Bully

"A game that everyone can relate to...And a damn good one at that."

Ahh, high school. It brings back such memories. If you're like the other 99%, those memories are probably mostly bad. When I first heard about this game, I immediately put it on my list of games that I must buy, simply because it was made by Rockstar, the company responsible for the wildly popular and entertaining Grand Theft Auto series. And overall I was pretty satisfied.

To better explain why this game is good I will provide a brief synopsis of the main character of the story. Meet Jimmy Hopkins: He's 15 years old. He's been kicked out of seven schools already (I think it is seven, I could be wrong). His mother is engaged to a what looks like a 60 year old man, presumably for his money, and both of them want nothing to do with him. The game opens with him in the car en rout to Bull-Worth Academy, a boarding school that boasts of shaping boys and girls into responsible adults. Jimmy bickers with his parents in the car before they finally reach the Academy and shove him out the door, into a foreign environment that he will be expected to live in for the next year.

There are five school cliques in this game, similar to the various gangs of San Andreas and Vice City. Each vies for power in the unforgiving world of high school. The cliques are the Nerds, the Jocks, the Greasers (Similar to those in The Outsiders), the Preppies (similar to the antagonists in The Outsiders, The Socials), The Bullies. There are also The Townies, the names of those who occupy the town near the Academy. You will undertake missions in which you try to gain the respect and eventually, the control of all five gangs, I mean cliques. The game is similar to that of GTA with free roaming environment, humorous dialogue, and cinematic flair.

I will be grading this game according to five catagories:Sound, Graphics, Control, Entertainment, and Replay Value. I will devote a paragraph or more to each category with the subject criteria as the heading, next to which I will give a score of one to ten.

Graphics (7):
I was blown away in some aspects of this game and disappointed in others. On one hand, the character models, expressions, clothing, and faces were amazing. The characters looked alive with emotions ranging from anger, to surprise, to sadness. You could see wrinkles in the clothing. Also there are no "claw hands" here. If you played GTA: Vice City, you know what I'm talking about. On the other hand, the textures are pretty bland, character models are recycled too often ( I see two people next to each other that look alike), the trees look like brown, texture-less looking triangles.


Sound (9): The sound in this game is great. The dialogue the students utter is hilarious, and makes it obvious that this game is a satire of school life with kids saying things like “Why am I so shy around boys!" and “Why did he say he hated me?" and " Wow Mandy is so hot! She actually talked to me today!!! I think she likes me!!! ". Every piece of dialogue the characters say leaves me laughing and saying "That's so true!". The music is great too and captures the general mood of life in high school. Also, the voice acting is pretty solid with Jimmy and the main antagonist of the game.

Controls (7): The controls in this game are average. They are similar to the controls of GTA. They work well until Jimmy gets on a skateboard (sorry but I gotta say why the controls are bad, so I had to spoil it.). Once he's on the skateboard they are jerky as hell. It is also difficult to aim with the sling shot when in aim-mode. Other than those things, the controls are pretty average.

Entertainment (8): This game has pretty decent story. Obviously, if you played GTA VC and GTA SA, you KNOW there is a friend you have who will betray you sooner or later. In this case its sooner, and it's pretty obvious who it is if you have a brain. Quests abound, as do the various oddjobs you will do for the NPCs. EVERY SCHOOL MISCHIEF TECHNIQUE IN HISTORY IS IN THIS GAME. Swirlies, stuffing kids into lockers, wedgies, slapping in the face, groin kicks, shoving fire crackers in toilets, pulling fire alarms, etc. You'll be occupied with making mischief alone for the first hour or so of this game. There's also various clothing and haircuts you can buy.

For replay value, I will give it a rating, ranging from Low, Moderate, Moderately High, or High.

Replay Value (Moderate):

Some of you may be into the "collect all the hidden items in the game". I'm not one of those people. However there are allot of people who are, and there are also lots of missions, sub-missions, and activities to do in this game. If you play this game for about 3 or 4 hours per day, it should probably last you a month and a half to two months(assuming you take the time to mess around and don't just go to one mission after another).


Pros:
- Dialogue is funny and well done
- No one mission is alike
- The game is huge, about as big as Vice City.
- The final boss fight is VERY well done, if a bit easy
- In general, there are allot of things to do


Cons:
- Bad textures, recycled character models
- Game is a bit easy
- Controls for skate board and bike are a bit jerky
- The cliques should be updated to be more relevant. There are no Greaser and Preppies these days. Should add in Goths, Emos, and Metal Heads.
- Shorter than Vice City.
- It ends


I sincerely hope they make a sequel to this game that addresses the problems I have pointed out. All in all, I STRONGLY suggest that you fork over $40 bucks to buy this game as, if you had a normal time in high school (which means a miserable time), you'll find your self pumping your fist in the air as Jimmy defeats his bullies and climbs the social ranks of the school.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/07, Updated 12/26/08

Game Release: Bully (US, 10/17/06)