Bully

(7 votes, average: 3.86 out of 5)

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The game professional crazy jackass Jack Thompson described as a "Columbine Simulator" turns out to be one of the most clever, artful games I’ve ever laid eyes on. Okay, so Bully’s a year old but I’ve only just now gotten around to playing it. I was really interested in it when it first came out but I just never picked it up, however, since I get the perk of renting out games from where I work I figured why not? And actually, it’s pretty relevant right now considering Rockstar has announced they’re going to port a new edition of the game with new content to the Wii and Xbox 360. I’ll be discussing the Playstation 2 version, of course, but from what I’ve seen I may just pick up the Wii or 360 version.

Bully runs on the same engine as Rockstar’s more famous Grand Theft Auto games but the similarities pretty much end there. The characters in this game are much more broad and cartoony, with varied, detailed designs and gorgeous texturing. The overall environment is smaller, but rich and detailed. There are so many things to do both in and out of missions and Rockstar has brilliantly managed to incorporate aspects of school life into the gameplay.

However what struck me the most is how much like a movie the game is. There is a full plot with a ton of cinematic cutscenes, good voice acting, good artistic direction, and great characterization. Sure, the main premise is a bit of a teen movie cliche: the cliques of the school are the Nerds (D&D poindexters), Preps (rich Republicans that marry their cousins), Bullies (dumb assholes), Greasers (they all dress and talk like John Travolta) and Jocks (football team) all humorously stereotyped. But, when this is combined with Rockstar’s knack for good story telling and their habit of working biting satire into the dialog of their games it works very well, stays interesting, and is funny and entertaining. Here’s the story:

You play as Jimmy Hopkins, an angry, squinty, carrot top delinquent who has been expelled from seven schools and has just been dumped at the boarding school Bullworth Academy by his not-so-loving mother and her newest decrepit rich hubby. Jimmy becomes friends with the first kids he meets, a shady instigator named Gary and his nervous, effeminate sidekick Petey, and learns that Bullsworth is one of the toughest schools in the country. Bullying is abound on all sides in the warring school cliques. As the story progresses Jimmy takes it upon himself to gain control of all the cliques to put an end to all the bullying once and for all, and you do this, of course, via mayhem, vandalism and lots and lots of fist fights. It sounds simple, but there’s alot more to the plot I’d rather not give away. Bully proves that, once again, the Rockstar label is deservingly associated with top quality.

Although even many gaming news sites were a bit nervous about Rockstar releasing a school-based game, keep in mind that the game is rated T for Teen, so it lacks the gratuitous violence Rockstar had become known for with the GTA series. The most violent weapons you get are a baseball bat that splinters after a few hits and  toy guns that shoot bottle rockets and potatoes. Jimmy is a 15 year old boy, after all, and despite his temper and his penchant for petty crime is a decent kid at heart. If you beat up somebody, pick the lock on a locker, are cutting class, or even are wearing the wrong pants (as I’ve found) the school prefects will come after you. You can outrun them, if one grabs ahold of you you can push him over but this of course just makes things worse and your trouble meter go up. You can hide from them in lockers and trash bins until the meter goes down once more. Of course if you’re playing hooky the prefects, and the police in town, will chase after you for a bit no matter what. Causing trouble in town is also not a good idea. I’ve found that anything you do to the adult NPCs will result in a high trouble meter and count as "violence towards adults", even pelting them with water balloons or accidentally running them over with a bicycle. You can outrun the cops too, but if they catch you you’re busted.

I did mention classes in the previous paragraph. You don’t have to go to the classes, but it helps, and once you pass all 5 levels of a given class you won’t be counted as a truant anymore when they’re scheduled. Chemistry class gives you the ability to make firecrackers, stink bombs, and itching powder. Gym glass teaches you new fighting moves (you can also learn new fighting moves from a crazy hobo who lives behind the school) and gives your higher proficiency with your weapons.. Art Class gives you the ability to woo girls (or, well, certain boys too) for kisses and increases the health bonus you get from them. English class learns you some better insults, Photography class unlocks photo albums, and Shop class.. I’m not sure cause I never go. Probably better bikes and how you get the go-cart. But don’t think the classes are too easy, each one is a mini-game, some easier than others (the word scrambles that are your English class drove me just a little crazy.) 

As you can see, like a big damn girl,
I’ve enjoyed dressing Jimmy in a
variety of outfits and hairdos

I have to say the gameplay is fun, innovative, and the missions are varied. However, it’s pretty easy. There’s only been a few missions later on in the game that I’ve failed a few times before getting them done, but success or failure really depends on your particular skills. Sure, I can do a mission where you vandalize a pompous teacher’s house for trying to get another poor, drunken excuse for a teacher fired without the cops catching me, but I have trouble punching another kid off a bike trying to get back stolen comic books (I eventually did the smart thing and threw a firecracker at his ass the second time I tried the mission.) To me, lack of a challenge can take away from a game, but there’s so much else that’s good about Bully I won’t hold this against it. Too much.

As for similarities to the GTA series, you can’t steal cars but you can steal bicycles. The bike has the exact same controls as the bike from San Andreas which means I had alot of trouble steering it at first. But after having to do a couple of missions that involved bikes races I learned pretty damn quick. You can also change Jimmy’s clothing with clothing either bought at the school store or in town, acquired from breaking into lockers, or acquired from special events or missions. Mixing and matching is possible with most outfits, but you have to be careful that you don’t violate the dress code while on school grounds (screw the prefects, I like my black cargo pants.) Jimmy can also be given different hairstyles at the barber shop. In the GTA series food (and well, prostitutes) restores your health, in Bully its Beam Cola (and kisses mean restored health + health bonus so be sure to carry bouquets of flowers around at all times!) Jimmy obviously can’t die as the game is rated Teen, if he’s knocked out he’ll end up in an infirmary but keep all his weapons. If he’s busted by cops he’ll end up at the police office and lose all his weapons except for the slingshot. If he’s busted by the prefects he’ll either end up in his dorm room, in class if he’s truant, or sometimes in the principal’s office which means you’ll be serving detention. And again he loses everything but the slingshot. Jimmy will also pass out if he stays up too late, there’s a clock on the upper left of the screen at all time. Your bed in your dorm (or any bases you earn) becomes available at 7:00 pm and your classes and certain missions are all regulated by the time.

All and all Bully is a good game, but I don’t know if I feel inclined to purchase it. However I may be inclined to purchase a Wii or 360 version with expanded content, especially considering I need a bigger collection for my Wii and I’ll be needing games when I get myself a 360 after the holidays!