As a dedicated tech enthusiast and storyteller for Digital Tech Explorer, I’ve encountered my share of gaming legends—both celebrated and notorious. The *Postal* series, for many years, fell firmly into the latter category for me, a concept that began questionably and seemed to wallow in irrelevance. Yet, whispers from the gaming community, always a fount of fascinating insights, hinted at an anomaly: a *Postal* game that was, remarkably, genuinely good. My mind immediately dismissed thoughts of Postal 2, a title I recall even as a socially awkward 15-year-old realizing its true nature beneath the copious blood and juvenile humor: a rather shoddy shooter, despite its perplexing Steam rating parity with classics like Half-Life 2.
Rather, the buzz was around the spinoff FPS Postal: Brain Damaged, released in 2022. Crucially, it is not developed by series creators Running with Scissors. Instead, it’s made by Hyperstrange—a team of Polish indie designers that specialize in shooters. Hyperstrange’s other projects include the sword-and-sorcery hack ‘n’ slash Elderborn and the grimdark cowboy blaster Blood West, both enjoyable retro shooters. But is it really possible to take the crusty tube-sock that is Postal and make something worthwhile out of it? This in-depth review aims to find out.
Unique Art Style and Surreal Level Design
A couple of things immediately separate Brain Damaged from Running With Scissors’ games. The first is that it actually has an art style—and a pretty good one too. Brain Damaged‘s world is drawn in vivid colours, kooky expressionist angles, and pixels the size of postage stamps, a world away from the flat, uninspired visuals of the mainline series. The second is that the whole game takes place inside the Postal Dude’s depraved, deranged mind, which Hyperstrange uses as permission to build levels that are surrealist dreamscapes. While Postal has never needed much persuading to detach itself from reality, here there is a concerted effort to build geometrically interesting spaces.
The first level, for example, takes place in a vision of suburbia that is at once insufferably saccharine and deeply cursed, with picturesque, pastel-coloured houses lining streets that gnarl and twist into shapes that resemble razor wire—clearly inspired by Psychonauts’ much-loved Milkman Conspiracy level. These houses are populated by shotgun-toting grandpas accompanied by ludicrously-hench dogs, and spherical men who pelt you with burgers as they float through the sky beneath their propeller hats.
Combat Mechanics and Early Pacing Challenges
It’s instantly more imaginatively ambitious than the mainline series, and this is underpinned by thoughtfully-designed combat mechanics. The Postal’s Dude’s abilities include the power to deflect any projectile with a well-timed kick, and a propulsive slide-jump that lets you bound across levels at high-speed. In addition, once you grab the shotgun, which comes with a Doom Eternal style meathook, you can also use enemies to launch yourself into the air and remain airborne for extended periods.
Yet while the fundamentals are promising, it takes a while for Brain Damaged to cohere as a shooter. The opening level looks great but is too long and dispersed, resulting in too much downtime and largely shapeless fights. The second level, which takes place in a detention centre/sewer network, is better paced, but visually far less interesting, presenting some early pacing challenges that test player patience.
Evolving Level Concepts and Expanded Arsenal
From here on out, though, Postal: Brain Damaged‘s levels become more focused, while the weapon and enemy roster becomes both wider and weirder. Your expanded arsenal includes a lightning gun that shoots literal brainstorms, a ferocious minigun that can autotarget specific enemies, and a nailgun that can launch an enemy-freezing time bubble. Ingeniously, this bubble also freezes any projectile you shoot into it, which means you can circle strafe a time-stopped enemy, blasting into the bubble so when it collapses your bullets all converge on the unfortunate meat-bag in the centre.
The sharper focus also yields some novel level concepts. The third level sees you emerge from the detention centre into Mexico and assault a vast border wall, dodging artillery shells and sniper rifle-wielding enemies. While the satire is hardly sophisticated, the look and flow of the level is thoughtfully designed, acting as a tribute to Quake. The highlights, though, are probably the opening pair of levels that kick off Episode 2, which see the Postal Dude running through a carnivalesque sanitorium. The way these levels play with perspective, feeding rollercoasters and even a Ferris wheel into the level geometry, is genuinely impressive, and both levels feature several arena fights that give your trigger finger a proper workout.
It all comes together to form a shooter that demonstrates both imagination and craft. That said, your enjoyment of Brain Damaged will still hinge somewhat on your tolerance for Postal’s schtick. Hyperstrange’s shooter remains couched in the same scattershot satire and puerile humour as Running with Scissors’ games. There are bounce pads in the shape of balls, a bow-and-arrow weapon that fires enormous, brightly coloured dildos, and a moaning dominatrix enemy. Among the torrent of toilet humour were a few gags that made me laugh, such as the nasal nerd mages clad in Ku Klux Klan-ish white robes who yell “My kakatana…I mean, katana!” when you smear them across a wall.
While the Postal Dude’s repetitive, often unfunny quips remain a minor detriment, it would be a disservice to claim Postal: Brain Damaged succeeds in spite of its lineage. Hyperstrange has masterfully taken the series’ anarchic DNA, its indiscriminate mockery and relentless cynicism, and imbued it with a purposeful focus. Through exceptional level design and truly strong gunplay, they’ve proven that even the most notorious franchises can be reimagined for a new era of gaming. This isn’t just another *Postal* game; it’s a testament to indie development, offering an engaging and surprisingly competent FPS experience that savvy players, especially those who appreciate a well-crafted shooter and novel design, should absolutely explore. It’s the kind of unexpected gem we at Digital Tech Explorer aim to uncover for our readers, helping you make informed decisions in the ever-evolving world of PC gaming.