Where fierce satire meets unbridled chaos.
Running With Scissors
Running With Scissors, the independent studio founded in 1996 and responsible for the Postal series, operates under a tight-knit, brilliant team always ready to shock audiences in the most absurd and unpredictable ways. Even today, after the re-releases of the two original games and the latest entries in the saga, Postal 3 and Postal 4, the team proudly maintains its independent status. This deliberate choice allows them to develop games that would never pass the approval of mainstream publishers, often drawing criticism from audiences who favor safer, more politically correct content.
Running With Scissors games stand out for:
- Total freedom of action and gameplay.
- Dark humor and brutally unapologetic jokes.
- Deliberately exaggerated, satirical violence.
- Bold stereotypes that mock every culture and behavior.
- The iconic protagonist Postal Dude, made unforgettable thanks to the voice work of Rick Hunter, the official voice actor.
The Unmatched Evolution Brought by Postal 2 in Creating a Living Game World
When it launched, Postal 2 proved revolutionary, making full use of Valve’s Source Engine. This cutting-edge technology allowed Running With Scissors to reach extraordinary creative heights by introducing:
- Advanced physics for bodies and objects.
- Fire propagation effects that remain among the best ever created.
Thanks to the Source Engine’s power and versatility, the team built highly detailed, fully explorable environments without loading screens. The city districts of Paradise feature complex 3D buildings where players can access every floor and room—an extremely rare feature even in modern games. The most innovative aspect of Postal 2 is its living, breathing game world, which doesn’t exist solely for the player’s benefit.
- Paradise’s citizens follow their own routines: they walk around, chat (not exactly politely), get into fights, and even start brawls that attract the police.
- The cops, heavily stereotyped, look straight out of classic American movies—complete with cliché uniforms and offices overflowing with donuts.
Every NPC embodies a specific stereotype, both American and international. For example:
- Overweight, visibly lazy citizens.
- Extremist protesters representing radical ideologies.
- Characters reflecting the post-9/11 American mindset, including 3D models clearly inspired by Osama Bin Laden, a nod to the rampant Islamophobia in the U.S. at the time.
Postal 2 is packed with secrets, and every discovery leads to an increasingly wild and irreverent surprise.
The Complex Simplicity of Postal 2’s Missions
Postal 2 is far from a mindless rampage simulator. Instead, it cleverly builds upon the American expression “going postal,“ which refers to an office worker who, after enduring relentless frustration and stress, finally snaps—often with catastrophic consequences for colleagues and supervisors.
With this premise, the game places players in seemingly mundane situations that hide its true challenge. Postal 2 isn’t just a game; it’s a social experiment disguised as one.
The entire experience unfolds over the course of a week, with specific tasks to complete each day. For example, on Monday, players must:
- Pick up their paycheck.
- Go to the bank.
- Buy milk.
At this point, the choice is entirely up to the player: behave like a model citizen and complete the tasks peacefully, or give in to frustration when faced with irritating situations, such as waiting in an agonizingly long line at the bank.
Some of the more chaotic alternatives include:
- Robbing the bank instead of waiting.
- Running out of Lucky Ganesh without paying.
- Taking on a violent group of anti-video game activists who, in their fight against virtual violence, storm the game’s development studio—faithfully recreated down to the smallest detail, including photos of the dev team hanging on the office walls.
Despite its irreverent and over-the-top nature, Postal 2 offers a unique kind of freedom: the entire game can be completed without using a single weapon, except in specific moments like escaping from a burning library. This approach allows for a highly personal experience, as each player’s choices shape the way the game unfolds.
The Second Amendment and American Culinary Culture in Postal 2
If GTA’s Ammu-Nation represents gun culture in America, Postal 2 takes the concept even further, pushing firearm accessibility to an extreme.
Weapons of all kinds can be found virtually anywhere:
- A shotgun behind a store counter.
- Assault rifles stashed in a bedroom.
- A bulletproof vest in a nightclub bathroom.
Exploring the game world thoroughly reveals an incredible arsenal, offering players the tools to create chaos or simply survive.
Survival in Postal 2 is no easy feat; Postal Dude can’t take too much damage, making the game’s healing system essential.
There are several ways to restore health:
- Standard medkits: Restore a small portion of health.
- Food items: Donuts and pizza provide minor health regeneration.
- Advanced items: The fast food bag and health pipe fully restore vitality.
These items can be purchased or found in stores scattered throughout the game world, including the Paradise Mall, the local shopping center. Here, players can not only stock up on resources but also meet Gary Coleman for an autograph session—one that inevitably leads to a… rather interesting conclusion.
Major Controversies and the Film Adaptation
Due to its extremely violent and satirical nature, the Postal series has always sparked controversy and criticism from international public opinion. Some countries banned the game’s sale, while stores had to check minors’ IDs to prevent them from purchasing it. Despite facing numerous accusations—some quite severe—every controversy ended without real consequences, as often happens in these cases.
Beyond video games, Postal also received a film adaptation directed by Uwe Boll, a filmmaker known among gamers for cult movies like Dead or Alive and Alone in the Dark. Postal: The Movie failed to achieve significant success, mainly due to its extremely violent, overly offensive, and brutally sarcastic tone. The film’s opening scene perfectly illustrates this approach. Surprisingly, however, Running With Scissors approved of the movie and even declared it part of the official series canon. To this day, the film remains available for purchase on the studio’s official website.
Going Postal: The Official Running With Scissors Documentary
Running With Scissors has officially announced a documentary chronicling the entire Postal series. This in-depth project will include exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes insights into the franchise’s evolution, and firsthand accounts from the original creators, who remain dedicated to keeping Postal Dude’s legacy alive. With development on Postal 4 now complete, the studio has already set its sights on a major new endeavor: a full remake of Postal 2.
For more details, visit the studio’s official website.
