Bully

Zombie Proof

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Casual Shinji said:
Dirty Hipsters said:
Ezekiel said:
Played it for fifteen minutes just now. First impressions, the combat isn't good and I don't care for the main character. Might refund it. I've been refunding a lot of games lately.
Yeah, the combat isn't particularly great (as in all rockstar games). It does get better as you learn more moves, but never gets really good.
Honestly, of all the games I played featuring non-fancy, non-martial arts brawling, this one's probably one of my favourites. I can't think of any other game that allows me to do a running tackle-grapple and then follow that up with a vicious knee to the balls. Satisfying as all hell.
I remember The Warriors on PS2, also by Rockstar, had a similar dirty, grapple-based combat. This was all the more fun if you were playing co-op because you got to do things like hold an enemy while your friend beat him up, stuff like that. Sleeping Dogs also has a lot of intense CQC that's immensely satisfying (tackles, jumpkicks, kneebreakers, etc).
The Warriors really needs a cleaned up pc release. Not only is it a fantastic brawler, its one of the best movie/game tie-ins ever made.
 

Terminal Blue

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Yeah, it's pretty fun.

Like, a lot of the game's internal humour comes from the fact that it is very literally a GTA game set in a high school, with gangs replaced by cliques and the vaguely unlikable criminal protagonist replaced by a vaguely unlikable kid with behavioural issues (although, as mentioned, he does grow on you a bit which is more than I can say of any GTA protagonist). In that sense, how much you enjoy it is probably going to depend a bit on how much you can get into that slightly tongue in cheek headspace and view the "flaws" in the gameplay and narrative as charming rather than obnoxious.

The only negative point I would really bring up is OMG minigames.. If you don't like minigames, you may find this one annoying (although again, I'm pretty sure the minigames are supposed to be a bit annoying as most of them represent school classes, see above as to whether this counts as an excuse for you, it worked on me).
 

Chewster

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Still one of my favs. Interesting and likable characters (certainly more likable than most in the GTA series' IMHO), very solid voice acting and the New England-esque setting was rather unique and fun to explore. Bonus points: you can make out with guys and girls and that caused a few idiot talking heads to have some mild conniptions when it first came out.

Great soundtrack too. In fact, the best track is right here:

The Big Game! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMJarWLz9SE]

Only game I actually 100%'d too IIRC. I'll probably buy it again if it ever comes on sale on PS4.

ZombieProof said:
The Warriors really needs a cleaned up pc release. Not only is it a fantastic brawler, its one of the best movie/game tie-ins ever made.
This too. Bought it again recently on PS4 and it's still fun as hell but holy eff is it ugly to look at sometimes. Those textures are brutal.
 

Ravenbom

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It's OK. I tried to play it again recently on PC and ran into a lot of bugs which partly put me off. The other part is that I've become so accustomed to checkpoints, which wouldn't be a problem if it was stable on Win10 Steam.

It definitely looks it's age: I first played it on Wii, then 360 and now PC and it's art style hasn't aged well, unlike other games of the time that used a more stylistic design. (Psychonauts, Jet Set Radio, Okami, Wind Waker, Beyond Good and Evil)

But I'd still say it's a solid, OK game.
 

CriticalGaming

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I only played Bully once when it first came out, I didn't think it was all that interesting. Although that is probably because the theme of the game just didn't interest me.

I'd be curious to see if the graphics and gameplay held up in 2017. Because it looks ugly as hell on the steam page.
 

Catnip1024

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Awesome game. The fact that it only got one game, while GTA is still running, is just wrong.

Could've done to be bigger. Could've had more challenge. But at the end of the day, I had more fun with the random gizmos the kid in Bully uses than any of the GTA weaponry. Potato cannon ftw.

And, because it is so awesome, massively overpriced these days compared to other games of its age.
 

Xprimentyl

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Bully was great, essentially GTA Lite; instead of being a ruthless, violent criminal, you get to be a harmless-if-meddlesome imp at a boarding school dispatching wedgies and staying out past curfew. I recall it being really charming with a lot of nice little touches sprinkled throughout that just made the world come alive. And honestly, I feel the game benefits from it being last gen; the simpler art style lends to its charm; I don?t think Bully would feel the same if it had the more realistic art style that it?s GTA siblings go for. It is a completionist?s nightmare though; every other achievement is ?do [this] 200 times? or ?collect 100 of [this].?
 

Padwolf

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Bully you ask? Prepare thy anus my friend, for you get to go on a charming little journey.

Bully takes you on a journey through all school factions. It's fecking great. I don't know of any other game that lets you take on a group of nerds with a slingshot, trash a rich kids house, save an alchoholic teacher, kiss women to regain health, stuff kids in lockers, leave a bag of dog shit on a doorstep and get the school hobo to teach you how to fight. There's plenty more.

The protagonist is strangely charming, and he grows on you. The game is hilarious and it never takes itself seriously.

Give it a go. It's bloody worth it.
 

Zombie Proof

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Ezekiel said:
ZombieProof said:
Ezekiel said:
Played it for fifteen minutes just now. First impressions, the combat isn't good and I don't care for the main character. Might refund it. I've been refunding a lot of games lately.
Damn man. You're a tough customer some times hahaha
Played it some more just now. I'm not gonna refund it. But I need to look at ways to reduce crashes later. I just lost about thirty minutes of progress. Don't feel like doing that again right now. I'm already running it as admin in compatibility mode, XP service pack 3.
That sucks man. I had some minor framerate issues playing the steam version but that's about it. Nothing as fraked up as crashes but I hear I'm in the minority in this instance. Either way, this thread's made me wanna reinstall Bully and go through it again. I just may do that once I've wrapped up Prey. It looks like I'm nearly done too.