#10 Bully

Still hoping to get Civilization: Revolution as my next rented game, but instead I received Bully this time. More accurately I should say Bully: Scholarship Edition, as this is a "beefed up" conversion from the original PS2 game. Now this is one of the original games (along with Dead Rising) that I put on the "games" queue for LoveFilm - it has been one of the games which came along, I said I'd give it a try, but it must have been a busy period or I was short of cash or something as it's been a long time since it's release.

Now it might be quite lazy to say that Bully is GTA set in a school, but in a nutshell that's essentially it.It is made by Rockstar also, but actually the Vancouver studio rather than Rockstar North who are famously responsible for the GTA series.
The presentation is just like GTA, down to the style of the mini-map (curiously the health meter is very reminiscent of GTA4, which came much after this game - one idea that went the other way), the construction and pacing of the cut scenes, even down to how the camera works during tutorial set pieces and how the helpful popup text looks.

Bully was surrounded with a lot of controversy pending its release, not unlike the scrutiny that the GTA games have received. Many believed that it would glorify bullying in schools and promote it as a positive image. Thanks to this controversy, the game sold pretty well and actually the game does not in fact give the above message, the story in fact offers a flipside where you partner up with the less popular cliches in the school and help them overcome the jocks and bullies.

So following in the same mould as GTA , there are the multiple mission-based storylines dotted throughout the school and later the nearby town. That being said, the sandbox in Bully is not quite upto par with the GTA series, there is scope to annoy fellow students with the variety of "mischief" weapons such as laying marbles to trip them, stink bombs, itching powder etc, but it does feel very limited and only serves to be a short-lived distraction.

Adding to the now tried and tested formula are the idea of Classes which you attend a the school. These take the form of short mini-games which more often than not are quicktime events which rely on well timed button presses that scroll on screen. The only mini-game I struggled on was English class (embarrassingly) which takes the form of a word jumble where you have to construct as many words as possible from a set of letters in the time allotted - I was not able to pass that class after the couple goes I had *shakes head*. They are a welcome relief from the free-roaming mission-based storyline, but are rather too simplistic to gain any real joy from them.

The GTA comparison has been done to death but we're almost through. Like in GTA, Bully does use a number of varied gameplay mechanics including sneaking sections a la Splinter Cell/Metal Gear Solid, Some first person action with the slingshot and some driving sections in the go-karts. Now, each of these sections in isolation do not hold up against titles which specialise in that genre, but just like GTA, Bully is more than the sum of its parts - the many options that the game offers a varying experience along the lengthy journey to completion.

The game is a lot of fun but is ultimately let down by a poor conversion. A lot of the graphics are lo-res and look down right ugly in HD, plus there are frame rate issues for a lot of the game. If these can be overlooked, then Bully is a deep enough experience to derive some enjoyment from it. I only had the game for about a week and I made it approx 25-30% through the game, and I didn't bother much with all the optional missions. Not to mention there is a multiplayer option where a friend can jump into your game which I didn't try out, I am not sure how much they can help your story progress - most likely is that it's like the 2 player option in previous GTA titles where you are both limited to the confines of the single screen and you cause havoc as you see fit.

Overall, Bully is good, not great. If open-world sandbox games are your thing then look it up, Rockstar are kings of the genre and whilst this is the not their best (a different studio probably being the main reason behind that, no Rockstar North magic), it is certainly a good offering and an interesting take on the genre , not featuring any guns, gangsters or serious crimes.