Over 15 years after the series' last installment released,Postal 4: No Regertshas been both announced and made available through Steam Early Access. As one might expect from a game in thePostalseries, it promises to be absolutely absurd from start to finish.
The firstPostalgame released all the way back in 1997, followed byPostal 2in 2003; they’re each known for being quitecontroversial gameswith dark humor and excessive amounts of violence. Technically, aPostal 3was released in 2011 (to poor reception), butPostaldeveloper Running With Scissors later said it was “just a dodgy spin-off that should never have happened,” makingPostal 4: No Regertsthe true sequel.
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Announced and released in one fell swoop,Postal 4is a comedic open-world shooter that takes place several years after the ludicrous events ofPostal 2. Series protagonist The Postal Dude and his buddy Champ are now taking on the town of Edensin, after “a fortuitous gas station rest stop ends with their car, trailer home, and the rest of their worldly possessions stolen,” and he reaches the town with only his dog and his bathrobe to keep him company.
The game includes a sort of main mission progression in the form of crossing items off of The Postal Dude’s grotesque ‘to do’ list, and secondary missions can be collected around town…or players can just “ignore all of that and just cause general pandemonium at [their] own leisure.” Basically, it’s all about doing whatever crazy things that players can think up—something thatfans ofUntitled Goose Game, which also released recently, will be very familiar with.
Postal 4is mixing the old with the new, giving players a new town to explore (with plenty of “dark secrets” to discover), while bringing back some series favorites to The Postal Dude’s arsenal, including the Shovel, Gas Can, and the iconic boomerang Machete. Players can get especially nasty with the Spurt’n’Squirt water gun, with “ammo” choices that include water, gasoline, and yes, urine. There’s even a canine army to be built if players can come up with enough Doggie Treats to feed them all. Running With Scissors' particular brand ofvideo game humorhas clearly been dialed up to 11 for the new release.
ThePostalseries has a long history of being over-the-top in its violence and treatment of character stereotypes, which has resulted in most of them joining the ranks ofgames banned in certain countries. Nevertheless, the over-exaggerated nature of thePostalgames is completely intentional—and, as thePostal 4title would suggest, Running With Scissors has “no regerts.”
