Grand Theft Auto in private school is a success.
Story in Bully follows a troublemaker called Jimmy Hopkins, who is sent to Bullworth Academy. He is supposed to study there for at least one semester. For some reason Jimmy wants to be the king of the school and this means that he has to win all the different factions in the school (Nerds, Jocks, Greasers, Preps etc.) to his side. Pretty much every single stereotype you can think of is here so this is a great way for you to re-live some of the finest (or worst) moments in your childhood. Bully has a distinctively innocent feel to it so it's not as serious as GTA series and not as violent as the Saints Row series.
Graphics were bad in PS2 and they are almost as bad on the Wii. Colors are a little better, but the draw distance is awful, there are frequent texture popping and there's no widescreen support. Gaming area is quite small and there's not that much to do like in GTA, but this way it's easier for you to keep track of the big picture, because Bully is very much a story-driven game. Loading times are very frequent and they take too much time, but after a while you get used to it. All of this means that the technical presentation is not good at all so it's advisable to focus your attention to other parts of the game.
Sound has always been a strong part in Rockstar games and Bully is no exception. Effects are plentiful and voice acting is very good. Even though the graphics are horrible, it's the sound design that compensates a lot of those technical shortcomings. Music is a mixture of tunes fom different decades and it fits the action quite nicely. Still it's hard to tell in what decade Bully takes place. My guess is 70's without that awful hairstyle.
Structure of Bully is the same as in any GTA clone, but since this is a story-driven game the experience has been divided into 5 (or actually 6) different chapters and in them you can see the progression of time: there are red leaves on trees, then it's snowing and finally the summer is near.
Missions starts and ends with a cutscene, and they consist of almost everything you can think of from a schoolboy's world. Luckily the tasks usually don't have multiple phases in them so this makes them both easier and shorter. This is not a bad thing by any means. Some key missions are noticeably longer, but in them there are checkpoints to ease the pain of frustration. Side missions are mostly delivering stuff from point A to point B and taking classes, which consist of mathematics, chemistry, geography, biology and so on. These missions open new clothes and accessories for you to use and also give you more money. Playing Bully can be described in just one word: fun.
Traveling in the city happens either on foot, skateboarding, riding a bike or taking a bus back to school area. Combat is a big part in the game, but instead of using pistols and assault rifles Jimmy uses a slingshot, eggs, marbles, stink bombs, fire crackers and so on. Hand to hand combat happens by swinging the Wii remote and nunchuck and it's precise enough for you to do it successfully.
All in all Bully is a different take to an already familiar GTA formula and it's definitely worth playing. It takes around 12 hours to play it through, if you concentrate solely on the main quest.