‘These Sunny Daze DLC’ is a colourful expansion to ‘POSTAL: Brain Damaged’, offering fans a fresh setting, new weapons, and additional enemies while keeping the high-octane, arena-style combat intact. The DLC doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it leverages the sunny vacation theme to inject new challenges, visual variety, and humour that’s as crude and chaotic as ever.

To set the scene, a possible slight spoiler warning here, the POSTAL Dude is finally at peace, enjoying a well-deserved holiday, only for it to get cut short via a Presidential nationwide announcement of a ‘ginger purge’, marking redheads up for extinction!

Having his famed arsenal stolen by the Vice President, the Dude must now scratch, claw, punch, blast and use whatever he can to carve his way through this new nightmarish manhunt!

The DLC emphasises speed, mobility, and constant engagement. Levels are larger and more vertical, combining open courtyards with tight interiors. This mix keeps combat dynamic, forcing players to adjust between long-range shooting and up-close brawling. Enemy placement is smart, often surrounding you or forcing quick reactions rather than relying solely on numbers to create tension.

New enemy types will have you thinking outside the box for some unique encounter approach: some disrupt movement with suppression fire or environmental hazards, while others punish predictable strafing patterns. These additions keep the familiar combat loop feeling fresh without overcomplicating it.

Weapons are either slightly upgraded or nostalgic returns of old favourites, though choosing between an old friend and a shiny new toy is never easy, but when there’s a manhunt happening, you don’t have time to stop and think. Splash-based/Area of effect weapons can twat, handle, and ultimately destroy crowds of enemies efficiently.

At the same time, precision/scoped firearms remain crucial for tougher foes (though secretly our favourite gun was the Gumball machine gun. Yes, you read that right). Switching between weapons mid-combat is somewhat mandatory, emphasising strategy over brute force. Boss encounters remain over-the-top spectacles: flashy, chaotic, and rewarding, though not mechanically complex.

Although supporting both controller and Keyboard and Mouse setups, we found that the keyboard and mouse duo provide the easiest playstyle, allowing for quick, accurate aiming and responsive movement, which are essential for the DLC’s fast-paced arenas. Running and gunning, alongside bunny hopping and strafing, are stronger on this setup too, provided you unleash the right amount of chaos first.

As mentioned, controller support has noticeably improved since the base game, featuring tighter aim assist and improved deadzone handling. While it’s serviceable for casual play, high-density combat situations still favour mouse precision.

The DLC embraces a garish, vacation-themed aesthetic. Keeping its familiar art style, Sunny Days DLC introduces neon/retro-style palm trees, complemented by cheap carnival props, topped off with exaggerated resorts drenched in sunshine. As per Postal’s style, though artistically-heavy and somewhat visually busy, in-game arenas are structured in a way that keeps enemies and hazards readable. The visuals are intentionally over-the-top, without taking you out of the experience.

It seems to be a common day trend with most comical shooters to have pop/mismatching soundtracks to intense gameplay action, ala Saints Row, but Postal is a breed of its own, having their soundtrack blend classic heavy metal with upbeat, surf-rock inspiration (who doesn’t love the idea of a Heavy Metal Beach Boys band?!) creating an audible fun, tongue-in-cheek contrast with the violent action. Weapons are clear, crisp and sound like they hurt!

The Postal Dude’s iconic voice and, well, questionable audible approach and responses to dark situations return, nodding the hat to similar quick-witted protagonists like Deadpool or Duke Nukem. While trending the fine line between offensive and crass, they add to the story rather than detracting from immersion. Ambient sounds, explosions, and environmental effects all mix cleanly, maintaining clarity even during high-intensity moments.

These Sunny Daze deliver exactly what fans of Brain Damaged want: more chaotic combat, absurd humour, and inventive level design. The vacation theme adds a fresh visual layer while maintaining the game’s frenetic pacing and over-the-top tone. It’s not designed to win over sceptics, but for returning players, it’s a bright, violent, and hilarious extension of the base game.

Written by: James Fraser-Smith