Bully: Scholarship Edition (Xbox 360)
There was a lot of verbal diarrhea about this game in the mainstream press upon its release, most of it from Jack Thompson, who called it a Columbine simulator. Of course, none of the sanctimonious pundits ever manage to play these games that they decry, because if they did, they would realize that Bully is not so much Grand Theft Auto for kids as it is… well, Grand Theft Auto for kids. But only in the sense that it takes the open-world, mission-based gameplay of Grand Theft Auto and sanitizes it for teenage gamers. The worst things in this game are fighting and boys kissing other boys. Moral decay ahoy!
So anyway, in Bully you play Jimmy Hopkins, a trouble-prone kid sent to Bullworth Academy, a private school, to get out of his mother and stepfather’s hair. Jimmy finds out that the school, shockingly, is divided into cliques: nerds, jocks, preps, greasers, and bullies. So Jimmy decides to take over the school in an attempt to stop the rampant bullying. Sure, he’s an anti-hero who takes a Machiavellian approach to gaining the respect of the various factions, but you’re still trying to put an end to the bullying, as opposed to the media bloviating about how it’s encouraging it. And it’s interesting to note that Rockstar doesn’t paint any of the cliques as being completely good; even the nerds get sadistic and vengeful when their leader, Ernest, gets a little bit of power.
But enough about the sociological impact of video games. Bully: Scholarship Edition is a re-release of the PS2 original, with some added content. I can’t really comment on the editions, as I never played the original for more than a few minutes. What I can say is that Bully: SE is a deep, fun, addictive game that will have you playing for at least 20 or 30 hours. In contrast to other Rockstar games like the GTA series, the difficulty does not range from moderately challenging to psychotically hard. Instead, missions range from the more traditional approach of easy to hard. All I have to say is, thank God, because I get tired of the “go to the starting point, start mission, watch cutscene, go to point a, die five seconds later, reload, etc. etc. etc.” syndrome that Rockstar seems to enjoy. Unlike GTA, you do have to be wary of the time – you can be busted for truancy during classes you haven’t completed or for violating the 11 P.M. curfew, and you have to be in bed by 2 A.M. or you’ll pass out where you’re standing. It feels kind of restrictive at first, but once you get used to it, it’s a nice touch of realism, as opposed to GTA, where you could run/drive around for days on end without having to stop.
The missions are the usual fare of fighting, escorting, fetch quests, stealth, and other tasks, but there’s enough variety that they never get tedious. In addition, there are classes you must attend, each one involving a different minigame. For example, art is a knockoff of Qix, math is a multiple choice test, biology is a Trauma Center-esque dissection game, and music (my personal favorite) is a rhythm game involving out-of-tune public domain songs like “When the Saints Come Marching In”. For the completists out there, there’s plenty of peripheral stuff to do, from collecting hidden items (rubber bands and trading cards) and clothes (ranging from the prep hangout Aquaberry to a hole-in-the-wall barber/clothing store for punk paraphernalia) to completing bike races and other non-plot-centric challenges.
I can really find little to criticize in this game. Interacting with people can sometimes be a little buggy, and the load times are excessively long for a 360 game, but this is probably the best game Rockstar has put out. I am especially appreciative of the fact that the romance aspect (it’s just kissing, really) of the game involves some of the male students. It’s nice to know that there’s at least one developer who realizes there are gay gamers out there, and that homosexuality can be more than just a joke in their games. That being said, I fully endorse Bully: Scholarship Edition for the 360. Now let’s go beat up some nerds.
5 out of 5
There was a lot of verbal diarrhea about this game in the mainstream press upon its release, most of it from Jack Thompson, who called it a Columbine simulator. Of course, none of the sanctimonious pundits ever manage to play these games that they decry, because if they did, they would realize that Bully is not so much Grand Theft Auto for kids as it is… well, Grand Theft Auto for kids. But only in the sense that it takes the open-world, mission-based gameplay of Grand Theft Auto and sanitizes it for teenage gamers. The worst things in this game are fighting and boys kissing other boys. Moral decay ahoy!
So anyway, in Bully you play Jimmy Hopkins, a trouble-prone kid sent to Bullworth Academy, a private school, to get out of his mother and stepfather’s hair. Jimmy finds out that the school, shockingly, is divided into cliques: nerds, jocks, preps, greasers, and bullies. So Jimmy decides to take over the school in an attempt to stop the rampant bullying. Sure, he’s an anti-hero who takes a Machiavellian approach to gaining the respect of the various factions, but you’re still trying to put an end to the bullying, as opposed to the media bloviating about how it’s encouraging it. And it’s interesting to note that Rockstar doesn’t paint any of the cliques as being completely good; even the nerds get sadistic and vengeful when their leader, Ernest, gets a little bit of power.
But enough about the sociological impact of video games. Bully: Scholarship Edition is a re-release of the PS2 original, with some added content. I can’t really comment on the editions, as I never played the original for more than a few minutes. What I can say is that Bully: SE is a deep, fun, addictive game that will have you playing for at least 20 or 30 hours. In contrast to other Rockstar games like the GTA series, the difficulty does not range from moderately challenging to psychotically hard. Instead, missions range from the more traditional approach of easy to hard. All I have to say is, thank God, because I get tired of the “go to the starting point, start mission, watch cutscene, go to point a, die five seconds later, reload, etc. etc. etc.” syndrome that Rockstar seems to enjoy. Unlike GTA, you do have to be wary of the time – you can be busted for truancy during classes you haven’t completed or for violating the 11 P.M. curfew, and you have to be in bed by 2 A.M. or you’ll pass out where you’re standing. It feels kind of restrictive at first, but once you get used to it, it’s a nice touch of realism, as opposed to GTA, where you could run/drive around for days on end without having to stop.
The missions are the usual fare of fighting, escorting, fetch quests, stealth, and other tasks, but there’s enough variety that they never get tedious. In addition, there are classes you must attend, each one involving a different minigame. For example, art is a knockoff of Qix, math is a multiple choice test, biology is a Trauma Center-esque dissection game, and music (my personal favorite) is a rhythm game involving out-of-tune public domain songs like “When the Saints Come Marching In”. For the completists out there, there’s plenty of peripheral stuff to do, from collecting hidden items (rubber bands and trading cards) and clothes (ranging from the prep hangout Aquaberry to a hole-in-the-wall barber/clothing store for punk paraphernalia) to completing bike races and other non-plot-centric challenges.
I can really find little to criticize in this game. Interacting with people can sometimes be a little buggy, and the load times are excessively long for a 360 game, but this is probably the best game Rockstar has put out. I am especially appreciative of the fact that the romance aspect (it’s just kissing, really) of the game involves some of the male students. It’s nice to know that there’s at least one developer who realizes there are gay gamers out there, and that homosexuality can be more than just a joke in their games. That being said, I fully endorse Bully: Scholarship Edition for the 360. Now let’s go beat up some nerds.
5 out of 5
posted by Cole at
1:54 PM
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