Several notes about Postal Redux – the precursor of the legendary sequel

Everyone knows the second Postal perfectly. Many played it, and who did not play, as if they had heard, either on the Internet, or from their friends.

As for me, the reason for such fame was the total madness that created in it. It is difficult not to share your impressions of the next visit to Paradiza – the city where the postal 2 actions take place. Indeed, during a visit, it was literally to praise passers -by, walking around the city;rush with a canister and matches, setting fire to all oncoming and using cats instead of a silencer.

However, what we know about the first part? After all, if the game has a number “2” in the name, then there should be the first one, without it, which is logical. Logical, but not always true, there are exceptions, like Dune II or Metro-2.

The sequel to the metro-2 was also called, but he had a subtitle “The Death of the Leader”, so we literally have two parts of the metro, two, lol

But today is not this case and the second Postal’s, really has the first part that suddenly turned out to be an isometric shooter. What am I talking about today and would like to talk.

Video version for the elite

Text version for intellectuals

For a long time I wanted to play the first Postal, but it looked painfully crookedly, besides, there was no sight there. And shoot without a sight in an isometric shooter, focusing in the direction of the character in space, well, such.

Purely technically, the sight, of course, was in the game, but to see, and even more so to use it was very problematic. On the screen, if that, it is

However, more recently, in 2016, yes, an updated version came out, which, in my opinion, was transferred to a new engine and made it almost from scratch. As it turned out, the source code of the original game was posted in open access and now the postal 97th can be taken absolutely free in Steam or Gog. I played, literally for three minutes and I want to say that this is a completely different game that has nothing to do with Redux’s. She is very old, uncomfortable and I would definitely not go through it.

Fortunately, at the next Stemov sales, Remaster was given everything, it seems, for 26 rubles and I thought, like, we have a more expensive travel on the bus. Time has come.

Of course, I knew that the first part was not a cheerful satire on American society, like the second. But to the tin that met me, literally, from the threshold, at the very beginning, when entering the menu, I was definitely not ready. Just look at local loading screens.

When I said that I want a new part of Silent Hill, I did not mean that

But the most interesting here is that the menu screens and loading with these terrible schizophrenic records are paused and read, if you want, contrast with the gameplay as possible.

The game itself looks simply amazing, it was redrawn with great love for the original. Art design was preserved and even improved. You just look at the protagonist model, at these gloves and rolled up sleeves, how cool he looks like some kind of collectible figure.

Unfortunately, when approaching, everything turned into a pixel mess, but take a word, if you yourself run the game, you will understand what I’m talking about

And the environment reminded me of the layouts of cities, which can sometimes be seen in museums. Everything looks so good, toy and detailed. I unrealistically baked from the visual throughout the passage.

Here we play, it seems, for the same dude, at redlion-casino least the actor of voice acting a very similar voice. But this is hardly a hero of subsequent parts, since this contradicts the ending. So we will assume that this is a dude from another temporary line.

The mechanics of shooting and movement were also converted from scratch, they added a sight, normal mouse support and overwritten the sounds of shooting. A simple control of the character brings some unreal amount of pleasure, the impact of the weapon is felt and also delivers.

In terms of processing, the mechanic and graphics first Postal is an exemplary remaster. I would say that he is somewhere at the Demon’s Souls level, or maybe even higher, but I won’t say because I did not play Demon’s Souls.

Probably, I also missed the good and not intricate top-Dawn to the shooters who came out not that often, and I did not really play anything after Hotline Miami.

During the passage, I have repeatedly caught myself thinking that everything that was happening reminds me of Chinatown Wars, so the game causes extremely positive emotions. But, perhaps, someone will ask: what positive emotions, what fun, we literally play for a maniac who killed innocent people with an impunity.

But this is not so, because the police themselves brew all the porridge, they begin to fade first. Cops attack a peaceful dude who just went outside with his automatic.

This psychopath in the form threw a grenade under my feet, undermining at the same time my colleagues when I just left the fence of my house. And which of us after that is a real maniac?

I understand that the open weapons of weapons are not allowed in all states, but not to shoot because of this right away at a person. You see, all these stories about the brutality of American police officers were not from scratch.

Yes, the main, and, in general, the only task at all levels is to kill 90% of the local population and there are peaceful non -pains that do not attack you. But, just to kill them and it is not necessary, for passing it is required to be cleaned, namely, 90% of aggressive blanks. Only their murder as a result of self -defense is counted. Yes, the civilian themselves constantly climb under bullets and die, but this will remain exclusively on your conscience.

Although the Australians may disagree with you;I just took revenge on my ancestors

The game does not push you to anything at all and does not hint at anything. Personally, when I saw a giant, peacefully marching orchestra, even for a second the thought of throwing a Molotov cocktail or harm in it in any other way did not crept in. What serves as direct proof of my words. I am ready to swear at this very place that Postal does not promote senseless violence against unarmed people. And is one of the most peaceful games in the history of Gamdev.

But the main thing is not to lie to yourself

So here a completely rainbow atmosphere reigns – love, friendship and ponies, that is what the original postal is dedicated to. In addition, the dude constantly smacks some cool phrases about the same “boomstics”, in the style of Ash. Or quotes Duke Nukem, which additionally plays in the hands of a local light mood.

Perhaps even too easy, but then it was played by the fact that at first I chose the average level of complexity and went with the maximum of 200% of my health, no one, trite, could not hurt me.

And I, as it were, is still a crooked mlg nagibator, so I had to start the game again on Hard, which I advise you. Yes, at first it will be difficult, but when you get comfortable and gather all the weapons, you will be glad that you did not chooseABOUTRmal. At first I often died, but almost all levels of the second half of the game passed on the first attempt.

Perhaps the purchase of Redux’a is one of my most profitable investments in my life. Yes, he definitely has his drawbacks, like the same uncomfortable camera. The guys clearly invented some new way to hang her hell to go where, so that you would be as inconvenient to follow what is happening. I understand that this is just Remaster and the problem stretches from the original, but God, how inconvenient here is to navigate in space.

At first, in general, I could not understand where the enemies shoot me and could hardly find myself. Of course, over time, you master, but sometimes there is such a mishmash on the screen that everything is repeated again.

In the screenshot, of course, you can calmly consider everything, but during the gameplay, what is happening is perceived differently

The levels themselves sometimes have changes in height, and of course that if you stand somewhere below, then you cannot fall into the enemy who stands on the grief and simply is not in the field of view of your character. But because of the isometric camera, you cannot understand whether the enemy’s protagonist sees or not.

It becomes especially painful at levels with a view of the top, in which not only is it more difficult to navigate. So, and because of the prospect itself, you cannot distinguish the wall from any curb and do not know whether you or your opponent are behind the shelter or not.

So try to guess for yourself if you can hide behind this thing in the corners of the road? For thinking 0.1 seconds, because a rocket with a huge spray is already flying in your face

The developers also understood this problem and therefore added tags to enemies that appear when you lead the sight if they fall into the zone of your defeat. But this does not always help, because if five bots attack you at the same time, you are trying to hide behind some kind of fence in a panic, and then it turns out that this is not a fence, but marking on the asphalt. You, trite, do not have time to look at some metochochi on enemies.

But they at least somehow tried to fix this jamb of the original and did everything possible within the framework. However, why did they not work with artificial intelligence, which sometimes shoots at you from abroad, when you, in principle, cannot see it.

At the average level of complexity, this is not a problem, because you are actually immortal, but on the high you begin to notice all these jambs. Because of this, I had to recall the level with mines several times, because there at the very end there is an ambush before the exit, which you cannot see. And when you approach the very exit, you are simply shot from abroad of the screen and you have to start the entire level from the very beginning, because there are no checkpoints.

So yes, the game, of course, is crooked and not very diverse, but it passes in just 3-4 hours and does not have time to get bored or strangle you.

Although it does not have any shock of content, Postal’s really has a certain oppressive aura and no, it is not connected with the loading screens. Scare the circumstances in which it was developed. I did not check the information, but I heard stories that the game was created as a reaction to cases of real masschutings that the postmen arranged, hence the name Postal .

That is, in the real world in your country, some abnormal psychos and part-time post employees arrange a massive massacre with real victims, real dead people. Then you take the term that began to designate this very massacre, and create a game where you can do the same, but already in digital space. Like, what?

In addition, as I learned from the vidos Civvivie11, the original was a completely different ending. She changed her in Redux, and she became very logical and correct, so everything was supposed to end. But the ending of Postal’a of the 97th year was that the dude came to school and began to kill children.

I am a convinced supporter of freedom of speech and oppose the ban not only of video games, but, in principle, against any state acts. censorship. Someone would have listened to me. And, of course, I would have against it if someone wanted to ban Postal when it was relevant.

But the fact that the developers were slightly out of myself when they created it, I could not deny it.

Of course, the 90s were an amazing time that in Russia, that in the West, when some dude could calmly release games about the incidents of massacres that had just occurred, where we were given the role of a maniac. Not that I would like such things, it is simply amazing the incredible level of freedom and lack of censorship, which is from the state, that from the corporations.

And depending on today, what conclusions we can draw? I think that this small video is most successfully summed up: the result