Bully (PS2)

As I sat down to play Rockstar’s latest free roaming game, which by the way isn’t related to the GTA universe at all, a number of thoughts kept running through my head. Would Bully live up to the high standards set by most Rockstar games? Why did the game cause so much controversy when it’s rated “Teen”? How entertaining can a game about a boarding school be?

Well, after an entire weekend with this game, turns out I was pretty wrong as not only is Bully an excellent game, but it also proves that Rockstar is a highly talented studio capable of churning out games that don’t involve car jacking, hookers and wanton violence.

Bully starts off with a small cut scene that lays down the foundation of the game’s story; you’re Jimmy Hopkins, a freckled (and butt ugly) teenager who always manages to land himself in trouble, as a result of which, he’s been expelled from nearly every school he’s set foot in. Your mom and step dad have really had it with you and they decide to dump you at Bullworth Academy (BA) before they embark upon a year long honeymoon. Keep in mind, BA is no picnic; for the next year, you’re going to have to study, play, bully, get bullied, pull off a lot of pranks, make friends (and even more enemies), and most importantly survive—Canis Canem Edit indeed.

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Being a Rockstar game, Bully does resemble GTA structurally and through most of the game, you’ll undertake missions from various groups that involve teachers, students (there are four fractions here: Jocks, Nerds, Preppies and the Greasers) drunk hobos, drunk teachers (at least those who can’t deal with the stress) and more, but what sets Bully apart from the “been there done that” feel is its refreshing mission variety. One minute, you’re escorting a nerd to the toilet before he pees his pants, while in the next, you’re on a date with the local hottie trying to serenade her at the local Carnival and so on. While the bulk of the game takes place at Bullworth Academy, certain missions will send you to the nearby town (there aren’t a lot of vehicles in the game, but you’ll have access to bikes, skateboards, go karts etc) where you can also customize Jimmy; be it by changing his hairstyle, or suiting him up with some sharp new threads; it’s not as detailed as Fight for New York or San Andreas, but it’s still a pretty cool touch. Even though this game is made by Rockstar, don’t think you can go loco in the town and cause wide scale pandemonium, because if you so much as even run over a person (by mistake) with your bike, the local authority will be upon you before you know it.

Fun and games aside, this is a boarding school after all and you’ll have to make sure Jimmy attends classes or its detention/ a visit to the principal’s office for you. Classes are a bunch of mini games as well; for example Chemistry is a rhythmic mini game where you have to press different buttons as and when they enter the hot spot (similar to the dancing mini games from SA), while you have to run around the campus, clicking snaps of the school’s flags for photography, and luckily, they aren’t as tedious or boring as one may expect.

If for some reason, you feel you’re too cool for school and start bunking classes left, right and centre, you’ll have to tread (at least during the hours when you’re expected to be in class) carefully as the whole school will be swarming with prefects (they are the law in this game), who will come after you as soon as they spot you cutting class. To avoid being caught by them, you could always hide in a trash can or locker, and in a worse case scenario, if you end up getting caught, kick them in the nuts or the shin… and then hide in a trash can or locker.
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Speaking of kicking people in the nuts, Jimmy can deliver a whole lot of pain to students and prefects alike, thanks to a robust and sturdy combat system taken straight from Rockstar’s very own beat ‘em up, The Warriors. Now even though this game isn’t as graphic as The Warriors, you’ll still be able to use baseball bats (don’t worry, it’s not as messy as Manhunt), bricks, slingshots, firecrackers and more. If you feel your moves are not up to the mark, you could always visit the hobo who lives behind the school bus for some lessons. As and when his opponent’s health depletes sufficiently, he can finish them off (and by finish, I don’t mean mutilate or maim) with a finishing move of sorts like the Head Rub or an Indian rope burn or something that humiliating.

In all honesty, the game looks pretty good and squeezes every last ounce of power from your PS2; it’s no Gears of War, but a lot of attention has been given to buildings, environments and certain weather effects. One thing that did annoy (and surprise) me was the game’s loading times; I mean this game is from the same people who made the uber gigantic San Andreas where you could move around pretty seamlessly from one area to another, while in this game, moving to a new area greets you with a loading screen. Enter school…loading, leave school… loading, enter class… loading, leave class… l oading; you get the drift right? I have absolutely no complaints from the audio department; the OST kicks ass (very Harry Potter-ish in some sections), and voice acting is top notch (no surprise there eh?).

Stupid loading times and some minor backtracking aside, Bully is one game I definitely recommend. It’s got everything you’ve come to expect from a AAA Rockstar title; whacky humor, excellent voice acting, clich