Worthwhile Reviews: Bully | PS2 | $24.99 | New

I approached this game with some trepidation, since my opinion of Rockstar games isn't that high. Its not at all because of the controversial content, but because Rockstar games tend to control like complete crap. I liked GTA3, played it though despite the horrible, horrible controls and the uninspired missions. I tried Vice City, but it played just as bad as GTA3 with even worse missions, and I stopped halfway through. I only tried San Andreas for a few minutes, but found it to be much the same. A friend I trust told me not even to bother trying The Warriors, since there was zero hit-indication (something absolutely vital to a good beat-em-up). Still, I was intrigued by the premise of Bully, and I heard that this was a new R* studio, so I was hoping they'd have a clue how to design an interface.

The first thing that happened when I put the game in was a series of still pictures that lasted long enough that I wondered if this was the intro, and if I was supposed to be hearing narration during them. It turns out that its just the game loading into memory, though, so don't worry if your console doesn't seem to be doing anything for 10 minutes. When the game did start, I have to admit that I very nearly turned it off right there.

I'm not what I'd call a graphics whore... I mean, sure, I like a pretty game, but I'll play some pretty rough-looking stuff if there's fun to be had. Bully, though, is a game that simply shouldn't have been made on the PS2. If you take into account the power of the PS2, Bully is an amazing and ambitious game, but too many compromises were made in shoehorning it onto the platform. The graphics sty|e is actually rather good in my opinion, but the PS2 hardware forced poor draw distance, lack of detail, and a simply abysmal framerate. Any time you move quickly, from running to riding a bike, the game turns into a slideshow. This can be a real irritation when you're expected to win a bike race and the camera has difficulty keeping up with you.

Still, I forced down the revulsion I felt at first (and some nausea from the choppiness) and got into the game itself. The world of Bully is actually quite well-rendered, with a great sense of atmosphere and archetypal characters anyone who's been to high school can recognize. Solid voice acting and an appropriate original score help immerse you in the gameworld, even while the graphics try to take you out of it.

Roaming the campus and nearby town, you'll see your schoolmates pass by. Sometimes this is a little odd, since you may have passed the same person 15 seconds ago, but generally it keeps the environment dynamic. AI characters not only interact with your avatar, Billy, but with each other. You'll often see skirmishes between cliques, whether it be a bully shoving a nerd into a trash can or the greasers and preps skirmishing. You can choose to watch it happen or get involved (or just ignore it), but the world around you seems more dynamic because of these interactions. Be careful if you choose to intervene, though... you may see someone hassling a girl you're friendly with, go up to show him the error of his ways and end up accidentally bumping her, which isn't what you intended and brings the Prefects down on you. The controls aren't as bad as I've come to expect from R* games, but they're not great either.

There's a lot to do in Bully, from attending c|asses to breaking into the local nuthouse. You'll start off spending most of your time around the school, exploring more areas of the town as they become available. The school year progresses, too. Fall gives way to Winter and the students start wearing sweaters and earmuffs while snow dusts the ground. On Halloween everyone puts on a costume and looks for mischief. By the end of the school year you'll be spending a lot of time in town, mostly checking back at school for missions. The missions themselves aren't exactly riveting, but I found them to be better constructed and more game-appropriate than anything from the GTA series so far. Plus its always fun humiliating the jocks and the preps

What I found strangest about Bully, I think, given R*'s general push-the-limits attitude, was the innocence of the game. Sure, the kids are jerks and will beat down anyone in the wrong clique, but the most vicious weapon in the game is a potato-cannon. With the metal detectors and armed guards at the door of modern schools, a game where a nasty beating topped with a swirly are the worst you can expect is kind of refreshing. It reminded me of my own school days, where flak jackets weren't on the back-to-school list.

Because of how well Bully captured the atmosphere they were going for and how strangely innocent it was, I thought to myself repeatedly while playing that a game using the Bully engine should be made about Hogwarts. If they could capture the Harry Potter feel and allow people to roam around the school, grounds, and town, I'd buy it in a flat second. But, uh... make it on the 360 or the PS3, huh?

Was it worth it? Yeah, I got $25 of enjoyment out of it. It would have been a slam-dunk for value if the visuals weren't so craptacular, but even as is its worth playing if you don't have motion-sickness issues.