). As such, [[GoingPostal he goes on a bloody rampage]], shooting it out with cops, soldiers, and innocent bystanders alike.

The game spawned three sequels: ''VideoGame/Postal2'' (2003), ''VideoGame/PostalIII'' (2011), and ''VideoGame/Postal4NoRegerts'' (2019). It also spawned [[Film/{{Postal}} the aforementioned loose film adaptation]] in 2007 by Creator/UweBoll.

** There are no characters based off real people, either played by themselves (Mike J and Vince Desi, [[VideoGame/Postal2 Gary Coleman]], [[VideoGame/PostalIII Jennifer Walcott]], [[VideoGame/Postal4NoRegerts Civvie]])), or parodies (Osama bin Laden).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Postal 1'' doesn't [[PlayedForLaughs play itself for laughs]] much like ''Postal 2'', ''Postal III'', and ''Postal 4: No Regerts'' do, being a lot more grim, dark and at times even frightening. This causes many surprises by fans seeking out the first game after playing the second one, expecting the same level of humor. It doesn't help that ''Postal 2'' is an open world first person shooter while ''Postal 1'' is a linear isometric shooter.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Unlike the games after, the events of the first Postal aren't PlayedForLaughs in the slightest (other than some BondOneLiners from the Postal Dude), and are instead played for all the NightmareFuel you'd expect from a guy snapping and going on a killing spree. It's also a top-down shooter rather than the first- and third-person shooters the rest of the series has been.

* [[FatBastard Fat Bitch]]: The Dude's wife, at least in the movie. In both it and the second game, she's simply known as "The Dude's Bitch". [[spoiler:According to ''Paradise Lost'', she was indeed this before her dating Mad Cow Mike J made her thin. After the boss fight, Mike J revives her with his milk, turning her fat again]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Running With Scissors insists that the actions depicted [[DontTryThisAtHome should not be reenacted in Real Life.]]]]

* ''Music To Go Postal By Vol. 2'' has The Dude holding a pair of scissors with a boombox on his back in the style of ''4''.

Another spin-off known as ''VideoGame/PostalBrainDamaged'', developed by Hyperstrange and supervised by Running With Scissors, was announced on 5 September, 2020 at Realms Deep, and is slated for a mid-2022 release for PC and consoles. Unlike the other games in the series, ''Brain Damaged'' is a {{Retraux}} shooter that harkens back to the violent first person shooters of TheNineties, such as ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', with an atmosphere reminiscent of the original game's. Watch the announcement trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wu4sdkzGQo here]].

* AllThereInTheManual: There's no {{backstory}} or anything in the game, save for the unsettling loading screens, nor a tutorial of any sort. The manual and Hard mode in ''POSTAL Redux'' fills you in a bit, suggesting that a HatePlague has infected the town.
** The intro to ''Postal III'' reveals that his house was foreclosed on, which caused the Dude [[GoingPostal to snap.]] Even if that game is no longer canon, it ''was'' revealed to be a coma hallucination the Dude had between ''Apocalypse Weekend'' and ''Paradise Lost'', so presumably a comment on the Dude's past from the Dude himself is still factual.

** Both versions:
*** Entering a new level will fully replenish your health, regardless of how much you lost during the previous level.
*** If you fill out your ammo/health with a pick up, that pick up will still remain around with some health/ammo left for you to collect in case of emergencies.
** ''Redux'':
*** In the original game, you couldn't run and use the shotgun at the same time. Using the shotgun requires you to stand still, leaving you open to enemy attacks while trying to kill a hostile. ''Redux'' allows you to run and use the shotgun at the same time with no issues.
*** Grenades, firebombs and mines were treated as primary weapons in the original, meaning you had to manually use them like any other weapon. ''Redux'' treats them as secondary weapons, as they now can be used with a dedicated secondary fire button.
*** Hostile health is now displayed with a crosshair. Not only that, but they're less tankier to kill than the original.
* AlternateContinuity: ''Redux'' is implied to be this with all the changes made from the original taken into account. Both ''Postal 1'' and ''Redux'' are also heavily implied to be in a separate continuity than the one ''Postal 2'' occurs in.

* TheCameo: A cheat code in ''Redux'' unlocks [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/{{Hatred}} Not Important/The Antagonist]]]] as a playable character, complete with his own voice lines.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Unlike the games after, the events of the first Postal aren't PlayedForLaughs in the slightest (other than some BondOneLiners from the Postal Dude), and are instead played for all the NightmareFuel you'd expect from a guy snapping and going on a killing spree.

* BadassLongcoat: The Postal Dude's attire of choice, with CoolShades and, in the third game, FingerlessGloves.

Another spin-off known as ''VideoGame/PostalBrainDamaged'', developed by Hyperstrande and supervised by Running With Scissors, was announced on 5 September, 2020 at Realms Deep, and is slated for a mid-2022 release for PC and consoles. Unlike the other games in the series, ''Brain Damaged'' is a {{Retraux}} shooter that harkens back to the violent first person shooters of TheNineties, such as ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', with an atmosphere reminiscent of the original game's. Watch the announcement trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wu4sdkzGQo here]].

* AlternateContinuity: ''Redux'' is implied to be this with all the changes made from the original take into account.

* TitleDrop: One of the Dude's taunts is simply "Postal!".

** [[spoiler:Redux's Co-Op ending also serves as one, given that it confirms the existence of no less than five Postal Dudes, with the Co-Op Dudes arriving at the Campaign/Rampage Dude's cell to finish him.]]

* WouldHurtAChild: Averted hard in the original game. Lead designer and co-creator of RWS Vince Desi has made it clear that for all the things he's okay with a player being able to do in videogames, murdering children is effectively the one line he refuses to ever cross. In fact this is part of what caused the game to become so controversial because at the time the New York Times wrote an article saying you CAN kill the children, and when Vince called them up over it and they were so nonchalant about the lie told and their refusal to print a correction, he sorta implied he was going to go over there and bash the writer's face in, which got him a call from the FBI.

Another spin-off known as ''Postal: Brain Damaged'', developed by Hyperstrande and supervised by Running With Scissors, was announced on 5 September, 2020 at Realms Deep, and is slated for a mid-2022 release for PC and consoles. Unlike the other games in the series, ''Brain Damaged'' is a {{Retraux}} shooter that harkens back to the violent first person shooters of TheNineties, such as ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', with an atmosphere reminiscent of the original game's. Watch the announcement trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wu4sdkzGQo here]].

Another spin-off known as ''Postal: Brain Damaged'', developed by Hyperstrande and supervised by Running With Scissors, was announced on 5 September, 2020 at Realms Deep, and is slated for a late 2021 release for PC and consoles. Unlike the other games in the series, ''Brain Damaged'' is a {{Retraux}} shooter that harkens back to the violent first person shooters of TheNineties, such as ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', with an atmosphere reminiscent of the original game's. Watch the announcement trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wu4sdkzGQo here]].

Another spin-off known as ''Postal: Brain Damaged'', developed by Hyperstrande and supervised by Running With Scissors, was announced on 5 September, 2020 at Realms Deep, and is slated for a late 2021 release for PC and consoles. Unlike the other games in the series, ''Brain Damaged'' is a {{Retreaux}} shooter that harkens back to the violent first person shooters of TheNineties, such as ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', with an atmosphere that harkens back to the original game. Watch the announcement trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wu4sdkzGQo here]].