Didn't find Postal the least bit offensive. Same thing with the GTA games. Partly, I guess, because these games are self-aware about their content, and partly because they are trying so hard. There's a childlike playfulness about them. They're like pranks in that way, and I find it hard to be offended by pranks that don't harm anyone.

That said, the Postal games are dog shit.

I'll give you that. But only with games because everyone know that old games are always better. ;)

You can actually finish Portal II without killing anybody. All the violence is in the player. So a decent person should hardly be offended by this game ;-).

I would amagain that it would be infuriating to do said thing.

That's the genial point of the game. If you finish it peacefully you might just go made because everything and everyone is out to make your tasks hard. On the other hand if you say "Fuck this shit!" and remove all the irritation you're actually rewarded. :P

Not unlike real life though you might not be rewarded. ;)

You can get through it without:
-firing a single shot
-using a single melee weapon
-kicking anything
-setting anything ablaze
-violating any cats
-peeing all over everything

But as qazx said, it's basically makes it a pain in the ass to complete.

The other thing about it though is sure, you're not doing anything violent yourself, but you're still exposed to violence in the game which ends up leaving room for people against it to complain. In their eyes the "it's only as violent as you make it" argument is made void by the violence that's there anyway.

My problem with Postal is not the violence, (I am a big GTA series fan) but the gameplay. Postal 2 was fun for about 90 minutes, but then got reptitive,and IMHO,, a lot of the humor and jokes were simply not funny.
I agree that a lot of the outrage over the game is silly. I agree it is too cartoonish and over the top to be offensive, but that does not mean the game is above criticism.

I'll agree with you there. Postal 2 is really a matter of personal taste. I can definitely see why some people wouldn't like it. But then again, they let you slaughter and entire marching band.

I'm not really sure how anybody could be any more offended by Postal 2 than any other FPS.

Well, except that a lot of the violence focuses on the people that were trying to get Postal banned.