|Bully: Scholarship (Wii) Preview
A welcoming edition to the Wii's ever growing list of great titles, or a money grabbing scheme from Rockstar? Whatever your preference, the re-release of Bully: Scholarship Edition should immediately get Wii owners excited, especially those who missed the title the first time round.Late 2006, Bully (PS2) was met by multiple complaints concerning the games nature, this forced Rockstar to change the title of the game to Canis Canem Edit (Latin for "dog eat dog") for European gamers. Unbelievably, this became a case of "any press is good press" and the game sold tremendously well in Europe compared to in the 'States.
So, almost a year later and what has changed? Well, not much. Rockstar are trying their luck again, announcing the game as "Bully: Scholarship Edition", and the exact same game is being released, this time on other platforms. Only updated graphics and new controls separate the two release games, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The original game was fantastic and is highly regarded as Rockstars finest accomplishment. These additions will only improve the game, which is a plus for any Wii owner.
As with any port, Rockstar have promised new content to feature in this addition, presumably as extra missions but possibly additional weapons or vehicles. The original game featured many schoolyard weapons ranging from slingshots to spud-guns. Vehicles were also available and gave you a choice of skateboards, bicycles and go-karts - only to name a few. As for characters, Bully's cast leaves nothing to be desired, with over 100 characters sharing a total of 40,000 hilarious lines between them.
Bully managed to live up to Rockstars flagship title, Grand Theft Auto in terms of the sheer size and content which is a magnificent feat for any developer. Primarily set within the school and it's grounds, you're not limited to were you can explore. A whole town is accessible which allows you to earn some cash by buying items or completing mini-games. As well as this a touring carnival is available which hosts even more games and activities.
Bully should also be praised for its graphical ****and control system. Although developed on the GTA system, the buildings are considerably more detailed and the game is all around more impressive. The controls where given a tweak for the Playstation version, although a completely different set-up for this system, we imagine them to be similar to The Godfather: Blackhand Edition released earlier this year by EA.
The trend of re-releasing past games for the Wii hasn't been all that bad, with impressive controls as seen in titles such as Scarface, and the already mentioned Godfather. Hopefully Rockstar will continue in the line of "good" ports with the release of Bully: Scholarship Edition and there's still hope for a GTA. An exciting factor that could help Rockstar achieve this is the addition of online play, already announced for the 360 version (set to release simultaneously with the Wii version), Xbox Live users can play in online co-op with other players. This could be possible for the Wii, but we're not holding our breath.
Bully: Scholarship Edition is set to release in the US on November 20 2007. Whether the game will make it to the UK by the end of the year is yet to be confirmed, so expect a full review early 08.
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