Postal 4 Preview – Glorious Trash

When one of the Running With Scissors developers said “our game is fucking trash” as I previewed Postal 4, I knew I was in for a great time. That’s not sarcasm, that kind of sardonic self-deprecation is right up my alley, and it’s perfectly fitting for the wondrous trash fire that is Postal. I mean that in the best way, of course, as the sheer unadulterated edginess of Postal 4 is refreshingly honest.

As Mike J. showed the game off, I found myself laughing out of shock more than a few times. It’s no secret that my sense of humor could be described as “awful,” so your mileage may vary. Still, Postal 4 lets you shoot pee with the force of a firehose, which is objectively pretty funny. And if you’ll believe it, that’s one of the less crass and ridiculous features that I saw in Postal 4.

Since it’s being developed as the spiritual successor to Postal 2, plenty of that game’s features return in much more extreme ways. Kicking people now sends them flying, while various drugs and consumables can slow down time to let you mow down NPCs using your dual-wield rifles with feline attachments. Or you could just throw a box filled with crazed pigeons, who’ll swarm anything nearby like, well, crazed pigeons. Every second is more anarchic than the last, in shocking and gory ways.

“There are so many ways to create utter chaos that even the most devoted Postal fans will find something to disturb them.“

This is driven home by the new mutilation system, which is so overboard that it would likely make Jack Thompson blush. Limbs can be severed in a variety of places, but that’s not all. You can pick up someone’s newly separated head or hand and use it as a weapon. Seeing someone get bludgeoned to death with a severed head makes you question your facilities, but it’s undeniably pretty goofy. As is slapping people with someone else’s hands a la Yoshikage Kira, complete with an over-the-top stock slap sound. There are so many ways to create utter chaos that even the most devoted Postal fans will find something to disturb them.

If any of this appealed to you, you’re probably disturbed, but that’s beside the point. Postal 4 is looking to be a dose of sheer unadulterated trashy fun, and that’s exactly what it should be. Running With Scissors is hoping to release this year, or early 2021, and they’re aiming to be on consoles for the first time. Time will tell if you’ll be able to throw pigeon-bombs on console, but the best way to find out is to keep following MonsterVine.