Publisher: Rockstar Games, Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar Vancouver Published: October 17, 2006 Category: Action Players: 1 Also for: Xbox Rockstar's one of the best and most unique action-adventure game which is a aptly named as Bully. As the name suggests the game puts you in situation to handle the torments of bullies, learn to fight with them or even knock them down on their knees. The game has such a wonderful storyline which is a package full of plots and twists which makes Bully really exciting. The game starts with a cutscene involving the protagonist of the game, a 15-year-old troublemaker Jimmy Hopkins. Jimmy ends up in a boarding school by her newly remarried mother and her wealthy husband. Actually, their idea is to leave him in the school and happily spend their entire year living free of troubles. The school is run by many small groups of people belonging to different sections. There are many students you will meet in the game. You become friend with Gary, a student who wants to take over the school. But, Gary removes his picture really early off the game leaving you behind the eyes of the authority. The gameplay, storyline, and the setting of the game is really worthwhile. The characters are really well-made and you can expect nerds,greasers or even cheerleaders to roam around the school. Jimmy has strong character and is quite a smart kid. His excellent dialogues makes him away from any personalities in the game portraying his right character and importance in the game. Though being made by Rockstar the game really keeps up for its Teen ESRB rating and not being violent like most of the Rockstar games (For example - GTA, of course ). The game has practically a non-linear storyline, but the options are specifically fixed on your first decision. At the start you're in a school and you're allowed only to attend about one class at minimum. You always wake up at 8 AM, and have classes to your accordances, each class has a specific day and time. So, if you accidentally miss a class you'll have to wait till the next week. For example- You go in class at 10 AM and you go for one more class at about 2 PM and if you want to go out night you might be breaking the rules of the school or even the city, if you're getting up at about 12 PM night, apparently you're attending a curfew ( Things get a little boring when you don't break rules ), you can be safe if you how to get rid of prefects in the school or the police in the city. The game time goes really fast, so you can do missions according to your speed. The problem is that you have limited in a day to get your things done. You might get bored being at the school. But, you'll realize that the classes have a lot of benefits, each class gives you really strong bonuses that come handy throughout the game. Eg- If you do your gym classes well your fighting skills get concreted and your accuracy rapidly increases- The gym has 2 types of games one is the Dodge Ball that of course increases your accuracy and other is wrestling where you learn more stronger fighting tactics. In English classes, you are provided with set of letters and you have to find as much words you can before the time runs out. English classes have a very important bonus, if you get caught by the police you can beg/apologize to them and avoid getting busted. Chemistry class gives you bonus of keeping a chemistry set in your room so that you can make stink bombs and firecrackers. There is one garage that has one extra class in which you have to put together the parts of a BMX, which in return you can use after the class is over. Photography, which is the least essential in the game gives you an ability of using a camera. These classes are not so time consuming and you'll find that not even half way through the game you finished all the classes. NOTE- The Scholarship Edition includes a new class that is Biology class. Since, I don't know more about it in detail you can find it out yourself on many sites. Bully's storyline is made up into chapters. Each chapter will teach you about the different segments of the game. Eg- A mission tasks you to wipe out the Preppies ( bloody rich kids ) in their rings and teach them a lesson. Another mission tasks you to wipe out the Jocks ( Hefty, Bullies and Rugby players ) from a certain area to help the Nerds out. The game includes many naughty missions- Like, when you sneak into the girls dorm and take naughty pictures. During the game you'll also help out many teachers also. Like the psycho gym teacher asks you to panty raid or help out the alcoholic English teacher in his personal matters. All missions in the game are generally not to lengthy or difficult and all the missions have such suspense that they will keep you curious to know the end. Jimmy learns many things as you voyage through the game. Later, Jimmy learns to interact with people .. you can greet them nicely or badly, start flirting with girls or even kiss them. These can also be used to hire bodyguards and bullies. The game has lot of strange,unusual and of course strong weapons- the slingshot, a bottle rocket launcher, itching powder, stink bombs and your most used weapons your hands and legs. As I said the really keeps up to its Teen ESRB rating- their no guns and weapons that would cause a death. The enemies in the game are as strong as strong as you because they can block your kicks or even fist attacks, the best way to avoid a long battle is to use a weapon. However, battling with a single person is manageable but fighting with a group of enemy can be difficult. The fighting system is quite nicely implemented in the game and even if the groups are too hard to fight, defeating a person drops many life restoring things and can be easy. Looking from the point of graphics, Bully provides real-looking faces and has showcased graphics of which PS2 is capable of... it really makes them alive. Though the graphics really good but the frame rate not 100%. The voice cast in the game is fantastic, providing the suitable voices for each character. The sound is also perfect but the sounds that play during the gameplay is somewhat taken from '' Harry Potter'' but these sounds really give a cinematic feeling. Bully is not like most of the game, it's perfect storyline, gameplay and sound are really memorable and is one game that every gamer should give it try despite having some minor problems. Pesonally, it's one of my best game on PS2. Presentation – 10/10 – the game is presented neatly, and it's nearly difficult to find faults in it. Besides, the storyline really suits the game well and gives one unique experience. Gameplay – 9/10 - The game is really good. But, still you might get in a confusion while learning the basic gameplay of the game. The game's fighting system is different from other games and merely gives you a complaint. Graphics – 8/10 – The graphics are really good, the faces are charming to look at and the environment feels really nice and remembers you of your childhood. The main problem comes between the perfect graphics is the a little unusual frame rate. Sound – 9/10 – The sound is also nice and brings the game alive. The sounds are good and soothing to hear. Replayability – 9/10 – It's fun to play the game again... Total Score - 45/50 - Just the game you need to play. Full description You're not going to take it anymore. From edgy publisher Rockstar's Vancouver development team comes this dark comedy set in the most vile and sadistic setting yet in a Rockstar videogame: the schoolyard. As a troublesome schoolboy, you'll laugh and cringe as you stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the fictitious reform school, Bullworth Academy.
Re: [ PS2 ] Bully - Vincent V I don't remember of any country banning this game. But if you say so... And this game isn't called Bully, it's Canis Canem Edit. Bully was it's first name, but rockstar changed it sometime before the game's release. Apart from that, nice review.
Re: [ PS2 ] Bully - Vincent V I know it, but I like the initial name./Almo, I don't remember it getting banned anywhere.
Re: [ PS2 ] Bully - Vincent V Yeah, I played at this at my friends, hilarious. It supposedly got a lot of attention and media for the content though. Very nice review. It's called Canis Canem Edit in NZ.
Re: [ PS2 ] Bully - Vincent V I've been throwing around the idea of trying this one out since I can get a copy for $15 and after reading this, I'm definitely going to give it a try now. Nice review.
Re: [ PS2 ] Bully - Vincent V I't a quite nice game, however it gets somewhat boring after some time. I have it for , what, one year?, and I never finished, because I got bored with it.
