Bully: Scholarship Edition

"A Review for Bullworth Freshmen (those who have never played Bully before):"

Presentation: 10/10

Story: The story of Bully opens up with the main protagonist, Jimmy Hopkins, being reluctantly dropped off at his 8th attempt to not get kicked out of grammar school. Obviously, you can take the boy out of the slums but you can't take the slum out of the boy, as once he enters the school grounds, Jimmy responds to any and all hazing with his tough boy attitude. The story of Bully proceeds on to be charming, witty, comical, and even dramatic. Cut-scenes reach a movie-like quality due to a mixture of excellent voice acting and character animation.

Characters: Bully's high presentation is well due to the amount of detail each character carries in-game. You grow to know each character by name as you go along. Video game voice acting is at it's best with Bully, a lot of care went into making sure the player never tires of the hundred some odd phrases each character can spew upon passing by.

Overall: Rock Star made sure to make the player see Bull Worth as living, breathing, lifelike, and relative. You actually have memories from this game, and I found myself using the in-game camera mechanic to take pictures of particularly fantastic sites in missions, or otherwise some of the many little easter eggs hidden throughout the game.

Game play: 9/10

Controls: Obviously the Wii console has brought it upon itself to be continuously judged based on how the Wii remote controls service its games. Bully for Wii uses a very impressive balance concerning when to waggle and when not to waggle. The fighting is very tight and responsive, the class mini-games are very tight and responsive, the context sensitive reaction commands are very tight and responsive. Any section that involves aiming for the wii remote, while may at times require readjusting yourself to get the cursor to behave, has neither ever made me fail a mission nor caused me to get frustrated during play.

Activities: So Jimmy has come to Bull Worth to get an education. Classes are one hundred percent optional, with cops occasionally chasing you in town for being truant. When you do go to class, players can participate in motion-enhanced Math, English, Art, Geography, and music among other classes that won't be spoiled in this review. Classes aren't grit work thanks to the imagination of those at Rock Star, with classes such as English being more of a word scramble mini-game, and classes such as Art turned into a quirky painting battle on the canvas. Music (done by using the wii remote and attachment as percussion sticks) is an important class to take as it becomes an integral part of a story mission later on. Bullies missions range from epic (spray paint tagging a very note able part of the town, in front of many onlookers), to downright comical (sneaking into the girls dorm to get some naughty pictures for the leader of the nerds). There is also a large array of "do anytime" activities throughout the town of Bull Worth usually done to get some extra cash. These include mowing lawns, doing paper routes, racing bikes, boxing some fools at the local gym, and even playing games at the town carnival.

Multi-player: The new multi-player mode added for the Wii version of Bully is just as fun and engaging as mini-game selections such as Wii Play, and Wii Sports, while still being attached to a massive game. It's not going to be anywhere near your multi-player experience of choice, but it's fun for what it is.

Replay value: 8/10

Flow: While Bully can be praised for it's do-what-you-like, do-it-or-not presentation, some players may be turned off by a lack of on-rails direction found in other games. I can say that I never had any problem picking this game back up the next day to see what I'd get Jimmy into next. Sometimes you'll run into missions that kind of take you out of the main driving story which sort of dampers the immersion, but you do soon find yourself back on track and ready to view another deliciously scripted and executed cut-scene. You'll also never find yourself bored nor frustrated with Bully's difficulty, giving you a few good wins and losses with every other mission.

Overall: With 8 new missions, 4 new classes, 4 new characters, the new multi-player mode, and new content such as clothing, I still don't feel there is enough in Bully. The presentation is so charming and well developed that upon completing the game you'll be instantly interested in what Jimmy's next adventure would be, or contemplating what you're going to do in the game's "endless summer" mode created to do unfinished challenges and collections.

FINAL WORD: 9/10
Bully is an engaging, refreshing, rewarding, and unique experience especially for Wii owners. It's the closest thing you'll get to GTA on Wii, without the dull thug and murder themes, which Bully trades for Rocky-like triumphs and high comedy. Yes, after the 20 hours it takes to complete the main story with some side-quest indulgence, you will be left wanting more, but you'll definitely feel you've gotten your money's worth. You get the feeling that the developers really wanted you to enjoy Bully, and if you are looking for an immersing, free form, addictive experience with excellent story-telling, then Bully is your game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/21/08

Game Release: Bully: Scholarship Edition (US, 03/04/08)