Bully: Scholarship Edition Review

Summary:

An enjoyable experience with more narrative focus than most sandbox games.

Pros:

+ Lots to see and do, and reasons to do them

+ Mostly great voice acting

+ Interesting but subtle social dynamics

+ Intriguing plot full of parody in a fully realized world

Cons:

- Overall presentation lacks polish

- Battle system can feel repetive and sometimes buggy

- Some times AI can be annoying with repeating lines

- Characters lack visual expressiveness at times

Review:

[Originally written for Zentendo.com in April of 2008.]

In the time leading to its release, Bully was a game loaded with controversy: we didn't want our kids playing such a violent game that encourages kids to hurt other kids and disobey authority, blablabla...Looking at it from that standpoint, Bully did not merit half of the negative hype it received. It garnered attention because Rockstar was known for being crude and violent with its games, so naturally, Bully would follow that tradition. However, Bully is not as bad as the Grand Theft Auto titles in the violence category. No one can be killed, there are no real weapons (the most dangerous things you use are bottle rockets) no prostitutes, no nudity, no hot coffee...It's high school shenanigans, as advertised. That said, Rockstar has put together a pretty entertaining package by spending more time populating a world with personality rather than just making it incredibly huge.

Bully stars a fifteen year-old named Jimmy Hokins, a close-to-bald little punk kid who's been expelled from every school he goes to. His mother has just married some old rich coot and the two are dropping him off at an expensive private school while they go have a honeymoon cruise -- for an entire year. Bullworth Academy is reeking with foul people of all sorts, and Jimmy, being the tough guy he is, decides to take it upon himself to teach the entire school a lesson in respect. What follows is an engaging, quirky story full of people to love and people to hate because they just make you chuckle. The writing is witty, with a number of laughter-inducing remarks. Some of the random lines characters spurt out had me shaking my head and snickering at the perplexity of it all. It's nice to see a sandbox game where almost all of the characters residing in it are original and distinct from one another -- you will get to recognize the faces and voices of the characters you pass by, even people living in the town, which really helps sell it as a world in and of itself. Bullworth was designed to be a portrait full of everything we hated about high school, complete with cliques that live up to every stereotype you can imagine. It's a tribute and parody to those days gone by (for some of us), and whether you were popular or not, it's damn satisfying being able to virtually stick it to everyone.

Bully does have a fairly strong emphasis on narrative, but the gameplay is what holds the story together. Considering the wealth of options and goals to accomplish, Bully pulls off the mission-based/sandbox gameplay effectively. Whether you're cruising around town looking for collectibles, fending off idiots stupid enough to pick a fight, or completing missions to progress the story and beef up your character in some way, it's all enjoyable. Completely polished? No. Wii-specific sections were either enjoyable or incredibly frustrating -- having to aim with the Wiimote just did not feel as spot-on as we've come to expect. Tolerable, but oftentimes annoyingly slow. There is definitely something lacking in the game as a whole, from the presentation to the gameplay engine; however, it is very focused and has a lot more variety than many other games in the genre. While far from perfect, there's simply so much to do and almost always an incentive to do it -- not to mention the interesting narrative -- that Bully becomes a good example of a game that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Other games that try what this title does don't usually find the same success in how everything comes together, but I was left surprised and impressed with how cohesive and enjoyable the experience was as a whole. One example of this is was during a segment of the game where I had the preps thinking I was the man, and some jock picking a fight with me in front of their dorm -- one prep cried out something akin to "Unhand him, you vermin!" and before I knew it, a swarm of preppies pulverized him like a pack of dogs I didn't even have to call for. Bully manages to pull off some interesting moments like this for players who invest the time in its world.

That said, Bully does have some issues, as mentioned before. For starters, it is not a shining showcase of the Wii's graphical capabilities. While it has been bumped up slightly from its PS2 port, it is pretty easy to see that it is a PS2 game. Character models are usually pretty well animated, though the in-game cutscenes sometimes suffer due to relative lack of facial expression (mainly the eyes). It may not be beautiful to look at, but it's not ugly, either. Certain details help add some personality -- the characters change costumes on Halloween, wintertime, and summer, for example. The music can be a bit repetitious, but it's usually pretty good and has a seventies vibe to it -- likely because the game seems to take place during this era. Musical riffs are often set to specific types of people -- different tunes will play if you start a fight with any of the different cliques, for example. The voice acting is probably the shiniest part of the presentation, with excellent work all around. One or two voices lack a bit of punch once in a while, but it's a speck of dust in what is otherwise a well-selected cast. Jimmy Hopkins himself is a very interesting character who is rough and tumble and acts like quite a little prick, but somehow manages to come off as likable at the same time. Players make choices as to how Jimmy will treat other characters, but somehow, whether you're being mean or nice, he still comes through as cohesive and consistent; a tricky thing to do in a game of this nature without robbing the hero of personality. And did I mention that I was actually genuinely satisfied when I finally met our protagonist's real romantic interest? It was cute but not overplayed. Much of Bully's social interactions have some real heart to them in some strange way.

Bottom Line:

Bully: Scholarship Edition adds some new content from the PS2 version -- maybe not enough for fans to go through it all over again. It tries some new things with the Wiimote, but these are mostly bland and uninspired. The title also suffers from a general lack of sheen all over, but when compared to many other games, it's more than tolerable. What Bully doesn't do perfectly it makes up for by doing so much all at once and connecting it all cohesively into an entertaining world that rewards players for almost everything they decide to take the time to do. If you haven't given it a try, Bully: Scholarship Edition is definitely worth a look. Fans of sandbox games should find it to be a good time full of humor and parody.