Postal

Postal has taken a while to reach us, having gone through several name changes. Starting off as Postal, it was then renamed Loose Cannon before reverting back to its original title. The title actually relates to the American phenomenon where US Postal workers who've been fired return to work to do a bit of firing of their own - usually in their co-workers' faces. It's more of an urban Smash TV than a Syndicate clone, but not as polished. You simply move your character around the screen, with your finger on the trigger, spraying your environs with a hail of fire until the foes get in range - you hit them, they die or explode. Aiming is easy and you can get away with misjudging because the standard gun has unlimited ammunition.

Loosely borrowing single and multiplayer ideas from Quake, ten weapons are available and you can duck and strafe to avoid enemy attack. It could have been a good game, but it loses marks simply because of the grossly gratuitous violence and uninspiring level design. Ultimately it's just too samey. You shoot anything that moves; unarmed pedestrians run about and get caught in the crossfire; there are lots of big explosions; you finish the level and then go and do it all again. Although Postal delivers on the odd occasion, it doesn't quite push the envelope through the right box.