POSTAL: Brain Damaged

it is like doom, quake and postal 2 had a threesome and the whole time your trying to figure out who is really the father in this game. if you like all three i would recommend, if you hate doom or quake how is your brain not damaged? Play the game, its perfect.

very satisfying boomer shooter. postal dudes one liners are either funny or completely cringe. I personally love his cover of Purple Rain by prince (Blood red rain, blood red rain) let this be your grain of salt before you purchase this.

I find this overrated and I want to throw that "wanted to like it" into the trash canister right away just to point out that the Emperor wears no clothes. Postal BD is very typical bullet hell game which tries to be those modern DOOM games, but just with underwhelming graphics and kinda disappointing execution all together. Although the game starts promisingly - you start at the american dream neighborhood with nice dreamy twists and lively Sims inspired theme is ringing at background- yet again you go postal and there is random hillybillys trying to waste you and rest are panicking and hiding from you. Your task is simple and kill as many as you can. Is it alluring or perhaps stimulating? Kinda, but after the first stage the game begins to lean too much on retro and boomer shooting area designs for few maps and hours that almost made me uninstall the game. If you like boomer shooters be my guest but if you think that it is great idea to give you just few different weapons and throw dozens of enemy waves in area where each room feels repetitive and extremely cramped you have understood the term "fun" in a really wrong way at least on my account. Luckily the areas get bigger after a while and the action began to remind me more of Serious Sam games - especially when you pick up more weaponry. The game's story overall doesn't impress too much either. Throughout the whole game you chase your "evil" twin or something and it doesn't develop anywhere except you keep chasing him deeper and deeper in to your crazy mind, yet again through level - and enemy designs the path feels just random - from different games and genres. There was something special and original in Comic Con festival map however, delivering that essence the series are known about. Being an antichrist who arrives to punish those whose actions annoy the mainstream. Postal and its Dude still seem to enjoy wide, but controversial reputation which stems from then infamous Postal 2, but yet again Brain Damaged's themes are usually more undefined and unconnected. This leads to very harsh fact, that maybe I am out of the customer base. I never thought highly about the series and this retro bullet hell shoot them up mixture is not my thing moreover when it's clear that this game is not gonna be noticed of its story and deep character progressing either - so the reasons to like this game go very thin. Time to time I enjoyed the action but the rest of it I felt that I was more grinding than actually living it. In short: Did I like to game at all? A bit and sometimes, but clearly not enough to provide positive rating. Completed it only because it is my stern but rather idiotic principle. That's it - goodbye.

If you like/don't mind -stale memes -outdated pop culture references -cool level design -weird weapons -repeating voice lines -vulgar/crude humor -postal -[strike] stolen [/strike]recycled mechanics from other games -a decent FPS then buy this game. It's good.

POSTAL Brain Damaged is what happens when you throw ULTRAKILL and DOOM Eternal into a blender. It's really fun! It has a really good arsenal of weapons, amazing wacky characters to kill, interesting level conceptions, and a kickass soundtrack. It feels like a major parody of Postal 1. As much as I enjoyed it however, there are issues. The level design can be really inconsistent sometimes and the game can be a bit slow during the downtime from fights and the first half is a lot harder than the second, even on medium difficulty. They always give you powerups to deal with the fights, so when I replay this, I will have to update my review and see what the harder difficulties are like. 8/10

Absolutely superb game. The story is crazy and fun, the enemies are well. The maps are pretty solid although I'm missing the open world Postal but it is fine. If you want a few hours (7-11) fun this game absolutely provides it for you

the brilliance of postal meets the unending fun of boomer shooters and i'm here for it

Probably one of the best postal games and it's not even made by running with scissors, not much of an insult considering that most people play postal (mainly 2) to lmao all over the place.

Humor's a bit much for me but the game is pretty fun.

This is honestly WAY better than Doom Eternal. The map designs are awesome, the enemies are fun, the simple puzzles don't break the gameplay, besides a few bugs, there's nothing to complain here. Just like Cultic, a masterclass on how to do a Boomer shooter.

It's a fun boomer shooter game, with Postal type humor. I would highly recommend this to anyone who like Boomer shooter games like Duke Nukem 3D/Doom/Quake. One thing that kinda bothers me is that Window Grahical Glitch that appears when playing the game on the Steam Deck. Since the next DLC will be coming, I do hope that this Bug would be fix soon. Since I prefer to play on steam deck on a dock.

Extremely fun game. Picked it up during the Steam Summer Sale and gotta say... This is now Postal 3. Everything is on point. The humor, the gunplay, the soundtrack, the enemy design, the levels.. Just nailed it. Play this!

Postal: Brain Damaged is a boomer-shooter set in the universe of the Postal series, taking place in the Dude's dream. The game trades the traditional, task-based system most games in the series are known for, for a more combat-based, high octane play style, more similiar to games like Doom. The game also differs from the rest of the series in presentation, utilizing more abstract, low-poly graphics and beautifully animated 2D cutscenes. The game takes heavy inspiration from the cult classic Postal 2, borrowing things such as the iconic user interface, but also including twisted versions of the many enemies and factions the Dude meets in that game, including characters such as members of the marching band or the gimps. However, the game doesn't shy away from influences from the infamously controversial first installment of the series, Postal. Many characters ressemble the demons from the loading screens. Another clever reference to the first game is, well, [spoiler] the presence of the demon from Postal 1 himself, with Rick Hunter being his voice actor [/spoiler], which is a cool nod to those who played the first game. The gun play feels great and fluid, with every weapon being useful to at least some degree, with no early weapons suffering a power creep later on in the game (maybe aside for the shovel). The parkour elements and the occasional puzzles never overstay their welcome and do not influence the game negatively. What has to be mentioned, is that the game is expertly balanced. I played on normal difficulty, and I never felt underpowered or overpowered. Even in the last levels, the enemies still pose a threat and have to be respected. You can't jump in the crowd with a bunch of health pipes and expect to survive, making tactial thinking a must in the game. The boss fights are challenging, and beating them always takes a few tries, but I never felt frustrated, or like the game was not treating me fair. Not everyone is as positive as me when it comes to the comedy and jokes in the game, but I'm very fond of them. The iconic one-liners the Dude is known for make a return, with a bunch of them being completely new. What is definitely a negative however, is the overdependency on modern memes, which makes the game age extremely fast, and some jokes feel more cringe than funny. The majority of them are very funny despite the odds, and I like how they adapted the game into a more modern setting, making dude face furries and cosplayers during a Comic-Con in one of the missions. The game is also filled with a great amount of references to other media, like Star Wars, Evangelion, Gundam, Lord of the Rings and Alien among others, which are a treat. The music definitely deserves praise as well. The tracks feel energetic when they want to, and more atmospheric whenever the game feels like it should. My favourite tracks are definitely the great ambient track from the "Finding a Cure" mission, as well as the anime opening from the final chapter. The game has little to no story, but a I feel like a game like this does not need one. Postal has always been about the gameplay and comedy, and this game is no different. Though what's there in the story department is solid. I especially like the feature of Dude losing his entire equipment at the beginning of a new act, of which there are three. It really forces you to adapt and use weapons you wouldn't even consider in a given scenario, making the game feel unique and fresh. I really love this game. It's a fun spin-off, and I will definitely play the DLC when it comes out. The only thing I wanna add is that I hope the devs fix the geometry of some areas, where nowadays you can easily fall victim to an unexpected softlock, as well as the sometimes inconsitant auto-checkpoints, which are way more common in some levels than in others. Play POSTAL Brain Damaged! It's definitely a treat for every Postal fan!

This is easily my favorite of the Postal series, all the madcap insanity with a game that actually feels like it went through QA properly.

I really love the theme of this game, and it's something that I wouldn't even call my usual style of gameplay. Very satisfying and somewhat cozy to play! Wish the game had even more content in some way - that being said, you can expect a DLC to drop for this game quite soon B)

Extremely well done boomer shooter. Great weapons, creative enemy designs, amazing movement and overall really good level design. Highly recommend this one. Hope Hyperstrange keeps doing more games like this down the road.

mmmm slide jump and chain shotgun make brain happy, the jokes are awful and poop enemies always make me sigh in any game but the gameplay is just so fucking good

Where this game falls in an incomplete "Boomer Shooter" hierachy Dusk Ion Fury Cultic Postal Brain Damaged HROT Warhammer 40k Boltgun Bears in Space Amid Evil Ill Will Zortch Selaco Dread Templar etc., Brain Damaged is one of the better Boomer Shooters, in a genre that's loaded with good titles. Exceptionally good level design, fun weapons, impactful sounds, interesting enemies, decent soundtrack, unique art/graphics, and most importantly; excellent gameplay.

Actually fun and challenging at times. The level design is awesome and the weapons are all unique that changes the way anyone can play the game. The enemies are also silly with some of them being actually useful to you (such as the flying fat guys being a useful tool with the shotgun grapple gun).

I love Postal 1/2 and boomer shooters, but this game ain't it. It's not terrible, just mediocre. Basic level designs, clunky gunplay and movement, cringe and forced humor. Had good ideas, just poorly executed.

I so wanna give this game a good review because I played the demo and it was heeps of fun but the full game has a none stop crashing problem every time i play, runs fine for a while (like 10-15 mins if i'm lucky) at a soled 90-120 fps but then it'll just crash on me. same issue whether i run it off my SSD or HDD.

It's no longer a sim shooter but a nu-doom clone. It's still pretty fun to play and has plenty of laughs.

A POSTAL game through and through. It understands the formula perfectly while keeping things fresh. You can still pee, you have the classic HUD, the level design and the crazy weapons that you can expect from a Postal game. Hugely recommended.

peak game it lacks some performance but still good and reminds me of doom eternal

As much as I adore Postal 2, I think this game takes the cake for being the best in the franchise (at least for me personally), I wasn't expecting for it to be as well made as it is, and the music is top notch (so much so, that I fully plan on buying the vinyl as soon as I am able to). Everything is super fluid, from the movement to the animation to how the game runs, even the animated cut scenes themselves. The gameplay is super fun, I was already a big fan of boomer shooter games, so that coupled with Postals humor and themes and art style is just a match made in heaven. The weapons are great and are super fun to use, I especially am fond of the nailgun and the shotgun. The level designs are great too, love that they added secrets for you to find to make it worth scouring every inch of the maps since I do that with any game anyways. Every single enemy design is amazing too, really was not expecting the goliath when I first saw it and it scared the hell out of me when the thing lunged towards me. I'm only two hours in as of writing this, and so far the only two things I can even find to complain about is 1. Sometimes the music doesn't cut in when it is supposed to (I was midway through a big fight and only then did it finally amp up the music but by then the fight was practically over, and it's done this a few times or just has straight up stopped mid fight). And 2. I somehow managed to fall outside of the map on level 2 when I killed one of the prisoners and its body model pushed me through the wall somehow, I have no clue. Also a bit of a nitpick, as much as I love Postal humor, I feel like this one could have some hit or miss moments, kinda made me wince and cringe, maybe that was intended, probably, just sorta feels like they tried their utmost to be funny at all times which in turn made some of the jokes eye-roll inducing. Actually sorry now that I think about it, I wish they'd throw more enemies at you. Originally I was playing on the standard difficulty but I felt like I was just mowing through everything so I bumped it up to hard, and the enemies do hit much harder but I feel that they die just way too quickly and you can clear the big fights fairly quickly with just the machine gun. Someone else had mentioned that the game gives too much ammunition to you and I have to agree, you have your full arsenal with you at all times basically which allows you to just demolish everything in sight. Other than that, great game, better than I expected, I will likely come back to this game after beating it so that I can get all of the achievements and 100% it. I regret nothing.

Finished the game on the Postal difficulty (the highest). Firstly, I would like to express my appreciation and respect to the developers for actually focusing on balancing the game first and foremost on the hardest challenge, and then toning it down for the "never learners" and "play for the story-ers". This demonstrates their love for the craft and their respect for the player. Experiencing this level of fine balance after having played Boltgun which literally did the polar opposite made me appreciate it even more. The game itself is absolutely fantastic in so many regards and the gripes I have are so minor and personal that I don't even think mentioning them is all that productive. In short, I'd prefer a dash over sliding as a main tool for maneuvering, a more prominent checkpoint system as opposed to quick saves, double jumps and the ability to turn off some rather aggressive screen effects and I think that's about it. I also did get shot through walls on multiple occasions. Oh, and it scammed me into killing a cat, which I did not appreciate. The level design and artistic creativity are probably this game's biggest strength, in my opinion. The stages are sprawling, the secrets logical, the colours vibrant and atmospheres varied. From the dozen of levels I've beaten, every single one of them was completely different and took place in a totally distinct area. On top of that, each one introduced at the very least a single brand new enemy with fresh mechanics. In this regard, It is quite reminiscent of Psychonauts. All this combined makes exploration, as well as anticipation for the subsequent chapters, really exhilarating. Lastly, the gameplay itself isn't all too shabby either. Weapons are wacky and they all have alternative fire modes, each with very particular and useful mechanics for different scenarios. Additionally, the aforementioned enemy variety is also ridiculously diverse, which helps keep the shooting fresh and makes you switch up weapons often and use all the tools at your disposal. Another ingenious design choice was to turn power-ups into consumable items which you can pocket, store several of and use them at will. I could go on and on glazing this product but I firmly believe that everyone should play this game, or at least try it. Be it fans of the shooting genre or otherwise. If not for the gameplay itself, then surely for the masterful artistry.

The funniest game I ever played. There's lot of easter eggs from popular games. movies etc. So if u want to play kind of game with humor, I solidly recommend u Breathage

The only Postal game that's unironically fun and well made yet retains the charm and humor of the series, and expands on it in creative and unique ways. Feel stupid for waiting to get it for less than $5. Will be buying the DLC!!

this game is a reminder to take my meds its like doom, and old school quake had baby an fed it meth great fun lots of satire jokes a good cheap thrill ;)

Pretty cool little game for some quick fun, good to get when its on sale. Gameplay is heavily inspired by doom eternal, down to the double barreled shotgun with a grappling hook, though the gameplay is not nearly as tight or cohesive as Doom Eternal, but still fun. For more deep mechanics it also brings weapon swapping for firing weapons faster and auto bunnyhoppying, which mixed with a slide jump lets you move at high speeds. The weapons are all interesting and fun to use for the most part, and theres also powerups of all kinds. However, what hurts the game the most is some weapon balances and most importantly an overabundance of ammunition. I started the game on hard for my first palytrough, and while enemies were hitting hard, not once did I ever run out of ammunition or powerups to the point I never used some of the weapons since I never needed to switch. Some guns clearly give you more ammo than others. Theres no reason why you would ever want 100 shotgun shell since yu'll probably never get to use even half of them. The humor and one-liners can get pretty cringe at times. Besides that the game is surprisingly well made and fun, but I do wish ammo wasnt so abundant to force me to try other weapons more frequently.

Postal 2 is good and all but this is better in every way. It's Like DOOM Eternal but made to control better.

Great game so far, not quite a "postal" experience like you would get from 2, so if that's what you're looking for then you might be a bit disappointed. Definitely feels like a blend of doom and postal dude - quick paced addictive gun play and a side of classic one liners. The weapons are definitely an upgrade to the previous titles too, had plenty of fun trying them out so far. Only 2 hours in at the moment, if I get more of that classic postal feel as the game goes on, then I'll give this review an update.

Gets super repetitive in the early levels but just for that final boss fight, it's worth it Postal 3/10

The gunplay is fun but I couldn't really get into it because it was so bizarre. To explain, I love Postal 2 so much. The juxtaposition between "just your random asshole trying to buy milk" turning into a showdown with all the cops and more was just amazing. Postal Brain Damaged just throws that away and makes it outright crazy, with flying obese people throwing weaponized cheeseburgers at you and rabid karens screaming at you. In addition, the graphics are only marginally better than Postal 2. If you're thinking "hey I want Postal 2 but I want better graphics," this game probably won't scratch that itch. There's a Kickstarter for a ground-up remaster of Postal 2 tho, probably best to just wait for that. The game is kinda fun but in a really weird jarring way. I'd recommend getting it on sale for $5

Suprisingly competent shooter, the worst thing I can say about the game is it's from the postal franchise - but it is the best in the series.

postal 2 + doom eternal = cocky go boing boing :D cok hard?????? this game help it i think cows were placed on earth on jesus christmas day

just kind of bland for me, I didn't get extremely far but I didn't want to run out of time to refund.

Just terrible non sensical level design. The fact the game takes place inside postal dude's head seems to be an excuse for the terrible maps. Albeit I didn't make it very far into the game before refunding it, but first levels should make a good impression.

Postal 2 was better but this game was silly.. too bad they didn't make a real campaign out of this game like Postal 2 had. That really sells the Postal games imo is having a reason besides just bullshittery and DOOM cloning That being said, if you absolutely LOVEEEEE DOOM clones, you may as well give this a try on sale it might scratch that itch for you. I actually enjoyed it but 30 minutes in I got bored real fast

Should remove postal from the title and keep the rest & distribute t-shirts and badges with the resulting title to anyone involved with making or endorsing this garbage. [u]Worst zoomer shooter i have played so far[/u], you almost outdid [url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198120022872/recommended/1684930]cultic [/url], it is difficult to tell which one is worse, but it's funny both games are from poland among other despicable unfun garbage such as cyberpunk, terminator resistance, ancestors legacy, hatred. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQTq07gihqg No impressive weapons. One of the worst and unsatisfying shotguns in a shooter EVER. How can u fuck up a classic weapon so badly? And they give to it an attachment that allows you to shoot hooks at enemies and fly towards them, it should be a fun idea but they manage to fuck that up as well; still this will be your main weapon of choice because of the mobility it provides and because the other weapons are likewise dull. The default melee weapon is a chainsaw-shovel and nothing cool is done with it at all, it is practically a foam sword. Default bad level design, crappy music, stupid "secrets", boring useless items, improperly designed encounters and flow of combat. The functionality of guns akimbo in this game is extremely trash and undermines the player in many situations. But what stands out in this game is the "humour". It is morbidly amusing that the ppl behind this game are adults probably in their 30s already you'd think but the "jokes" and "easter eggs" and rest of the "humour" gives very strange impressions, it is garbage like Rick and Morty but even worse. Just how ? And half of it is about making fun of trump maga stuff & white people , which is fine but you just know they wouldn't dare make fun of "others", then a majority of it is dedicated to making fun of "conspiracy theorists" , [u]the developer has a special trauma in regards to people not taking covid vaccines or not trusting bill gates[/u]; at some point in the creature roster for the creature "Clown Elemental" the developer provides a description that boils down to them bragging about their "creativity" by saying how crazy a person must be to come up with something like that... At some point the game makes a joke about Flat Earth, which is the most typical brain-washed reddit thing you could do, so this game serves to reinforce these specific ideas in unwitting peoples minds. In this game the postal dude also goes around saying stuff like "Ok boomer" - I am genuinely surprised they did not make him preach about standing with ukraine or lgbt rights, i think there is a missed opportunity here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3502628739 Really shows how barren these minds are, or maybe not barren just packed to the brim with toxic trash. Is it the Rick and Morty influence, in combination with being a hylic, or what? A lot of the enemies are thematically "lolrandom" and the intention here is clear - it's for the developer to be able to tell people "Look, we're making fun of everyone equally!" [u]Anyway this game is like if the combination of a really unfunny Serious Sam 2 & a worse ZOOM Eternal was intended to be a digital "bluepill manifesto" [/u]. Not recommended, boring garbage. I uploaded a few screenshots of the first level and it's all there is to see in this game - it begins in a fun cartoon suburbia and quickly devolves into repetitive trash with tunnels, buttons, keys, levers and unfun arenas. The game has some decent 3D designs and they were worked on by the guy who made Blood West, which is an OK game, but it is obvious some time later he was told what kind of lame characters to design

This game isn't very good, probably good for a "babies first quake" with all the weapons people like from the newer dooms. My main draw back is the writing and humor. This game is a reddit atheist's version of edgy, nothing is funny even slightly, and the dude's performance is utterly slept through so that really doesn't "sell" the shitty one liners either. This wouldn't be a big deal in any other franchise, but this is postal. The series claim to fame is postal 2, which is a hot pile of garbage, BUT it's a funny, charming, and witty hot pile of garbage. Any bits of questionable design and game jank is covered by the fact im laughing my ass off at the writing, rick hunter's delivery, the total need to offend everyone and everything. All of that is just... gone in this one. Kinda wish I watched a review of the game first before buying, granted the demo is free to download so that part is on me.

While the levels are hit or miss Postal Brain Damage is a decent shooter worth grabbing while it's on sale.

It's like if DOOM and ULTRAKILL had a child and the Postal Dude was involved too, it still maintains the essence of Postal as it allows you to explore your environment in addition to killing things like a fast-paced boomer shooter.

this was the best spinoff i ever seen still keepes some of the core postal 2 mechanicks but puts boomer shoter stuff in perfect blend imo

i bought this game because it looks awesome, even features a doom refrence, but the gameplay is just so annoying, i cant stand the gameplay

It's crazy how this company can make a better Postal 4 than the people who actually made Postal 4

Found interest in Bommer-Shooters cause of W40k-Boltgun. Found this game, hoped it would be fun as i am a Postal Fan. Deleted it after the first chapter. Gonna play Boltgun again.

god this game is just a dogshiit reddit meme compilation such a shame for a game with such good mechanics to be nothing but terrible culture-war nonsense and modern e-humor and absolutely nothing else

you can shoot flying disgusting fat guys eating burger with dildos. Absolute cinema

[h1]Brain-Fried Anarchy: A Postal: Brain Damaged Review[/h1] [b]Graphics & Visual Style: 8/10[/b] [i]Brain Damaged embraces its garish, old-school pixel art with unapologetic grit. The neon blood splatters, twisted character sprites, and moody lighting mesh into a deranged cyberpunk carnival. It’s rough around the edges—intentionally so—and every jagged texture feels earned in this madhouse of insanity.[/i] [b]Gunplay & Mechanics: 9/10[/b] [i]This isn’t your run‑of‑the‑mill shooter: it’s a fast‑paced, chainsaw‑sandwich of carnage. Weapons fire with satisfying punch, enemies explode into gory fragments, and the dash‑&‑slide mobility turns every corridor into a speedrun playground. It’s classic DOOM‑style mayhem filtered through Postal’s unique brand of lunacy.[/i] [b]Atmosphere & Tone: 9/10[/b] [i]Brain Damaged is pure unhinged madness. From the sludgy soundtrack to the warped NPCs, it cultivates an “I shouldn’t be laughing while this is happening” vibe. The world feels alive in its depravity—this is a bizarre carnival where decapitation is the main attraction.[/i] [b]Story & Humor: 7.5/10[/b] [i]Don’t expect Shakespeare. The plot is a thin thread of revenge and mayhem, dressed up with dark humor and jaw‑dropping set pieces. It’s entertaining filler—enough to justify your next bullet‑spray spree, but not the star of the show.[/i] [b]Level Design & Exploration: 8.5/10[/b] [i]Each stage is a twisted labyrinth of secrets, hidden weapons, and ridiculous traps. You’ll want to comb every alleyway for ammo caches and lethal easter eggs. It’s part shooter, part scavenger hunt—and you’ll tear through maps hungry for more carnage.[/i] [b]Challenge & Replayability: 8.5/10[/b] [i]Hard mode turns the game into a savage gauntlet—enemies hit harder, ammo is scarcer, and your split‑second reflexes become your only ally. Scoreboards and time challenges add competitive spice, pulling you back for better runs and nastier kills.[/i] [b]Performance & Optimization: 9/10[/b] [i]No framerate hiccups, no crashes—this indie gem runs smooth on anything from a toaster PC to a gaming rig. Brain Damaged nails its technical foundation, letting you focus on utter chaos without interruption.[/i] [b]Bugs & Stability: 9/10[/b] [i]Remarkably stable given its breakneck pace. Occasional collision quirks or clipping gibs might sneak in, but they never derail the manic flow. Kudos to the devs for a polished launch on day one.[/i] [b]Value & Price: 9/10[/b] [i]At its wallet‑friendly price, Postal: Brain Damaged delivers absurd hours of gleeful violence. You get classic shooter thrills, ridiculous scenarios, and relentless pacing without bleeding your Steam wallet dry. It’s a steal for anyone craving old‑school mayhem with a modern twist.[/i] [h1]Overview[/h1] [i]Postal: Brain Damaged isn’t for the faint of heart—or the easily offended. It’s a twisted homage to boomer shooters, amplified with dark humor, cyberpunk flair, and a relentless pace. If you’re ready to embrace pure, unfiltered madness and grind for high scores in a bloodsoaked labyrinth, this is your new cult classic.[/i] [b]Total Score: 8.8★[/b] [i]An outstanding indie shooter that balances nostalgia and novelty—play it if you dare, but know it’s not your typical walk in the park. This is Postal at its most gloriously unhinged.[/i]