Bully has been delayed for quite a long time. Touted and vilified as “Pre-pubescent Grand Theft Auto” by media pundits and senile lawyers in the United States, it’s actually a deep, entertaining and surprisingly addictive little game in the same sandbox-style vein as GTA, with the raunchiness replaced by an amount of almost 1950s-style schoolyard mischief. Translation: it’s nothing compared to the stuff high school kids over here experience—fraternity wars, wanton cursing, and certainly not even as crude as those uninventive, dry and crass soap operas you let your kids watch every day. Well, except for the part where you get to make-out with your fellow schoolboys, better avoid that. Busted! Now that we’ve got that out of the way, Bully, developed by Rockstar Vancouver, formerly Barking Dog Studios (just like how DMA Design became Rockstar North, bleh), narrates the story of one Jimmy Hopkins, dumped by his dysfunctional family at Bullworth Academy, an extremely hostile environment teeming with bullies and weirdoes—again, much like your local high school. Jimmy’s goal is to actually stay in this school and make things work out; he’s been kicked-out of seven other schools, after all. However, the school, the teachers, and its diverse myriad of student cliques (nerds, greasers, jocks and preppies) make life hard for the new kids, and Jimmy has to struggle upwards and gain everyone’s respect. Technically, the game isn’t actually about bullying people, most missions are focused on gaining respect and protecting those who are bullied. Roguish behavior is penalized with you getting chased by the law; however, you can now make use of background elements such as garbage cans and lockers to shake ‘em off, ala-Metal Gear Solid. This is yet another sandbox-style game using the GTA engine, you’ll have free-reign over whatever you do, whatever order you take the missions. You don’t actually get to “waste” people or get wasted; you just knock them out, making this game Teen-friendly. No Theft Auto? Fortunately, the game is also more accessible than Rockstar’s other opus. Controls are pretty much pick-up-and-play, especially if you’ve played any GTA game previously. It’s set on a smaller area than those games, however, but to make up for this, the graphical quality has been bumped-up quite a bit, and there are tons of missions and mini-games to keep you busy. You don’t get to carjack this time; the only vehicles are a bike and an awkward-controlling skateboard. Soundbites are up to the usual standards, the NPCs have lots of things to say and voice-acting is excellent for the most part, and cussing is mercifully kept to a minimum, so you can definitely play this in front of the parents. Annoyingly, there is no additional music apart from the appalling and relatively creepy ragtime that the game spits out. Of course, you’ll need to enter the requisite “classes” regularly and on-time (otherwise you’ll get busted for truancy) and be in bed at curfew time. The classes in the game aren’t boring old lectures, they’re basically dressed-up minigames resembling Dance Dance Revolution, Qix and even Text Twist. Other gameplay elements like guns are replaced with inventive weapons like bottle-rocket-launchers, and gaudy health icons/hookers are replaced with you having to make-out with your fellow students to gain health. Um, yeah. It’s truly a shame that the powers that be gave Bully such a bad rep.
Most of us out there will not ever have to play Bully, the newest offering from Rockstar Games. there is nothing new here in content for anyone over the age of 17 anywhere, and I'm not talking about similarities to the G... Read Full Review
Bully is the debut title from developer Rockstar Vancouver (formerly Barking Dog Studios known mostly for Homeworld: Cataclysm) which has endured hardships most games won't ever be able to comprehend. But now that Bully ... Read Full Review
