Postal III / YMMV - TV Tropes

Awesome Music: Postal III may not be the best game in the series, but the soundtrack is universally agreed to be one of its few redeeming qualities. Featuring ''Going Postal'' by Secondhand Child, ''Didgerivoodoo'' by Stands With Fists (which their track When It Comes On is also featured as the credits theme for Paradise Lost), "''Hellen (Andrey Vakulenko Remix)'' by Mushmellow and, of course, the remixed version of ''Goodbye Almond Eyes'' by Tokyo Rose. And as of November 9, 2023, the soundtrack was re-released on Steam for free of charge.
Complacent Gaming Syndrome: General consensus is that the M16 Assault Rifle is the only useful weapon.
Fanon Discontinuity: Fans of the previous games wished that Postal III never happened, thanks in no small part to having serious glitches that ruin the whole experience. RWS themselves not only disowned the game, but the second expansion for the second game, Paradise Lost, made it nothing more than a bad dream the Dude had, thus officially erasing it from continuity.
Harsher in Hindsight: Postal III would receive mockery for its huge amount of bugs that ended up severely damaging the experience, leading to Running With Scissors to disown it entirely. With Postal 4 starting in Early Access, RWS promised that it won't be a repeat of the dreaded third game and be a worthy successor. Come the fourth game leaving Early Access, and there are still numerous issues plaguing the game and many feel like it still needed time in Early Access. Some people quickly saw similarities between this and the fourth game, being disappointed that RWS let something like this happen along the lines of the Postal III they very much hate, leading to its Contested Sequel status, though Postal 4 does at least have the benefit of post-launch updates and patches to smooth things out, which Postal III never received.^Note
Hilarious in Hindsight: There's a pre-order (later DLC) bonus called the "Fart Gun" exclusive for the Russian release, which instantly knocks out anyone in the vicinity. One year earlier, the same weapon was featured in the 2010 movie Despicable Me and it retains the same effect.
- Also in the same game, if you ride a segway, the Postal Dude will say: "Right, Postal has vehicles now. VERY funny, assholes!" Later, a modification for Postal 2 known as "Project Marica" was released featuring actual drivable vehicles from Postal Dude's 1987 DaFuQue (Volkswagen Golf) to a goddamn monster truck! And in Postal 4: No Regerts, scooters can be used to travel around Edensin.
Nausea Fuel: One of the first missions you do 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 goriest in the series and the violence is even more graphic. Try shredding a crowd of people with an M249 or a Benelli M4 Super 90 and you'll see what happens...
Obvious Beta: The game has some glaring glitches. Certain Steam achievements are bugged and don't unlock, the AI for certain NPCs (particularly for those you have to escort) are still primitive or broken, and certain computer builds make the game crash constantly. It was chiefly for this reason that RWS all but disowned the game.
Overshadowed by Controversy: Mentions of Corey Cruise in a Postal game without talking about how unlucky he was to have III be his first role as The Postal Dude are pretty hard to come by.
Sequelitis: Postal III received far more criticism than even Postal 2, mainly for its linear gameplay as opposed to Postal 2's open world, poor controls, horrible enemy AI, plethora of technical glitches and for changing the Postal Dude's voice actor. Even RWS has disowned the game, not even considering it a canon game in the series anymore.^note When it comes to actual controversy generated however, Postal 2 still holds that degree.
Took the Bad Film Seriously: Despite Postal III being widely disliked, Corey Cruise is generally thought to have put in an admirable performance of the Postal Dude, enough that some fans consider him on par with Rick Hunter's portrayal of the character and would have been fine with him returning to the role in 4 (which he eventually did), and were happy to hear he was reprising the role in Brain Damaged.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The Postal Dude can go down a "heroic" route that involves him becoming a police officer. It's unfortunate that the execution is so shoddy, because an expansion or side-game where Postal Dude is tasked with enforcing the law in the most violent and excessive fashion way possible is a great idea. If players were given a sufficiently open-ended map and a variety of choices when it comes to resolving the crimes the Postal Dude was called on to resolve, it could potentially be a lot of fun.
Unintentional Period Piece: Postal III had its delayed development result in an odd case of it being a period piece to the late 2000s, almost specifically to 2008, which left the game immediately dated when it came out in 2011. The political atmosphere is still soundly grounded in the twilight of the Bush era - "border patrol" along the Mexican border involves keeping Americans from escaping to get away from the recession, the Moral Guardians are now a faction of crazed "Hockey Moms" looking for excuses to be offended and getting really violent once they've found one, a dead-ringer of Sarah Palin is featured as the leader of those hockey moms, and Osama bin Laden (who had been dead for six months by the time the game came out) is a member of the Big Bad Duumvirate - all at a point when in the real world we were almost halfway through the Presidency of Barack Obama. The celebrity (or "celebrity") cameos are all likewise dated as well, including Jennifer Walcott (Playboy Playmate of the Year, 2001), Randy Jones (whose last solo outing before the game was in 2007), Uwe Boll (for his video game movies, specifically his 2007 adaptation of Postal), and then-president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez (who died in 2013).

YMMV / Postal III

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