POSTAL: Brain Damaged DLC ‘These Sunny Daze’ Turns Vacation Into Mayhem — Here’s What Matters

Beach episode, POSTAL-style: why These Sunny Daze actually caught my eye

POSTAL is the rare series where the headline is almost always the joke. But here’s the thing: POSTAL: Brain Damaged was the first time in years the franchise felt genuinely fun to play, not just provocative to market. That’s why These Sunny Daze-its new tropical DLC landing on PC (Steam and GOG) September 9, 2025-has my attention. At $6.99, it promises a burst of boomer-shooter chaos with fresh toys, semi-open levels, and more than 10 new enemy types, wrapped in the series’ gleefully tasteless satire.

Key Takeaways

• Release: PC on Sept 9, 2025 for $6.99; PlayStation and Nintendo Switch “later this year.”
• Content: New weapons (Nyanbrella drill, Piss Gun, Wiener-Grinder shotgun), Sticky Hands mobility/grab, semi-open levels, 10+ enemies.
• Tone: Classic POSTAL shock humor meets Brain Damaged’s tighter, faster boomer-shooter design.
• My watchlist: Weapon feel and movement flow, level variety, and whether the satire still lands in 2025.

Breaking down the announcement

The setup is aggressively POSTAL: the Dude takes a vacation, a law targeting gingers turns the trip into a blood-soaked farce, and everything escalates from sunburn to slaughter. If you bounced off POSTAL 4’s jank but vibed with Brain Damaged’s speed and chunky gunplay, this is pitched squarely at you. HYPERSTRANGE (the studio behind the excellent Blood West and the metal-as-hell Elderborn) is promising improv-style weaponry and traversal tricks inside “semi-open” sandboxes, which is where Brain Damaged previously shined: short, dense maps with room to route, clown, and optimize.

The arsenal is built for spectacle. The Nyanbrella-a cat-themed umbrella bolted to a power drill—screams “alt-fire nonsense,” while the Piss Gun is, yes, a returning bodily-fluid gag that typically doubles as utility (crowd control, hazards, comedic humiliation). The Wiener-Grinder shotgun suggests melee-adjacent gibbing. The new Sticky Hands might be the most important mechanic, letting you yank foes in for a face-to-face finish or sling yourself across gaps. If it lands anywhere near Doom Eternal’s meat hook or DUSK’s acrobatic momentum, the combat loop will sing.

The real story: Brain Damaged is where POSTAL actually plays great

POSTAL’s reputation is shock value, but Brain Damaged earned its fans because the fundamentals are tight. Clear enemy silhouettes, readable arenas, fast TTKs, and movement tech that rewards aggression—it’s a proper boomer shooter with a rude sense of humor, not the other way around. These Sunny Daze expanding that with semi-open maps is promising if those spaces have multiple routes, secrets, and optional arena challenges rather than just wider corridors with fetch objectives.

At $6.99, temper expectations: this is almost certainly a compact chapter rather than a full-fat expansion. That price can still be a sweet spot if the level design is replayable. A handful of strong arenas with skill ceilings, weapon synergies (Sticky Hands into Wiener-Grinder into Nyanbrella drill cancels, please), and enemy sets that force you to rotate tools would beat twice the runtime filled with filler. HYPERSTRANGE has a decent record for punchy design—they just need to keep the pacing tight.

Satire or just shouting? The humor test in 2025

POSTAL lives in the line between social satire and edgelord bait. The “ban on gingers” premise is clearly absurdist, and the enemy roster—Xitch Streamers, Tera Chads, Hardened Seaman—leans into internet caricature. Whether that works depends on delivery. The series is at its best when the joke is aimed at power and hypocrisy, not just shock for shock’s sake. Brain Damaged previously walked that line better than the mainline entries by keeping the jokes as seasoning rather than the whole meal. If These Sunny Daze keeps the punchlines in the background while the combat does the talking, we’re good.

What gamers should watch for

• Weapon feel and balance: The new kit needs distinct roles. If Nyanbrella and Wiener-Grinder overlap, one will gather dust.
• Traversal flow: Sticky Hands should chain into slides, jumps, and cancels without killing momentum. Movement mastery is the replay hook.
• Enemy design: “10+ new enemies” sounds great, but do they force tool swapping? Streamers that buff mobs unless disrupted could be neat; bullet sponges won’t be.
• Level structure: “Semi-open” should mean multiple routes, hidden objectives, and risk-reward, not maze-y backtracking.
• PC performance: Brain Damaged ran well on modest rigs. Keep that standard, plus sensible settings and FOV options.

One practical note: this is marketed as DLC, not standalone, so expect to need the base game. Console players have to wait a bit—PlayStation and Nintendo Switch versions are slated for later in 2025. If those ports match the PC’s frame pacing and input responsiveness, this could be a perfect “blast a chapter after work” pickup on handheld.

Looking ahead

I’m cautiously optimistic. Brain Damaged proved that POSTAL’s outrageous tone can coexist with legitimately sharp FPS design. If These Sunny Daze gives us a few killer arenas, clever enemy modifiers, and traversal that begs to be speedrun, $6.99 is an easy ask. If it leans too hard on one-note gags and wide, empty sandboxes, it’ll be forgettable summer fluff. The ball’s on HYPERSTRANGE’s court—and honestly, they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt.

TL;DR

POSTAL: Brain Damaged – These Sunny Daze drops Sept 9 on PC for $6.99 with new weapons, semi-open maps, and 10+ enemies. If the Sticky Hands traversal and weapon balance click, this could be the perfect weekend-sized boomer-shooter romp. If not, it’ll be loud, short, and skippable.