Bully: Scholarship Edition

The developer synonymous with controversy released its spoof on school life two years ago on the PS2. But Rockstar has since ported its acclaimed title Bully to the Wii and Xbox 360. The Wii version, while having nearly identical visuals to the PS2 version, sports impressive motion controls that make this year-old game worth playing again. 

When Jimmy Hopkin’s parents dump off this sarcastic tough guy at Bullsworth Academy, he knows it’s going to be a hard climb to the top. Not only does Jimmy have to act as a buffer between multiple warring “factions,” like the Jocks, Nerds, and Preps, but also find true love with a girl, or even a boy. Rockstar Vancouver went all out with this game with an impressive original musical score and some of the finest writing and voice acting in video games. Best of all, the game is hilarious. Seriously.

 
“Ah, the private education system.”

While Bully is set in an open-world, like its similarly controversial brother GTA, the game is fairly centralized around the school, Bullsworth Academy. Missions can vary greatly in this game, from simple fetch quests to more complex, multi-step ones, of which most are fully cinematic with fantastic voice acting and some of the most hilarious writing around. And since this is the “Scholarship Edition,” Rockstar gave this port eight new missions and some new mini-games. Of course, once the New England-inspired town of Bullworth opens up, and the other areas as well, the game will start to feel a lot more like GTA. Perhaps the coolest part of the game is the Carnival, which is chock full of hilarious gags and mini-games to play (Go-karts anyone?).

Players also have a lot of different gameplay options to choose from. On their ascension up the social ladder, players can use their fisticuffs, slingshot, or even firecrackers to fight other bullies, or just pick on nerds (Oh, memories of high school). Getting around Bullsworth can involve running, but eventually more advanced modes of transportation will become available, like the always-fun bicycle (C.J. from San Andreas would be jealous).

 
“And memories of high school come rushing back…”

If you’re interested in finding more detail about the game itself, I encourage readers to read the PS2-specific review on GameZone of Bully. Here, I want to go into detail on the Wii-specific features. Players will use the Wii-mote and the nunchuck to represent their right and left hands in a fight. Punching actually works very well, and various combinations of button presses with a swift punch will result in uppercuts, head butts, and many other special moves that Jimmy learns throughout the game. Occasionally the nunchuck will feel unresponsive, both in fighting and in some other mini-games, but it was only spotty.

During the day, Jimmy is supposed to go to school, or else he will be considered “truant” and Precepts will chase him if they see him. Of course, going to school is up to the player, but the classes are actually fun. In the Wii version, classes like Music feature the Wii’s motion controls and add a lot to the gameplay. Players pretend to wield drum sticks via the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, hitting a cow bell to the beat. In Biology class, players will dissect dead rats, a la Trauma Center. Other games that don’t use the motion controls, like in English where you make words out of a jumble, work well and are still generally fun. The games are all relatively simple but provide a break between the more complex and harder story missions.

Even though the motion controls are a lot of fun to play with, there is still something about a Rockstar game that makes fighting and indoor exploration cumbersome. While attacks with the slingshot have been tweaked to automatically target when fired, it’s very easy to get lost in the confusion of battle. Sometimes I found myself swinging the Wii Remote madly to attack and not getting a solid response. Generally though, the control is tight, and I think most people will enjoy it. Uses like the scoped-slingshot (just like a sniper-rifle) or the first-person camera mode use the Wii’s IR flawlessly. But when running around inside areas like the school, even while the buildings are slightly oversized, the gameplay still feels clunky.

Gameplay: 7.5
While the Wii-motion controls feel good on the whole and are definitely more visceral than a button press, the game still has a clunky feeling. If you like GTA’s gameplay, you won’t have a problem here, however.

Graphics: 8.0
About the same as the PS2’s graphics, this game is really showing its age. But few games on the Wii are as expansive and have as much character as Bully.

Sound: 9.5
The music is fantastic in Bully. The minimal, sometimes single bass note score is very original. Also, the voice acting is incredible. The actors bring a lot of nuance to their characters, even to the “crowd” noises you hear from students.

Difficulty: Medium
Occasionally, failing a multi-leveled mission will require you to restart the mission completely (it can be frustrating). Overall, the difficulty range is well implemented.

Concept: 8.0
Even though this game is two years old and feels very similar to GTA in a lot of ways, the story and writing are just as fresh as if it were brand new.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Co-op with friends to play mini-games is fun, but not worth a purchase on its own.

Overall: 8.5
The Wii version succeeds with intuitive motion controls. So if you still haven’t played Bully, now’s the time.