Back in the early days of his videogame career, founder of Running with Scissors Vince Desi was in the business of producing family-friendly titles from licenses such as Hanna Barbera, Disney and Sesame Street. Seeing his time on more family-centric titles as “liberating”, in the late 90’s his content all changed with the arrival of Postal, the isometric shooter that ultimately gained the attention of the FBI and was lambasted by the American media for its depiction of violence. Once this backlash was behind them Running with Scissors went even further for its sequel and created a game in which, to name a few controversial elements, allowed the player to urinate on people, use a live cat as a silencer, decapitate, stab and burn civilians and roam the streets armed to the teeth with firepower and unleash it upon the unsuspecting public. Then again, that was all optional…
To many gamers and non-gamers who have never played it, Postal 2 is often seen as a tactless excuse to cause mayhem, but Postal 2, Running with Scissors and Desi himself need to be given more credit. Postal 2 is pure satire, a hilarious and over-the-top playground for the player to toy around with as to how they see fit. When it came to the changeup in comedic tone compared to the original Postal’s dark atmosphere Desi says, “Going with a First-Person Shooter gave us much more freedom to allow the character/player really experience a wider range of activities, and the insanity just naturally followed. During development, it just took off into a new wildly comical direction. For example, one day we went from liquid physics to pour gasoline to letting the player piss anywhere. Things like the Cat Silencer also came from a Running with Scissors member who loves cats. The one thing that has always been a part of how we design and develop is to keep in mind that it’s a game, and games are supposed to be fun to play. For me, one of the things I’m most proud of about Postal is that it’s fun and FUNNY to play. I’m always amazed at watching people play Postal and seeing their own reactions”.
Postal 2 places you in the shoes of the Postal Dude, a crass guy with a lame goatee in a long leather jacket who lives in a trailer park. The player is given many goals throughout the game, but most of them are rather mundane, including such thrilling missions as buying milk at the local convenience store and return a book to the Library. Postal 2’s missions are mundane by design, with all killing, maiming, and fun within the game being dictated by the players own actions. In speaking about this approach to gameplay Desi says, “It’s simple, we just wanted to give the player a chance to have fun doing nothing ha! I’m serious, in its own way Postal 2 is like Seinfeld; it’s about doing everyday normal things and simply experiencing everything that could go wrong, just like in real life. Hallways and zombies get boring real fast, so for us, it was important to give the player CHOICE, which includes just exploring levels, playing as you choose, be it violently or passive”. In fact, the level of choice and violence in Postal 2 even extends to the interacting with the Running with Scissors team themselves. During a mission in which the Postal Dude needs to get signatures for a petition against violence in gaming, the player can visit the Running with Scissors office itself, complete with the entire dev team for your much-needed urinating/shooting practice. Desi remarks, “I got tons of emails from fans saying they loved pissing on me! Thank God for video games!”.
Although Desi and Running with Scissors are happy to lampoon every facet of society, there is one area in which even Desi himself wants to steer clear from. “We have one line we don’t cross, and that’s kids”, Desi says. “We were falsely accused in the original of shooting kids by an idiot reporter from the Wall Street Jerkoff News. He never played the game and heard there were kids so he wrote this horrible bullshit story. Fact is we tried to send a message in the original by not allowing your weapons to work against kids and you got arrested, but no one reported it that way.”
One addition to Postal 2 that stands out is the inclusion of Diff’rent Strokes actor Gary Coleman. Coleman plays himself in Postal 2, and upon meeting him at a book signing, it’s not long until Coleman is engaged in a hilarious shootout with the Police, with the Postal Dude being caught in the crossfire. Coleman relished the idea of being in a video game, and viewed the violence within Postal 2 in a very level-headed manner. Desi remembers Coleman very fondly and remarks, “Gary is the #1 child star in TV history. We had this crazy idea how it would be so cool to have him in the game, so I called him. He was great, polite and funny. Next thing I was at the airport picking him up and its been an honor ever since. He loved the concept and just wanted a big gun ha! We’d go out with girls and shooting real guns, the guy was a true pisser, and very intelligent. Gary and I became good friends and it was very sad when he passed. He was a great human being.”
Looking back at Postal 2 and the history of Running with Scissors thus far the company, and namely Desi himself, are clearly in the business of doing what they want, pushing the boundaries of taste in the pursuit of humour and slaying every sacred cow they can get in the crosshairs of their Cat Silencer. Though some gamers may not hold Running with Scissors in high esteem, I see them as almost like the Lenny Bruce of the gaming world; Shocking, controversial and keenly interested in poking and prodding at what makes us tick, but wholly and undoubtedly necessary. In a world where modern game developers are perhaps too afraid to take risks and be controversial, Desi perfectly sums up his take on Postal 2. He says, “I think everyone has a bit of an anarchist element in their personality, and in creative mediums like games, or music, film or writing, an opportunity presents itself to let this characteristic out. After all the fake news bullshit we endured, I learned a lot of politics and corporate hypocrisy. Postal 2 became the perfect vehicle to express all our frustrations. Best thing is I’ve received endless “thank you” messages from fans all over the world who felt great feelings of relief from playing Postal 2”.
After Postal 2 came Postal 3, a failed title that even some hardcore Running with Scissors fans didn’t enjoy. Desi speaks about this misstep in saying, “Sadly, Postal 3 was a missed opportunity in so many ways. Everyone suffered the loss, the publisher and us, and worst of all the fans. I have no regrets that we planned to make a great game together, and I sure as hell have no regrets that we had to walk away and disown the ‘finished’ product. Premature publishing always results in a wasted load.”
However, with that in mind, perhaps the gaming world needs the Molotov cocktail of a new Postal title to push the boundaries a little, something that replicates what Postal 2 brought to the table. Desi keeps his cards close to his chest for now but says, “Get ready, it’s coming, we’re working on it now, fully devoted to taking it to the next level!”. I think I speak for a sizeable chunk of gamers out there when I say now, more than ever, we need this.
