Bully: Scholarship Edition

"The best years of your life."

Never one to back down from a controversy, Rockstar Games opens up another free-roaming world to terrorize and take over.
Bullworth Academy might seem like a micro version of Liberty City, but the attention to detail, crude / clever humor, and free-form mission structure in Bully make this one school year you wish didn't end as quickly as it does.

Story

In the typical sordid, yet sophisticated fashion of a Rockstar drama, you're abandoned by the people that should love you most. After your mother re-marries, she drops you off at one of the most abusive educational institutions in the country and heads off on a year-long honeymoon.

One of the mischievous students, Gary, Introduces you to the four rival factions that roughly represent your fellow classmates. They're the Preps, the Nerds, the Greasers, and the Jocks.

You'll spend most of your time turning them against each other and hopefully squeezing in an hour or two for classes and errands. The story is nowhere near as raunchy as any of the Grand Theft Auto games and ends up playing out like a slightly scandalous Saturday morning cartoon.

There's little to no swearing and the violence only adds up to a few black eyes here and there. There are still plenty of laughs to be had from the emotionally balanced characters Rockstar writes so well.

Design

Just like Grand Theft Auto, there's a lot to do on campus and you get to decide what takes top priority. Story missions, menial tasks and your classes are marked on the map. While there are only so many hours in the day, none of these activities are necessary unless you want to further the plot. When the day is done, you go to bed and start all over.

There are six classes to attend: Chemistry, English, Art, Gym, Shop and Photography, each with five terms to pass. Every mark you get on your scorecard moves you up to the next level of difficulty and rewards you with new items and abilities. Chemistry allows you to make stink bombs, Gym teaches you new grapple moves, English helps you talk your way out of a sticky situation, Shop rewards you with better bikes and so on. While they're not as boring as sitting in a real classroom, they're definitely not the most fun part of the game. You can skip each and every one of them if you'd rather focus on the story but there are prefects patrolling the hallways and areas outside that will chase you for truancy.

The story missions are as varied and spontaneous as they've been since Rockstar first implemented it's cinematic formula on the PS2. The structure CAN get confusing as sometimes, you'll have 3 or 4 missions available, but completing certain objectives will close off the other 3. Unfortunately, the game does a terrible job of alerting you of this problem at the times that it could happen.

The other problem is that doing a mission will award you positive or negative response with a specific social clique but the missions never tell you ahead of time who you'll be cheering up or pissing off. Often times, you'll lose respect from a group you have been trying to get good with. This doesn't impede the story progression, but it can be annoying when you're doing a mission in an area full of people that would like nothing less than putting you into a hospital bed.

At first glance, the map will look minuscule to anyone who's played GTA. The academy and it's connecting neighborhoods probably don't cover enough turf to equal one of the three cities in San Andreas but there's much more detail inside each area.

While GTA has a massive metropolis of mindless pedestrians, Bully is a small community of unique and expressive individuals. No two people are the same, anywhere. The sidewalks and hallways are full of Jocks picking on Nerds, Preppy girls gossiping and prefects on patrol like they're guarding a nuclear bomb from Solid Snake.

The only thing that takes away from the cozy campus setting, are the muted colors and mediocre graphics. The textures are extremely blurry and overall, the game looks really bland. The draw distance can also be dismal compared to what's been done on the system prior.

Still, the characters are beautifully designed and become instantly recognisable. The dialogue is synced perfectly in the cut scenes along with the smooth motion captured performance. Seeing characters you're familiar with walking around, really helps out the environments.

Combat

Anybody who's played Rockstar's other hit, The Warriors, will feel right at home with the combat here. You have a lock-on targeting system that works predominantly well, a punch button, a grapple option and another button to humiliate your foe. While there are no 9mms or Glocks in Bully, you can target other rugrats using your slingshot and switch to melee combat at the drop of a hat. Fighting is rarely a quick-fix as prefects and police are happy to apprehend you. You can always be a good boy and apologize, or take the gritty way out that'll usually turn out badly. Your last option is to hide in trashcans or lockers until the heat dies down. Running from authority is very easy thanks to a run button that never runs out of steam and the occasional bike or skateboard.

The only catch with running is the terrible navigation on the camera angles when running back and fourth.It almost feels like the character is on a rigid leash held by the gamer.

Graphics

The graphics have really stepped up from the original Bully. Characters are more defined and the environment has more usage of shadows to cast a whimsical glory over everything that moves. The cutscenes look the same as the old ones at first glance, but if you pay attention to detail, you can notice subtle differences graphically that enhance the experience of the game.

Summary

While Bully might feel like the bratty kid brother of GTA, it's nice to see Rockstar doing fun things with the format that so many other companies try to imitate. Going back to school might not be your first choice when it comes to video game escapism, but just about anyone will get a serious kick out of getting a little revenge and their childhood authority figures.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/08

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