Bully

Games: Bully

Release Date: October 17, 2006
Genre: Action
Style: Action Adventure

Game Description

Rockstar Games, the industry's lightning rod for controversy, continues its reputation for edgy, unusual material in Bully for PlayStation 2, a game that stars a juvenile delinquent in a reform school for troubled teens. More a sardonic pastiche of 1980s high school films than a violent ode to the publisher's Grand Theft Auto past, Bully carefully re-creates an academic atmosphere with classrooms, lunch periods, socializing with other students, season-related events, and plenty of areas to explore before curfew. Fifteen-year-old Jimmy Hopkins reluctantly attends the strict Bullworth Academy for a year, during which he'll develop skills, befriend peers, romance girls, and make a name for himself as either a hero or a miscreant.

The world in Bully in many ways adheres to a structured schedule, with students attending two periods of classes and engaging in other daily routines. Yet there is also a considerable amount of freedom in how players go about their daily tasks. They can elect to skip classes and cause mischief, at the risk of being sent to the principal's office for reprimanding. There are also missions to undertake on behalf of the five main cliques populating the school: jocks, nerds, greasers, preps, and bullies. Hopkins can interact with each character positively or negatively, through carefully worded dialogue or via pranks such as shoving students in lockers or pouring itching powder on garments.

Activities Hopkins will engage in include zipping across campus on a skateboard, pedaling through town on "borrowed" bikes, playing video games in his dorm room, signing up for dodgeball, boxing, or wrestling in the gym, and even snapping photos for a yearbook. Mission types range from straightforward errands to more elaborate stealth and slingshot shooting segments. While there are no guns in the game, weapons such as baseball bats, garbage can lids, and similar items can be found within the environment. Hand-to-hand combat options include combos, disarm moves, and "humiliation" attacks, with a control system that relies more on timing than on learning complicated commands. The first release from Rockstar Vancouver Ltd., Bully features an enhanced version of the graphics engine used in 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Prior to its release, Bully drew considerable opposition from certain interest groups and individuals who favor legal restrictions on video game content. It is fair to say that controversy is a regular part of Rockstar's business, whether by design or not. The company's bold publication of unapologetically violent and disturbing narratives, such as those found in the "M"-rated Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto games, has repeatedly drawn attention from mainstream media, which in turn can boost publicity and game sales. The "T"-rated Bully is different, however, in that the protests and prosecution against it came long before anyone had actually seen or played the game.

With the support of media activist Jack Thompson, Rochelle Sides, who states her daughter Corinne committed suicide after being bullied at school, established an online petition urging Rockstar not to release the game. The petition drive began more than a year before the game's release, when no information about the game's characters or story had been publicly revealed. Other organizations, such as the "Peaceoholics," also protested against the game in late 2005 and early 2006, apparently because of its title alone. Perhaps in part to appease such sensitivities, Bully was renamed Canis Canem Edit (the Latin motto of the game's fictional Bullworth Academy, which translates to "Dog Eat Dog") for its United Kingdom release.

Meanwhile, in Dade County, Florida, Thompson arranged for Judge Ronald Friedman to receive and review a copy of Bully just before its wide retail release. Thompson made public his expectation that the judge would rule the game a "public nuisance" and bar its release. To the contrary, Judge Friedman's decision implied that the game features less violence than one might see on television every night, and he did not block the game's release. In an open-letter response to the judge, Thompson claimed that Friedman had "...railroaded this entire matter -- at the expense of children's safety." Bully was released in North America on October 17, 2006, and debuted near the top of most sales charts.

~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

With the same developer and presentation as the PS2's Grand Theft Auto (GTA) games, Bully deservedly draws comparisons to that series. There are strong similarities, but Bully is different enough to stand on its own as a great game. In fact, Bully looks and plays better than any of the GTA games. However, it is also a lot smaller, as the whole game world can be traversed with no load times.

Bully begins on the campus of a private school where four factions -- nerds, jocks, preppies, and greasers -- are at odds with each other. Your goal as Jimmy Hopkins is to bring order to the school, by gaining the respect of each of the school's social groups as well as the townies. At the start of the game, you will be restricted to staying on campus, completing missions and attending classes. Each of the game's six academic subjects plays out through mini-games. For example, in English class you play a word game that resembles Boggle and in Art class you play a game that is a lot like Thin Ice. Classes have five levels of completion; with each completed level you unlock a new feature or item.

The main storyline consists of five chapters that, once completed, lead to the sixth chapter entitled "Endless Summer," which allows users to continue playing the side missions and mini-games that they may have missed. Through a variety of missions filled with pranks and humor rather than the guns and gore of GTA, players will advance through each chapter, opening up new sections around the fictional town of Bullworth. The town itself is divided into a few sections but none of them are too large. Although some may enjoy the large cities of GTA, the small town of Bullworth is a perfect fit for this game. As a student, you do not have the ability to drive cars and therefore can't travel long distances extremely fast. Along with traveling on foot, players can use a skateboard, one of a number of bicycles, or a moped to get around.

Most of the missions are simple and can be completed on the first try. This keeps the game moving at a rather quick pace if you don't stop to take part in all of the side missions and other challenges. There are bicycle races to win, garden gnomes to destroy, papers to deliver, rubber bands to find, and a number of other things to do apart from the main storyline. Bullworth is even home to a carnival full of games and rides to enjoy. Also, some of the locations in town allow Jimmy to change his appearance by purchasing new clothes, getting a haircut, and choosing a tattoo. With every change made to Jimmy's appearance, players will receive varying comments from the characters in town and at school.

While the game world doesn't require a loading screen as you explore the outdoors, every building entered does. This is definitely the game's biggest drawback, as every school building and town attraction entered can take a fair amount of time to load. You will spend a lot of time entering and exiting buildings on campus, so the load times tend to get tiresome rather quickly. Fortunately, the entertaining story and Jimmy's antics -- such as dropping firecrackers in toilets and egging cars -- will help players forget about the load times. Packed full of silly pranks and childish behavior, Bully is one of the best games of the PlayStation 2 generation.