It Pays To Be A Bully

Sorry for the long hiatus of my posts; I've just been busy. Let me apologize with my review of "Bully: Scholarship Edition" for the Nintendo Wii

BULLY: SCHOLARSHIP EDITION
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar/Take-Two Interactive
Consoles: Wii, PS2, Xbox 360

Rockstar has done it again.

Taking the fun destructive and blatent disregard for authority from it's signature "Grand Theft Auto" series and adding the humour and young rebellion of the schoolyard to create "Bully", a game where you play through a year at the New England boarding school of Bullworth Academy as 15-year-old delinquant Jimmy Hopkins, who is more-or-less abandoned by his inattentive mother and new step-father as they go on honeymoon during the game's duration.

Jimmy has a number of weapons at his disposal that are basically junior versions of those found in GTA, like stink bombs, fire crackers, itching powder, and, after the 3rd mission, a slingshot with unlimited ammo. Eventually, you can even move up to bigger items, like a fireworks rocket launcher after you take the Nerd's safehouse in the third chapter, and a potato cannon in the forth.

The game's story itself is also well told in cutscenes that pretty accurately show school life. Unlike GTA, where people who walk the streets are nameless, faceless, and occasionally voiceless AI, everyone in Bullworth has their own name and voice. The main characters are pretty good too. Jimmy himself is a tough, wisecracking smart guy who is discribed by others as 'sadistic' or a 'psychopath', but that's really only if you play him that way. As a nerd, I had a tendency to beat up the other bullies the most out of all the factions.

Speaking of, there are six main factions at constant battle with each other: Nerds, Jocks, Preps, Greasers, and Townies. The fighting goes as follows:
Nerds v. Jocks
Preps v. Greasers
Townies v. all kids attending Bullworth.

All factions will beat you up until you beat up their leader in a final confrontation and take command. The first one you become the boss of is the Bullies, when you beat the behemoth Russell in the first chapter's boss fight. Then it goes Preps, Greasers, Nerds, Jocks, and Townies.
Gary, the game's main antagonist, takes over nearly every group at some point, eventually leading all factions into warring with each other at the game's climax. He even takes the headmaster hostage and forces Jimmy into a final showdown with him at the top of the school's highest tower.

You also have a quote/unquote 'sidekick' named Pete Kowalski, who is meek, but that really just covers his sneaky and plotting mind, which Jimmy uses to his advantage. He starts as Gary's sidekick, but switches alligences after the first chapter.

Other groups of the game include the teachers of the school, the Bullworth Police, the Academy Prefects, the adult Townies, and, finally, girls.

Girls are mysterious creatures Jimmy doesn't really understand, but is always eager for a quick make out session (Well...unless it's Eunice. You'll see.). There are a couple times where you have to sneak into the girls dorm, but it's never really a hassel; each dorm room has a closet to hide in if their dorm advisor comes looking around, but trust me when I say that's probably the dullest part of the game when you're waiting for her to leave. Her voice is annoying too. I'm not sure if I can take another outburst of "Have you finished your homework girls?" or "You're in a world of trouble, young man!" when caught.

Quickly changing the subject before I kill myself from the memory, the town of Bullworth is a nice, large town, with lots of different places to explore. Initially, you can only go around the school grounds, but after Chapter 1, you can visit Bullworth Town, to the school's right, and the ritzy Old Bullworth Vale to the left. There's also a number of things to do in town, like bike races, running errands for students, cops, and adults, and even getting jobs that manifest in minigames like a paper route, mowing lawns, and, during winter, shovelling snow.

There's also a carnival in the Vale, where you can partake in more minigames and even go-kart races. If you win all 5 carnival races, you can go on to street races. If you beat all 3 of those, you can zip around Bullworth in your very own go-kart.

Speaking of, the vehicles of the game all work pretty well for a schoolyard sim. The first one you obtain is a skateboard, which isn't fast, but can get you from A to B. When you can get out of the school grounds in the second level, you can purchace a bike. My favourite model was the Aquaberry Cruser, and is the fastest of the purchasable bikes. You can also buy a moped at the Carnival with 75 tickets, which you get from playing games. The moped's the fastest bike, but be prepared to get in trouble if you don't wear a helmet while on it. You can even use the moped during races, but it kinda feels like cheating.

Kinda.

FINISH LATAA