Having just finished GTA IV, I wasn’t exactly excited to see that Gamefly sent me Bully: Scholarship Edition, a title that was pretty far down my list, but happened to be immediately available.  Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed Bully, so much so that I found myself playing it for hours at a time each night until I finished the game.  It’s one hell of a fun game, but is certainly a flawed experience.

Many of the reviews for this game spoke of crippling bugs, game freezing, achievement’s not unlocking and other problems like that.  I’m happy to say the patch that Rockstar has released solved those problems. I had zero freezes and every achievement unlocked immediately when it should have.

The basic premise is this: You’re a misfit kid named Jimmy who has been expelled from school after school, comes from a broken home and loves to rumble.  Your mother drops you off at Bullworth Academy, a sort of reform school, on her way to her 7^th honeymoon and you’re tasked with attending classes and completing all sorts of missions.  These missions take place all over campus, as well as in the three surrounding areas of town.  The game is not nearly as large as GTA games, but the level design is clever and varied from area to area, so much so that you’ll find yourself completely disregarding the map after a few hours because you know the best ways around town by sight.

The mission structure is similar to that of GTA, a yellow circle will appear somewhere on the map and once you step in the mission begins.  A big difference is the fact that the missions are varied, much more so than in GTA games.  You rarely repeat the same type of mission more than once (unless you count the optional errands, which still don’t really repeat) and find yourself doing something new and fun each time. Oh and another thing, there are MID-MISSION CHECKPOINTS! It’s hard to believe that Rockstar did this for Bully, but didn’t for GTA, but they certainly did… Anyway…  An added layer of complexity is introduced depending on how you play the game. If you choose to take on missions during school time (9:00-11:00 am and 1:30-3:30 P.M), your “trouble meter” is partially filled as you are involved in truancy.  If a teacher on campus sees you, they will chase after you and if they catch you, you’ll be dragged into whichever class is currently in session.  Of course you can run away and hide in lockers, trashcans or other places and you can choose to mash on the Y button to punch the authority figure in the balls and run away.  The more trouble you cause, the more your trouble meter fills and the harder it is to escape from authority figures.  But the thing is it’s not a bad thing to get caught most times.  You’re only punishment is losing some of the items you have in your inventory, but the items are so easily replenished, you’ll never bat an eye.  Plus, going to class is a real treat.

There are a slew of different classes, ranging from English to Chemistry, Art to Shop, Music to Biology and more.  Every class involves you playing a mini game of some sort in order to pass that particular level.  Each class has 5 levels and you are rewarded greatly for completing classes.  For instance passing Geography will cause your map to be filled with more and more helpful information, including the locations of every ‘hidden’ item in the game, making the 100% achievement much easier to get, and honestly a ton of fun.  There aren’t an enormous amount of silly hidden packages (like finding 200 pigeons), only 75 rubber bands and 40 Grottos and Goblins cards, and just during the course of the game you’ll have found 75% of them by exploring a bit.  Passing English class makes it easier to score with the ladies and increases the health bonus you get for kissing the girls (or boys).  Each of the mini games is well designed (although very easy), with one notable exception.  The Shop class is broken, you find yourself having to guess what the next motion will be because it will fail you before you even see what you’re supposed to do. 

The graphics are dated, clearly looking like spruced up PS2 graphics, and having just finished GTA IV, it was even more noticeable.  The camera also gets stuck at times.  These technical problems are bothersome, but I’ve come to expect them from Rockstar.  Rockstar did a fine job with all of the voice acting.  The cut-scenes are well done and the in game dialogue and comments you hear from other students and townfolk are hilarious.  For some great laughs, dress in a silly outfit and just walk around, listening to the hundreds of comments and insults people will throw at you as you go about your business.

There is an amount of customization of your clothing is staggering, but a little shallow.  You can dress yourself in thousands of combinations of clothing (everything imaginable) but the outfits will either be seen as “good” or “bad” by other people, which affects their comments to you on the streets and whether or not the gals and guys will make out with you. 

There are a few ways to get around campus and town: on foot, skateboard, bicycles, Mopeds and eventually Go-Karts.  Skateboarding is annoying since any time you try to turn, you get thrown off course and the camera goes a bit wonky and every time you touch a curb or go from one terrain to another, you get thrown off course again.  Very frustrating, especially when you’re trying to get somewhere in a certain time limit.

The challenge level is also a bit disappointing.  This game is EASY, so easy that I don’t think I failed more than 4 or 5 missions and 1 class during the entire game, and each of those were because of technical issues rather than difficulty.  There’s a TON of stuff to do, but with it being so easy, it’s pretty easy to finish the game in 25 hours and get 100% completion in 30 or so, and that’s taking your sweet time (The Carnival can be a big time waster, as can the 4 different arcade games). 

Bully is a wonderful way to spend a week or two.  The missions are varied, the story is quite funny and there is a lot to do that’s actually worth doing.  However the technical issues, dated look of the game and difficulty (or lack thereof) make it a rental rather than a purchase.  I’d suggest not playing it back to back with GTA IV though, as too much open world gaming is bad for the brain.  I’m craving a nice linear game.  I’ve got CSI at the house for the little lady, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I timed out sending back Bully just enough that I’ll be rocking Ninja Gaiden II by week’s end.

Score: B-

Mahalo,

Duke