If you missed it the first time, try it out now! You are missing out Real Score: 9.1
PROS: Great story, colorful characters, neat gameplay, open world, something original, Lots of personality, Still great after a few years, Great extras/ New classes, Large appeal, Tons to do
CONS: Frequent Glitches, Freezes the game, Frame rate drops, Not worth buying again if you beat the one on PS2
Rockstar Games, i know what you are thinking of.. Grand Theft Auto Series. Maybe Jack Thompson.. but if you enjoyed the Grand Theft Auto series, you will find out that Bully is very similar to GTA, yet your in the eyes f a 15 year old kid. Instead of Guns, you got Sling Shots, Potato Guns, Stink Bombs, etc.. Instead of stealing cars, you Steal bikes, or Motor Scooters. There is a ton of games that use guns, and are similar to GTA, however none in my mind takes on the role of a kid. In that same environment
In Bully you take on the role as 15 year old baddie, Jimmy Hopkins. Although you are only 15, you have a ton of baggage with you. Your Mom is a complete Slut, who marries and divorces in every moment she gets. You have been thrown out of 7 different schools in the past, and Jimmy is about to enter the worse school imaginable, Bullworth Academy. Your Goal, is to bring peace to the school, and take out one liar and cheater Gary.
So what makes Bullworth so bad? Well a ton! Bullworth has some of the craziest teachers. He has a Drunk English Teacher, a Hippie Music Teacher, a Corrupt Math teacher, a crazy Principle who wants to "clean your nose". and a perverted Gym teacher. But thats just the teachers. When you think of a school, you know that there are clicks that have followers and leaders. In Bully they take that idea, and exaggerate on each one. The Jocks are complete Idiots, the Nerds are nerdier then ever, and the Preps are stuck up as ever. What you gotta do is bring peace to the school, by gaining the trust and leadership of all the clicks.
What is neat about Bully that unlike other rockstar games, each character you meet has a name, and personality. You will not find 2 kids that look exactly the same, in fact you can take pictures of each kid, and store them in a year book, and see how each kid looks. Some kids have more personality,
Like Russell the GIGANTIC bully who likes to pick on kids, and Johnny who leads the Greasers. Its nice to see how they take the time in making each student.
Bully is an open world type of game, you can do pretty much anything you want! your map is not limited to the confines of school, but the whole town is available for you to explore. Like most Rockstar games, you have a set of missions that you complete, once they are done, you move on with the next and so one. But you can also, do errands for people. They consist of taking pictures of vandals, or throw water balloons at innocent town folk. You also can do side missions, like mowing lawns, or being a paper boy. Not only that, you can also play hooky from school any time. Although you do get in trouble, school is optional , and you don't need to attend school to beat the main story. So what else can you do instead of school, how about play a bunch of arcade games, or go to the carnival. There is a ton of stuff to do there. You can play a series of mini games, like shoot out, or dunk tanks. You can also ride roller coasters, and other rides. Also.... place bets on midget fights! how cool is that! You think GTA IV had a ton to do.. well i think Bully one ups them in that regard.
However the main blemish on this great game, is simple.. its extremely glitchy. The PS2 had some as well (at least the one i had.. it would get stuck in certain spots) The Xbox 360 version has weird technical issues, weird animations, freezes, get stuck.. (i had one major one on the final boss) it really hurts the game.. Bully itself is amazing to say the least.. but my only real complaint with the game is that. Fix the bugs would make this a hell lot better.. as well as the frequent frame rate drops.. even though the graphics are not even pushing the limits of the 360 in any ways..
So you are in school.. How can you make a game involving going to class fun?? well Rockstar pulled it off. They made very addicting mini games in each class. Like in Chem, you press the corresponding button, as the one on the screen. Or English, where you get a set of letters, and you make as many 3 + letter words as possible. Along with the old classes, Bully comes with 4 more classes then the original. Biology is a class where you can dissect frogs, and other animals. Music, is where you play different instruments by getting the beat, with the shoulder buttons. You also have shop class, where you repair bikes, and Photo Class, where you take pictures of different things. You have 5 levels of each class, and by beating each level, you get a prize of some sort. Like In art, the better you are, the more health you get by kissing girls, or Geography, where you can locate rubber bands, or cards on you map. Although each class is optional, they are def. fun to play, and its rewarding..
Overall Rockstar made a gem, Bully takes what GTA does, yet puts it into the eyes of a kid, and makes it less adult. While still retaining that freedom to do as you please. (like Giving wedgies, and dunking kids heads in toilets) Even though this is a port, with the extra age, it still is a blast to play, and if you missed it the first time, you def. need to check it out.
Breakdown
Gameplay: Lots of cool childish weapons, the gameplay is great, well if you forget about the glitches
Graphics: its improved over the PS2, but not by much.. def. does not look good compare to many other 360 games.. but it does its job..
Sound: Great original sound track. its original, and fits the game nicely
Value: the main story takes about 13-20 hours give or take.. but you can easily double that time with extras in the game.. including multiplayer
Overall: Great game, def. check the game out if you get the chance.. you should experience this game.. weather its one PS2, 360 or Wii.