Bully

"GTA High School Style"

When you mention the word Video game to people, one of the usual answers is Grand Theft Auto, which is made Rockstar Games and is some of the best games around to date. 99% of the time when people mention violence in Video Games Rockstar Games comes to spotlight. GRAND THEFT AUTO III set the standard for gaming when it was released. While the sandbox style of game play existed before GRAND THEFT AUTO III, GRAND THEFT AUTO III truly captured it in a game and this style has been used it every GRAND THEFT AUTO game since GRAND THEFT AUTO III.

Rockstar Vancouver decided to go out on limb and a decided to make a game similar to GRAND THEFT AUTO, but not call it GRAND THEFT AUTO. Rockstar Vancouver decided to create a game called Bully a similar idea to GRAND THEFT AUTO but this time focusing on teenagers and our youth instead of adults as much.

Of course when the public heard of this, anti bullying groups and Jack Thompson were on a rampage to get the game to be banned since by looking at the title it would suggest that you are a bully, which in fact for the most part is not true. While the game is different than the GRAND THEFT AUTO games it's still interesting to play and offers a unique style to it. So thus my review beginnings.

Story 8/10

The game starts out with your main character Jimmy Hopkins being sent to Bullworth Academy a boarding school, but it considered being one of the worst boarding schools in the country. His goal is to stop the bullying that exists and unite the school as one. It's an interesting story as you play through this game. You will have to face against different groups of school fractions while progressing through the game. This part has been done before in the GRAND THEFT AUTO games, where certain missions make you a target for then when you go through their areas they control.

With the passing of certain missions, certain groups that you are working with become friendly to you, while some will hate you more. When a specific group dislikes you like, they will often attack you when they see you. Of course this brings you to a flight or flight option. Do you fight and beat the people attacking you, or do you make a run for it.

Controls 7.5/10

The controls for the most part are really good. It's easy to move around and using the things you can use to help you move around is easy as well to use. The problem lies mainly with what certain buttons do. For example the left analog stick when press (L3) will show you what is behind you. Sometimes you may accidently press this while doing something on a skateboard such as jumping and you may think you are going in the wrong direction. A minor issue, but it can be easily overlooked.

Camera 7/10

The camera for the most part is pretty good, but there are times when it's not so good at all.

Missions and classes 9/10

The game has missions for you to complete, but you can also take classes, which do a number of things to improve Jimmy overall. Gym classes gives a better chance of hitting targets with weapons, and teaches you new fight moves when you have wrestling. English class allows you to give better taunts and be able to talk your way of trouble with the law. Chemistry classes, allow you to make certain weapons in your dorm. Shop class allows you to make various bicycles that improve you pass the class. Art class, which allows you to get more health from females when you kiss them. Photography class allows you to take pictures and saves them, which allows you to unlock a secret when you get the photo of every student in the school.

For the most part the missions are easier in Bully than they are in Grand Theft Auto games. They are shorter too, but are easy to complete once you know what to do for each mission. There are some issues that I do have with this though. For one since mission may affect your status with the fractions each mission you do usually will not tell you what fraction you are going to betraying or which fraction you are going to be closer with. Some missions will tell you that you are trying to get back at the jocks, or nerds, or who ever, but you will not know this until you start the mission.

You can also take side jobs along the way such as cutting grass, or delivering news papers to earn money. There are also bike races too, which earn you extra money as well.

Graphics 8/10

The characters animation and movements are excellent. The surrounding in the game could use some work, but I'm more interested in the action then looking at backgrounds and what not. The surroundings also change along with the season, along with day to night transitions which also work well.

Game play 9/10

What makes this game unique is the fact that you need to sleep otherwise you will pass out. You will be able to sleep once it hits a certain time at night, then when the clock hits that time you will see some z's come out of where the book in on the map. Taken from the Grand Theft Auto is getting in trouble with the law. Unlike Grand Theft Auto there is no star wanted rating, this time there is a more or less trouble bar that will rise when you do things such as be late for class, hit someone, out past curfew, etc. The bar has three levels of trouble as I call it. Certain actions will cause more alarm than others, such as hitting a prefect, or beating a young child senseless. Usually if you do this, prefects who more of less serve as the role of cops on campus will give you chase in what ever part of the campus you are currently located in. Getting your attention down will require you to either hide in trashcans, lockers, or simply just running away and getting out of their line of sight. Unlike Grand Theft Auto Bully will let you know where prefects and police officers are located by being red on the mini map on screen. The fighting system is also pretty good in the game, as it's can either be weapon combat, or up close hand to hand combat. You won't find glocks, or Uzi's in the game, but you will be given an assortment of weapons to use, such as bottle rocket launchers, slingshots, potato cannons, etc. I also enjoyed the fact that you don't' kill anyone in the game you just knock them out. This is a nice chance, since I have no problem with killing people in video games, this gives it a nice feel instead of killing everyone all the time.

Replay value 8.5/10

Once you beat the game you will still be able to continue as there are things to collect, and things to do. Just like in Grand Theft Auto there are items to collect and once you collect them all you unlock certain things, such as special outfits and such.

Pros:
Nice change from Grand Theft Auto
Smaller map.
Nice transitions

Cons:
Wacky Camera
May turn Grand Theft Auto fans away
Missions don't always tell you what faction you will help or hurt

Overall score 9.0

If you like Grand Theft Auto and are looking for a lesser violent version, or are looking or a game to bring back some memories of school, then Bully is for you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/13/07

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