It’s somewhat disingenuous to say that I’ve completed the game when I haven’t finished all the classes; however, I’ve finished all 85 main story and side story missions, and the classes are simply mini-games that I can play along with Lisa.
Let me officially begin the review by saying that this title is a must-own for Wii owners. I haven’t played any of the other incarnations, nor do I ever intend to. Bully: SE fits on the Wii perfectly. Rockstar tailored the controls to the game so well that it’s very hard to believe that this game is as rewarding or satisfying on any other console.
Briefly: Bully follows the story of 15 year old Jimmy Hopkins. You must guide Jimmy through a year at Bullworth Academy and survive the trials and tribulations of being a teenager at a boarding school.
The game is based on the GTA engine. If you’re familiar with the series, the physics, models, and annoyances will be recognizable. However, nearly every texture gets a face lift. Characters are well detailed, and there’s a huge number of them. Within the Academy itself, there are no ‘generic’ students – every student has their own voice, face, personality and quirk. Once you’re running around the city, the various boroughs are small enough that character repetition is kept to a minimum. Unlike GTA, there are tons of random dialogue; even after 15+ hours of playing, I’m still hearing new phrases and conversations.
The game is also very easy. The game can be beaten without doing any side missions, which I imagine would make the game fairly boring and tedious. If you complete several courses, you unlock features that make the game a cakewalk; for instance, by completing the chemistry courses, you can generate weapons in your dorm room (itching powder, stink bombs, fire crackers). These unlockables are easy to earn, and once earned makes the game a relative snap. There’s no reason not to stick a ‘kick-me’ sign or give a wedgie to a prefect – the worst that will happen is that you get sent to detention (which, if done enough times, will unlock other items). In GTA, you lose your weapons, money, the mission you were on, the vehicle, making getting caught a serious concern.
Therein lies the beauty of this game. There’s almost no pressure to do anything, anywhere. It captures the mood of the teenage years with a kid who has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Ninety-nine percent of the missions make you want to play more, experience more, explore more, and practice more. I mean, I’ve beaten the game, but I haven’t considered it done yet. Even if I achieve 100%, there are so many amusing mini-games that it’s hard to contemplate putting it down.
As for the nits: the major gripe that has always plagued GTA is the aiming system. If you’re not familiar with the GTA quirks you’ll likely get frustrated. Thankfully, you can switch to first person mode anytime and simply use the wiimote as a light-gun.
The other nit is specific to one mission, “Finding Johnny”. The mission had a lot of bugs (or the location) had a couple bugs: Jimmy had to be lined up in a certain way or he’ll get caught without fail, sometimes you get caught between furniture and can’t get out, and the biggest bug – if you pass out during the mission (Jimmy gets really sleep after 1.30am), wake up and try the mission again, the wii completely crashes. Since the ease of the game doesn’t require to save religiously, I lost a few hours of work in the process. Is it a show stopper? Absolutely not. I hadn’t encountered anything like that in any other part of the game, and it’s one mission out of eighty-four (though, it is a main story mission).
Unlike GTA, there’s nothing remotely tawdry about Bully. Some jokes and stories are sophmoric (as to be expected!), but no more so than the average Will Ferrel movie. And while the outer city is smaller land wise than even GTA3, there is a great deal more interaction with the environment. There’s also a multi-player option, but I’ve yet to try it.
In sum, this game is a definite ‘get’.
Thank you Nora!
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2 Comments
I have to say, this is the first game in a long time that I’ve enjoyed watching you play. And I really like the classes.
Nora is glad you liked your present, I’m sure.
This game seemed really neat when I watched you play – I am definitely interested in playing. Thanks for the review!