Postal 3 First Impression Interview

Here at Xboxcore.com we want to bring gamers cutting edge information on the lastest news and happenings in the gaming community. In an interview with Vince Desi and creative director Steve Wik, we get the latest info about Postal 3 for the Xbox and Xbox 360.

XBC: What will be the outlining story for this Postal?

Vince Desi: The Postal Dude is like Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western--he rides into town minding his own business, but people just can't leave him alone.

Steve Wik: Having destroyed Paradise, Arizona in a nuclear fireball, The Dude emigrates to her sister town of Catharsis. Hilarity ensues. Again.

XBC: Can we expect a cast of new characters? If so, what are some of them like?

VD: Fortunately in America we let all kinds of crap in, so we'll never run out of characters for the Dude to do justice on.

SW: Yes, there will be a whole cast of twisted new characters to ruin The Dude's day. But I don't want to spoil the fun by telling you about any of them. Did I mention I'm a complete bastard?

XBC: Any changes in game engines? Or will a new game engine be used altogether?

VD: Engines get stale. Just like the Dude needs a new hometown, we need a new engine.

SW: Yes we will definitely be using a different engine this time. I wish Epic well on their new endeavor to sell their engine as pre-viz software for Hollywood, but I'll be over here making games, thanks.

XBC: What are some of the basic gameplay features that have changed since the first two Postals?

VD: It's all about the Gameplay. I like movies as much as anyone, but I'd rather watch 'em on a big screen. I can tell you from all the fan mail I get that the gamers who liked POSTAL 2 really loved it, and so we will make POSTAL 3 bigger, badder and ballsier.

SW: For the most part we're adopting a paradigm of improving and expanding the basic gameplay. POSTAL 2 had many unique features and we want to build on them. The biggest mistake we made with POSTAL 2 was having too much gameplay reliant upon the player deciding to experiment with things and
finding it on their own. The people that did it loved it, the people who didn't kind of missed out on much of the fun. So this time we're going to make sure and rub everyone's nose in the gameplay so they can't miss it! Especially reviewers!

XBC: How much interactivity can we expect from the environment and its
surroundings?

VD: The key to having interactive elements in a game is to make sure they are accessible and, of course, enough fun that you want to play again and again. POSTAL 2 was filled with stuff that most players still haven't experienced.

SW: As much interactivity as possible, though we tend to stick with things that have meaningful gameplay attached to them rather than gratuitous displays of stupidity like being able to bump into a toilet and hear a flushing noise. Expect actual fun to occur.

XBC: Will this be more tame, or more extreme compared to previous Postals? Especially considering the recent issue of violence in video games.

VD: From the very beginning, starting with the original POSTAL in 1997, we emphasized the fun and the dark humor. Sure, setting a marching band on fire sounds insane, but it was a riot to do it in a game! I'm still laughing. We will do our best to make POSTAL 3 FUN FUN FUN. I can tell you we are not concentrating on being the most violent game or anything like that, its a waste of time. Honestly, our games are for mature audiences because they require maturity in order for the player to understand what the games are really about, not because it's okay to watch violence if you're over 17 but not if you're younger. I truly believe that, given the chance, POSTAL 3 on the Xbox 360 will be a phenomenon. The audience is more mature today and it requires a certain amount of intelligence to play and enjoy POSTAL. Once everyone, from MS to reviewers to gamers and parents (who love to play POSTAL now) see what RWS and POSTAL is really all about, I predict a new wave in gaming styles.

SW: Unfortunately "violence" has never been the real issue with POSTAL. POSTAL has never been the most graphically violent game out there; the "problem" with POSTAL is that it is too politically correct. What I mean by that is if you play POSTAL 2, what you'll notice is that none of the missions involve killing anyone. They're all simple errands like buying milk and cashing your paycheck. And if you look really closely, you'll see that it's always possible to complete an errand without killing anyone. You might have to piss in someone's face and make a getaway while they vomit, but you never HAVE to kill them. We created a reactive environment where the player has some tasks to complete. How the tasks are completed is entirely up to the player. Just like in the real world, weapons exist, but how they are used is left up to the judgement of the individual wielding it. The game does not reward the player for being violent, unless you consider being set upon by police, SWAT teams, military personnal, randomly-armed vigilante bystanders and attack dogs is a "reward".

So the unfortunate situation for us is that what offends people is the concept of a game where you have free will and can choose, if you have that particular bent, to attack innocent bystanders. Apparently in the eyes of some, a game about free will is far more evil than a game about murdering your way up the crime food chain, yo.

So, to finally answer your question, we will strive to give the player more than they bargained for, but since this is a console, there's a whole approval process that we don't have to deal with on PC and time will tell what exactly that means.

XBC: What sort of new weapons can we expect?

VD: We've always taken great pain to make weapons out of things that aren't exactly what you'd expect, and I can tell you we will absolutely experiment
even further.

SW: The really fun sort that you will be on your knees crying and thanking us for.

XBC: Are there any plans for multiplayer support?

VD: The Postal Dude is pretty conservative but I dont think he wants to play like a monogomous goodfella.

SW: I'd love to see some quality Co-op gameplay happen in Catharsis. So would you.

XBC: Considering that this is a next-gen title, are there any plans to port
this to the PS3?

VD: I think its time we reward MS and the Xbox community. The bottom line is that MS actually supports PC gaming -- that's not what Sony does.

SW: I think Sony's charter has a clause that says something to the effect of: "and there shall never be, under any circumstances whatsoever, any Running With Scissors games, EVER on our systems." Of course, I could be misquoting that, cause I'm a little stoned right now.

XBC: Thanks for answering our questions. Do you guys have any closing comments or something you would like to add?

SW: Love us or hate us, you should support us because there is no one else out there sticking their necks out the way we do. When Jack Thompson and his ilk level assinine accusations against our industry, who stands up to them? Mark Reign? John Carmack? Cliffy? That guy whose name I can't remember that does all those civil war simulators? Those guys have gold-plated Italian rocket cars to think about. You saw how quickly everyone bent over and immediately spread cheek when the "Hot Coffee" scandal broke out. Frankly, the output of our industry is bland enough as it is. If Running With Scissors didn't exist, we would have to create it, because frankly, freedom doesn't mean anything unless you've got some idiot in the back of the room making an ass out of himself.

If you have any doubts, go to our website gopostal.com and check out the back issues of our newsletter.

VD: As always, I just want to say THANKS!

For more Postal related information you can visit http://www.gopostal.com to get the lastest on news and info. Be sure to also stay tuned in with Xboxcore.com for more updates, release news, and interviews for new and upcoming games.

Article By: VGcore Staff