“Rockstar Newest Masterpiece”
Bully has been the center of controversy for almost two years after it was announced in early 2004. Mainly targeted by anti-gaming activist Jack Thompson for its depiction of schoolyard violence. Thompson accused the company (Rockstar North) of building a “Columbine Simulator” in which you could go on a rampage and kill all of the students (which I will confirm now is false). It finally boiled down to a court hearing in Florida to decide if the game needed to be re-rated. The court concluded that Bully is not anymore violent then any episode of Lost or Veronica Mars. Since them a new controversy arose over the ability for player to kiss a male student, and the ability to have a homosexual relationship with him. Thompson say he plans to challenge this but will be unable to because of the investigation currently under way by the Florida BAR association (A committee that overlooks many court hearings)
All controversy aside the game it self is one of the true Rockstar Classic similar to GTA San Andres. The games story beyond the intro is exposed through a large web of side stories and main story missions. The story follows Hopkins, as he try’s to unite the school against the bullies who currently rule the school. Throughout the game there are about 12 side stories involve the vast group of minor characters. One of the side stories involve your English teacher (who is a chronic alcoholic) asks for your help in hiding his problem from the schools headmaster. Another involves a string of protections mission in which you must help a group of nerds complete various tasks without bully or jock interference.
The Gameplay of Bully is one of the best in years. Its one of those games that you will pickup and never want to put down, Form the pranks to the nitty gritty fighting it will be the most fun you have had sense GTA. For every misdeed you pull it will increase your trouble meter (think of it a the wanted level in GTA). It is a three-tier system that begins with the schools prefects, and then involves teachers, follow by the police themselves. You can use you English skills to try and apologize for your misdeeds but it will only work if you are around the first tier.
The games weapons on the other hand can be divide into three groups, blunt objects, projectiles, and explosives. The blunt objects can only be used for a little while and eventually will break making them somewhat useless. The projectiles have either unlimited ammo or a very limited supply for one. The most reliable is probably the explosives because you can get them easily from your chemistry set in your room. The one problem is that the set can only be used once a day until you upgrade your chemistry skills. So if your stuff gets taken from you early in the day and you need some explosives then your outta luck until tomorrow.
The Final and most important thing is the vehicles. From skateboards to a Go-Kart you can get almost anything you want in the game that you see (the only exclusion is the cars which were a given). The Bikes will come to be your main source of transportation; from the BMX bike to the simple racer your choices are endless. But surprisingly there is only one bike upgrade and that is the BMX bike. The others can only be bought from a store in town and usually are the highest priced things in the game. But if you want to get a bike the GTA way, just simply jack one of some random civilian or rival faction. You must note thought that if you jack a bike from another faction they will start to hunt you down and in the end usually beat you up making jacking useless until you can get a garage for which you can store the bikes in, and if you instead chose to rob a bike from any adult in town you will have the police have you and the only real way to escape is to run to a safe-house or store.
The Games sound is pretty high quality, but some of the sounds feel almost reused from the GTA series. The vehicles, epically cars feel like they have been used before in another game. The newer sound (like Jimmy’s voice and most of the voice acting) sounds polished and clean and is pleasant to the ear. The voice acting is one of the strongest if not the strongest part of the game. Every one of the main characters and support characters sound great. Every voice can be easily picked out of the crowds of enemies, but some of the NPC and other characters that are involved in the story have the same lines over and over again. They are one of the things that will grow to bother a lot of gamers (I myself started listing to music until cutscenes).
The Cutscenes of the game are overall a plus for the game and make you want to watch certain ones over and over again there so good. The writers of the game made thing actually funny (some are a little darker then young gamers should be seeing). The Humor is like watching an episode of South Park in the way that the comedy is so dark its not even funny at points.
All and all Bully is a game that breaks boundaries and finally bridges the gap between T and M rating, and it is one of the first game that presents a problem to the ESRB. Is there a need for a new rating for the gray area between teen and mature? It is a little mature for thirteen or fourteen and a little childish for the seventeen plus gamer crowd. But overall and controversy aside Rockstar has presented us with a new masterpiece for this generation of gaming. Gamespot states the only flaw themselves ‘no fifteen-year-old passes out at 2 am