It's an interesting thing to see from a political point of view, Bully, because there was a kind of hysteria surrounding the game, when it first came out on PS2 and Xbox, about the name and the premise. The name itself caused many parents of young gamers and politicians to attack Rockstar for glorifying bullying in schools (which it sort of does). The game almost didn't make it into stores, something that Rockstar games are used to, but the name did change to "Canis Canem Edit", a latin phrase which means "Dog Eat Dog", and something that might have confused many fans and gamers alike. While this was something that was almost unprecedented in the gaming world, the recent release of "Bully: Scholarship Edition" has had the original name, and cover, back. Why is this? I personally do not really mind either way, a game's a game but I reckon this is a very clever piece of marketing. If they managed to release the ban on the name of the game, they probably thought that releasing a next generation version of the game with this original name meant that some gamers would not realise that they were, in fact, the same game! Either that or people who missed it the first time would be fooled into thinking that this was a new game. Whether this is the truth or whether Rockstar just wanted justice, I cannot judge but it seems to me that this one has slipped away unnoticed.
The game itself is reasonably good and there is a great childish element to it. You fit into one of two camps. You either say "To Hell With Rules!" and don't turn up to class, beat up everyone in sight and sneak into the girls dorms or you do what I do; turn up to class and try and do your best, only beat up those who are trying to beat you up and make sure you get to bed on time. All the elements of a school are there and you can be whoever you want; apologising to bullies makes them leave you alone but your respect drops whereas if you take them on, you might win. Equally, you could end up face down in a bin. You gotta love school, eh?
The graphics have been improved for this version but not much as far as I can see. Obviously it was never going to be as beautiful as a game crafted specifically for a next gen system but you can't help thinking that you're downgrading you console by playing this. The character designs are perfect and you can really tell that Rockstar had a lot of fun making this. You have a lot of stereotypes to play with; the jocks, the nerds, the bullies, the prefects, they all look like they should. Even the headmaster looks like my old headmaster. The design of the world is also very good. There are definite areas where only one paticular clique hangs out; The library for the nerds, the gym for the jock, etc. The school itself is massive, something I think they had to do to make this game more interesting. The voice acting throughout the game is very good. You get the nerds with the squeeky voices and the crazed voice of the science teacher ringing throughout the school halls. its obvious that Rockstar got very excited with this theme and ran with it and thankfully, they ran in the right direction. In terms of world design, this game can't be touched
Where the game lacks, I suppose, is in its missions. It does too much of a job in some ways, of holding your hand through the missions. This changes later on obviously but I felt frustrated at first with the slow tutorial sections. The other thing is, and it is a big thing, this game really can't help but being compared to the Grand Theft Auto series and I do feel like I'm playing GTA's little brother. Being in a school with no transport, no heavy arms and a slightly toned down plot doesn't really compare in a good way to having full roam of an entire city with only the law to answer to. It seems funny to me that it seems like Rockstar have tried to make a GTA for kids but ended up making a game with a 15 certificate (most kids leave school at 16).
In any case, Bully isn't a bad game and it makes you think that you are playing a diluted version of Grand Theft Auto which is disappointing. I would love to see a hardcore version of the series but, due to the nature of the game, this is very unlikely to happen. Bully makes the wait for GTA4 even more unbearable.
77%
