Buying groceries, returning library books and picking up christmas trees. Just your everyday jobs that need to be done. It's a shame those protesters try to get in the way so often.... This game is only as violent as you want it. Everyone is at risk from your shotgun... but at the same time the AI works well enough that if you want to queue till you reach the counter to hand in your paycheque then go ahead. The irony of killing everyone in the queue to the confession box in the church is highly amusing... Most of the jokes are parodies of situations at the time - hanging chads, whiny anti-game lawyers and so on but if you are 20 years or older they should ring bells. If you like Gary Coleman you can get his autograph in this... if you don't like him it's a good place for some 'therapy' ;) Graphically this game is from the Unreal era - audibly things are fine. You will want to be able to turn the sound up okay however as there are no subtitles and the quips between characters are amusing to hear. There isn't a huge range of weaponry but the items in place are differentiated nicely. I have given this game a 4 as there is a lot more it could have been and is very short - saved only by the multiplayer and mods. It is however better than Postal 1 - even if the genre is somewhat different.. For just $9.99 you get Postal 2 Share the Pain and the expansion - this is cheaper overall than the gopostal site - so if you want to grab this controversial part of gaming history GoG is a good place to get it.
I bought this when it was first released oh so long ago (I still have the poster with all the ghosts on it that came with it) and it remains a gem. The premise is simple - you are master over the spectral world and need to save ghosts trapped in it and defeat the ghostbreakers. Within the majority of levels there is a ghost to be freed - two levels have hidden ghosts to free as well. You get plasm resource by creating belief amongst mortals of your presence - the more plasm you generate the more powerful the abilities at your ghosts disposal. You select a certain number of ghosts from your team for each level and each ghost has certain specialties - electrical abilities, work with the elements and so on.... There are therefor a myriad of possible ways of dealing with each level. Your ghosts when you first get them are untrained and know only a few abilities and are not very skilled with them. The more you use a ghost the better it gets at using it's abilities efficiently. By completing levels you get a certain amount of gold plasm which you can use to buy new abilities for your ghost collection. There is only a limited amount of gold plasm so without editing your save game to give more decisions have to be made about which ghosts you want to train up. The game was set for at least an expansion - if not a sequel - as seen in the original ending. After any possible continuance was canned Sick Puppies released a final level to tidy up some lose ends. It was a crying shame that so many missed this and the publishers decided that it didn't have enough market penetration to warrant another... If you liked Dungeon Keeper or Evil Genius you will love this.
Where to start? The depth of this game is incredible..... You play someone that has just arrived to a town with little resources and need to build an empire. It's the players preference how exactly they do this. There are professions as wide ranging from gravedigger to international trader to smith to publican to... well you get the idea. Eventually you will have a self sustaining business and once you reach the top of your profession (ability is divided up into 10 levels allowing upgrades of the business as level progresses) you can choose to go into another profession or politics. The political game is one of intrigue and back stabbing - more than once I bribed a senior to give me a position and then called a vote to kick him/her out to get their spot for myself.... Of course whilst all this is happening your character is getting older all the time. Eventually he will inevitably die and if you desire to play on an heir is essential. Right from the outset you can woo a bride of your choice - indeed most players would suggest it is advisable to do so. If you manage to wed someone far above your station in wealth when she/he dies you will inherit that. It may sound slightly callous but rich, old potential spouses are a great way to get some initial wealth and titles under your belt /cough When you do pass on the mantle to the next generation they arrive with all the ranks of profession of the ancestor intact so eventually it is possible to become the highest level master in all professions... it would take several generations however. As mentioned before it is possible to get involved in the political arena of the game. Given the cost and time needed to seriously progress in this direction it is advisable to have a network of business/properties generating plenty of action points and money each turn. It is worth pursuing however as high ranks of office give real benefits such as being able to declare laws, act as a judge or even become immune to charges from your enemies.... Even after all this text I have, to be honest, barely scratched the surface of this game. The only minor issue I have encountered is do not choose a historical campaign if you want to be an international trader. A bug exists that does not show the international cities in a historical campaign.... oh and prepare to lose many hours as you just try to accomplish one more thing...
There was huge controversy over this 'murder simulator' back when it was released and that controversy is still alive today. There are good and bad points to this game - lets take a look at the good first.... There are a total of 11 different difficulty settings with the map changing as the difficulty is increased. Reading the 'diary' in the manual gives most of the storyline and is an insight into a troubled and fragile mind. Even on the easiest setting things can get intense at times - the game does not reward just running out into a middle of a group and firing... that will most likely lead to your own death. As such some thought is need to plan your way through a level to maximise opportunity to attack whilst minimising the liklihood of being hit. Weapons come in a variety from a weak but unlimited ammo automatic rifle to shotguns and molotov cocktails. The shotgun is fairly short range but pretty devastating when it hits and the molotovs explode into fire creating a 'pool' of fire within an area temporarily. This can be used tactically as a method to get away or create a wall enemies cannot get past for a short time. There are cheats already built into the game code if you want to see the most difficult setting but die within moments when trying - but of course cheating removes the tactical nature needed which should be beared in mind. Now the bad.... The keyboard controls are broken - there is no other way of describing it. The ability to turn left does not function properly via keyboard and discussions are on going on the forum - for the extra special edition levels the configuration to increase turning speed works. However mouse control works - rotate the character by moving the mouse left and right and move forward with right mouse button whilst attacking with left mouse button. Having tried both methods I have to say that mouse control - once you are used to it - is very good... especially in tricker situations when you need to move quickly and still keep accuracy on the weapon. This game does not equal Syndicate as an isometric shooter... that has far more depth and hopefully one day ends up on GoG. This game does make an interesting diversion for an hour or two at a time for mindless blasting - so long as you are not the type to get 'upset' by some disturbing dialog or killing sprites of 'innocents'.
