Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 343 sampled Steam reviews (335 positive / 8 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
Positive reviews don't converge on specific aspects.
What negative reviews complain about
Negative reviews don't converge on specific aspects.
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
96%
107 reviews
5-15h
98%
130 reviews
15-40h
99%
77 reviews
40-100h
95%
22 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 50 | 6 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 97% | 92 | 1138 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 85 | 27 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 97% | 92 | 441 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 1259 total reviews in window · weighted 193.3 up / 3.8 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (27)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 30
“The basic toilet humour running through the piece can't hide the short-lived gameplay, and leads to an extremely unfulfilling and tiresome experience that any sane person would be hard-pressed to push on with.”
read full review ↗ - 48
“Strings together a bunch of violent novelties without ever constructing a compelling game for them to support.”
read full review ↗ - 68
“There are parts of it that are fun and parts that are boring, and truthfully until they come out with a multiplayer it does not have a lot of replay value, once the initial shock of the vulgarity wears off.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“With a little elbow grease and perhaps a dash of maturity, Postal 2 could've been a harrowing psychological tale of one man's collapsing psyche. Sort of like the movie "Falling Down" realized in an interactive 3D environment.”
read full review ↗ - 79
“A nonstop tour de force of insulting insanity. And even though I should be disgusted by the potty humor and derogatory caricatures, I had a blast playing through it. [June 2003, p.74]”
- 71
“The most hyper-violent game I’ve seen since "Soldier of Fortune." Intentionally ironic and satirical, Postal 2 picks up where its predecessor left off – as a game that, while highly controversial, is shitloads of fun.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“Flawed from the start, being crude for the sake of being crude makes it lame, but playing it makes it a pain.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Postal's concept isn't the only thing that's crude: Load times seem like eternities, and the poorly programmed townsfolk just don't fight fair. Shocking. Unforgivable. Infuriating, even.”
read full review ↗ - 71
“If you have a twisted sense of humor, if you hate cats and enjoy South Park, Beavis and Butthead, Jackass or any of those other guilty pleasures then you will certainly find plenty to smile about while exploring Paradise.”
read full review ↗ - 82
“I can take points away from the game for many things, but none of these things really detract from the fun that you can have with this game. The game is about one thing, and one thing only - fun. And it delivers.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Though it’s sure to have Senate subcommittees soiling their Depends and declaring the end of Western civilization, jaded gamers will no doubt dig the surprisingly amusing vocal and visual gags that spice up what would otherwise be a moderately paced, story-driven shoot-em-up.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“If the controversial content isn't enough to turn off players, the game's annoying technical problems will. The length and frequency of load times between levels is the biggest problem.”
read full review ↗
Eurogamer
GameSpot
PC Gamer
ActionTrip
IGN
Game Chronicles…and 15 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- POSTAL - FIRST EVER COMIC BOOK!Aug 12, 2026
- POSTAL 2 - 20th Anniversary Update! [5100]Apr 19, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2 / Paradise Lost - Update 5025Dec 3, 2020
- POSTAL 2 / Paradise Lost - Update 5024May 8, 2020
- New 5023 Update, for POSTAL 2 and Paradise LostJul 18, 2018
- The Big Multi-Language & Subtitle update!Jul 21, 2017significant · resets scoring window
- The Big Multi-Language & Subtitle update!Jul 21, 2017significant · resets scoring window
- Recruiting Wannabe Devs for POSTAL UpdateJan 14, 2017
- Recruiting Wannabe Devs for POSTAL UpdateJan 14, 2017
- Halloween update - Fixes and more!Oct 28, 2016significant · resets scoring window
- Halloween update - Fixes and more!Oct 28, 2016significant · resets scoring window
- Update for POSTAL 2: 5020 Hotfix 1Oct 15, 2015
- Update for POSTAL 2: 5020 Hotfix 1Oct 15, 2015
- POSTAL 2: Paradise Lost released for Mac! Also more POSTAL 2 updates!Oct 9, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2: Paradise Lost released for Mac! Also more POSTAL 2 updates!Oct 9, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2: Paradise Lost released for Mac! Also more POSTAL 2 updates!Oct 8, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Paradise Lost released for Linux! 5010 update for P2&PL!Sep 14, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Paradise Lost released for Linux! 5010 update for P2&PL!Sep 14, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2 5000 Windows 10 Fix ReleasedJul 31, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2 5000 Windows 10 Fix ReleasedJul 31, 2015
- Feeling Good About the Linux Steamworks Update SaleJul 13, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2, Paradise Lost, and POSTed - 4446 Patch(Windows only)Jun 11, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2, Paradise Lost, and POSTed - 4446 Patch(Windows only)Jun 11, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2 & Paradise Lost 4445 patch out now!May 21, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2 & Paradise Lost 4445 patch out now!May 21, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2 & Paradise Lost (4444 Hotfix 2 - DLC owners only)May 2, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- POSTAL 2 Halloween Update (1416)Oct 30, 2014
- POSTAL 2 Halloween Update (1416)Oct 30, 2014
- Update for POSTAL 2 MultiplayerAug 4, 2014