Postal III

About

Postal III is a single-player, comedy open-world game set in the town of Catharsis, where players control the "Postal Dude" and make choices that determine if they are "good or insane." The gameplay has been criticized for its grindiness and bugs, but it does have a good soundtrack. However, it is missing optimization and is full of technical issues, which significantly impact the overall experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

33%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,130 reviews

humor135 positive mentions

story48 negative mentions

The game has a unique sense of humor that can be entertaining for fans of the series.
Some players appreciate the variety of weapons and the chaotic gameplay.
The graphics and art style are considered decent for its time.

The game is riddled with bugs and crashes frequently, making it frustrating to play.
The gameplay is linear and lacks the open-world exploration that made Postal 2 enjoyable.
The controls are clunky and the aiming mechanics are poorly implemented, leading to a frustrating experience.

story
250 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
66%
19%
The story of Postal III is widely criticized for being disjointed, poorly written, and lacking meaningful direction, often compared unfavorably to its predecessor, Postal II. Many players find the missions repetitive and tedious, with a linear structure that limits exploration and creativity, while the humor falls flat and feels juvenile. Despite some appreciation for the branching paths and unique ideas, the overall consensus is that the narrative is a significant weakness of the game, marred by bugs and frustrating gameplay mechanics.
- “Postal III is my favorite game ever; it has a good story, better voice acting, and some of the best game mechanics ever.”
- “Just give it a chance and try to get engaged with the story, and maybe you'll like it.”
- “The story is lively, and the game runs well for me.”
- “The game's storyline is disjointed and lacks any meaningful direction.”
- “Not to mention the god awful story, it also tries to be as unfun and boring as it humanly possible.”
- “The story itself is very bland and the humor... you can't really call that humor at all, it's just really bad and tries way too hard to be funny, coming across like a 10-year-old wrote the jokes.”
humor
141 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
96%
4%
The humor in "Postal 3" is highly divisive, with many players finding it forced, tasteless, and reliant on shock value rather than genuine wit. While some appreciate the crude and dark humor reminiscent of earlier entries in the series, others criticize it for falling flat and lacking the charm of "Postal 2." Overall, the game's attempts at humor are often seen as a mix of absurdity and cringeworthy moments, leaving players split on its effectiveness.
- “The humor is often spot on, similar to Postal 2 while the game retains some grittiness from Postal 1.”
- “The story is so darn funny, and it really is a time capsule of history viewed through a satirical bong filter.”
- “This game is freaking hilarious!”
- “I would ask for a refund for this unfunny, boring, broken mess.”
- “Unfunny, annoying and boring.”
- “Take everything that made Postal 2 good, now get rid of it and replace it with an extremely buggy, unfunny game.”
gameplay
125 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
57%
34%
The gameplay in Postal 3 has been widely criticized for being tedious, poorly balanced, and riddled with technical issues, including frequent crashes and unresponsive controls. Many players find the mechanics clunky and the overall experience frustrating, with a lack of engaging content compared to its predecessors. While some appreciate the humor and unique elements, the consensus is that the gameplay is a significant step down from earlier entries in the series.
- “Postal III is my favorite game ever; it has a good story, better voice acting, and some of the best game mechanics ever.”
- “The pacifist vs. postal ideas mechanic is expanded way more in this game with multiple paths and stories to take.”
- “The open world gameplay and funny easter egg-type gameplay was a lot of fun.”
- “As for the gameplay - it's tedious and completely broken in balance; enemies are either too many in numbers or bullet sponges.”
- “The gameplay is completely broken.”
- “The story is bad, gameplay sucks, and the rest of the game is no better or mediocre.”
stability
99 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of frequent bugs, glitches, and crashes that render it nearly unplayable. Players experience issues such as freezing during loading, game-breaking glitches that prevent mission progression, and inconsistent frame rates, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience. Overall, the game is described as a "buggy mess," with many reviewers advising against purchasing it due to its unstable performance.
- “The game often freezes, crashes, or becomes unplayable, requiring the player to restart from the last checkpoint.”
- “This game is a buggy piece of crap.”
- “It's a broken, buggy, and tedious mess that nobody should bother trying, even for a joke; it's just not worth wasting time on.”
graphics
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
63%
20%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players describing them as mediocre or outdated, often citing poor textures and low-quality character models. While some appreciate the art style and note improvements over previous entries, others criticize the game's optimization issues and frequent graphical glitches. Overall, the visuals are seen as a significant step down from expectations, especially for a title released in the modern era.
- “The graphics remind me of GTA 4; it's self-aware and runs on basically every system!”
- “The graphics are a big improvement from Postal 2.”
- “The graphics are pretty decent and an improvement from Postal 2.”
- “The graphics are mediocre at best, with poor textures and low-quality character models that make the game feel outdated and unpolished.”
- “The graphics engine is poor and very poorly optimized.”
- “Enjoy the worst voice acting I have ever heard and somehow, the graphics look worse than Postal II.”
music
57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
40%
16%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising the soundtrack as one of its standout features, often described as "awesome" and "incredible." However, players also report significant issues with sound mixing, including inconsistent volume levels that can make music overwhelmingly loud while dialogue is barely audible. Overall, while the soundtrack is a highlight for some, technical flaws detract from the overall audio experience.
- “But if I had to pick a good reason to buy this game, it is that the soundtrack for this game is totally awesome.”
- “And one last thing, this game's soundtrack is incredible, honestly one of the best game OSTs I've ever heard. Even if you don't play this game, please listen to the soundtrack because it's part of the reason I think this game actually isn't that terrible.”
- “The music is also fantastic, especially the theme from the very first bridge level.”
- “Music and sound levels are inconsistent, leading to situations such as music that’s ridiculously loud while NPC chatter can barely be heard, despite having the same volume for sounds and music in the game’s options.”
- “The music is lacking, I don't think it fits the game at all.”
- “The music is some of the most generic ever heard.”
optimization
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
30%
57%
The optimization of the game has been widely criticized, with many users reporting severe performance issues, including frequent frame rate drops, stuttering, and bugs that disrupt gameplay. While some players experienced stable performance on their systems, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized, particularly for a title using the Source engine, leading to a frustrating experience marred by glitches and control issues.
- “It is absolutely playable, with good performance and no crashes (anymore).”
- “I had no lag whatsoever and performance was fine.”
- “All these performance issues do not take away from the game being fun and enjoyable.”
- “The graphics engine is Source, but it's bad and very poorly optimized.”
- “This whole game is a big, badly optimized crap!”
- “What's worse than all those things is that Postal 3 was really poorly optimized.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
80%
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and frustrating, with many players finding the gameplay unbalanced and filled with bullet sponge enemies. Reviewers express that the experience often feels like a chore, detracting from enjoyment and leading to a sense of wasted time. Overall, the grinding mechanics contribute to a negative perception of the game, making it difficult for players to engage with it meaningfully.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “It can be a bit grindy sometimes.”
- “These issues make it difficult to enjoy the game and often result in a frustrating and tedious experience.”
- “As for the gameplay - it's tedious and completely broken in balance; enemies are either too numerous or bullet sponges.”
- “It didn't, and Akella and Trashmasters are now dead as a result. Postal III clearly explains why; it's a broken, buggy, and tedious mess that nobody should bother trying, even for a joke. It's just not worth wasting time on.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game offers significant replayability due to its branching paths, choices that affect outcomes, and multiple endings, encouraging players to explore different scenarios and experiences. Users appreciate the fun and chaotic nature of the gameplay, which enhances the desire to replay.
- “It's fun, brutal, mayhem, and I love every second of it. Not to mention the branching paths and choices offer massive replay value.”
- “It is replayable, thanks to the good/bad meter.”
- “It's fun, brutal, mayhem, and I love every second of it, not to mention the branching paths and choices offer massive replay value.”
- “It even is replayable, thanks to the good/bad meter.”
- “There's also three endings in the game, so you have lots of replay value.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The emotional aspect of the game resonates deeply with players, evoking strong feelings such as nostalgia and connection, particularly highlighted by impactful moments that lead to tears. However, some users feel that the overall story lacks engagement, which can detract from the emotional experience.
- “I cried when the character said, 'It's Postal 3 time,' and started doing everything Postal 3-related. I'm shaking and crying right now; just buy the best game in human history!!!!”
- “This is an important factor, and it's not something that was as prominent in past games. It's an interesting feature to experience. At the end of the day, it made me feel like I was right back with the character, about to go along with my day and try to figure things out.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game has been criticized for being lackluster and failing to capture the subtle creepiness of previous titles, with some reviewers noting that the dated comedy detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, technical issues such as clunky controls and frequent crashes further diminish the immersive quality of the game. Overall, many feel that the shift to third-person perspective has negatively impacted the atmosphere, leading to disappointment among fans.
- “The comedy is a bit dated and hasn't aged as well as Postal 2's, and it lacks the subtle creepy atmosphere from the previous titles (something I was a big fan of).”
- “Atmosphere—lackluster.”
- “This game is as worthless as it is slow; it crashes every ten minutes, the controls are insanely clunky and broken, and the glitches are game-breaking. The cutscenes take hours and appear every five seconds. It is now in third person, which completely ruins the atmosphere.”