Disclaimer: This is a critical review. If you like this game you will cry and rage. Eat it.
Rockstar's confusing titled ?Bully? (or ?Canis Canem Edit? if you roll that way) is a tired spin on the popular Grand Theft Auto series, set this time, in a school. I read some positive reviews for it, and as such, was quite excited about it. Now, before I get started, let me say that I'm not that fond of the Rockstar method of ?creating? games - namely, take GTA, cut out some features, add old ones, re-skin the models and voila ? a new game. Yeah, it may have a different body, but it's the same psychopath lurking under the surface and I'll bet four tortured animals on it.
The problem with Bully is that it's incredibly confusing. As opposed to being a fairly black and white character of no remorse and enough sociopathic tendencies to emasculate Hitler, you're every Jason Statham character with even less personality. If I'm meant to play a gangster, then he's obviously going to be a badass which ever way you look at it ? the profession justifies the actions. Jimmy, our protagonist in Bully, is like controlling a piece of four by four who's bad because, well HE'S BAD.
I guess the problem is, the whole story line is a tale of hypocrisy. You can't ever work out who the illustrious ?bully? is. Jimmy is fighting against Gary ? a Seann William Scott clone with a chip on his shoulder ? as Gary attempts to take over the school. Thing is, Jimmy's use of fire fighting fire is hardly morally supportable and gives him little ground to stand on when you actually think about the way he treats his fellow pupils like scum to achieve his ends. You don't feel like a paragon of equality, you feel more like the OTHER cretin ? the other bully. Now, this would be fine and logical if Rockstar hadn't tried to pin Jimmy as some sort of everyman, out to fight the oppressors and free everyone from bullying forevermore, or given him softer sides where his character breaks facade to reveal his noble ambitions. Plenty of individuals think that the ends justify the means, however this makes Bully fail in my book, as Jimmy becomes more of a hypocritical turd that decorates your screen with stupid catchphrases and jockery seen in every teenage movie for the last three decades. I think the biggest irony of all this is the fact that the prime demographic for video games are typically those who often live at the mercy of bullies. I suppose it wouldn't be breaking form for Rockstar to offer an unhealthy shadenfreude method of catharsis to those poor souls by giving them an opportunity to bully those just like them. Psychology aside, like watching Jason Statham, the main storyline with its bland, shallow, exposition delivered morality just makes the whole experience, well, annoying. I'd like to say that I threw the controller through the screen out of rage or perhaps converted the disc into a casual jacket. But I didn't ? it wasn't that disappointing ? it was just average. So I just turned it off, poured myself a cool glass of orange juice and watched MTV for a while.
Game play wise, it gets a bit repetitive. I say this because many of the actual game features, aside from the serviceable fighting combat, feel like tacked together mini games. It's as though someone has strung a story and world around a poor man's Xbox Live Arcade. I never felt that there was any depth to Jimmy's actions, as he appeared to be brilliant at everything. I never had to go back and replay something or take the time to get good at it; whether it be a Space Invaders clone or Bike Racing, because he just excelled at everything. I got the feeling that if I, the player, wasn't present, Jimmy could still win any task assigned, and his arrogance affirmed this - to the degree where I disliked him so much I accidentally let him be maimed in a game of bike vs car chicken. Now, I like to work my way up, and develop my character. I would have preferred to start off as a nerd and build myself into a position of power. Instead, it feels as though the whole game could have ended in the first 15 minutes if Jimmy had just organised an open brawl and rocked up with enough mind numbing arrogance that it would have taken a physical form and stupided everyone to death.
Similarly, a lot of the nice unlockable costumes actually have very little effect on your character other than making him incredibly frustrating to play, as every law enforcer in sight has issue with your non school regulation attire. I like the idea of Bill the character artist coming out of his darkened cave, covered in coffee stains, blessed with a condition of DVT and shortsightedness, triumphantly declaring that the costumes were completely rendered and ready. Oh Bill, I weep for you, your pointlessly toil-full existence.
Okay, I should probably talk about the game now. The music is repetitive to the point where a family member would become irritated by it after three minutes in the room. The graphics aren't great, but we can live with that ? the fun cartoon style works well and gives the whole game a bouncy feel that it really needs. The dialog, with the exception of Jimmy and Gary, is nice, and characters were built who I were so fond of (Algie and Russell) that I greeted them verbally ? in the style of a mesmerized 5 year old. The controls for vehicles are incredibly clunky and generic, and Jimmy, typically good at everything, is able to jump 2 stories just because he can. The whole thing generally seems very patchy.
I guess I wanted to like Bully, due to the ?undiscovered gem? award so many big review publications gave it, but in the end, it felt sort of flat. It was as though the team weren't communicating when they made it, with all departments pulling in a different direction and emphasizing different experiences within the game. Now, this didn't ruin it, but it made everything a lot shallower than I felt it deserved. What could have been another cash cow in the Rockstar franchise appeared to have been unloved, uncashed and subsequently bullied to death (arbitrary, semi-irrelevant pun).
Rockstar's confusing titled ?Bully? (or ?Canis Canem Edit? if you roll that way) is a tired spin on the popular Grand Theft Auto series, set this time, in a school. I read some positive reviews for it, and as such, was quite excited about it. Now, before I get started, let me say that I'm not that fond of the Rockstar method of ?creating? games - namely, take GTA, cut out some features, add old ones, re-skin the models and voila ? a new game. Yeah, it may have a different body, but it's the same psychopath lurking under the surface and I'll bet four tortured animals on it.
The problem with Bully is that it's incredibly confusing. As opposed to being a fairly black and white character of no remorse and enough sociopathic tendencies to emasculate Hitler, you're every Jason Statham character with even less personality. If I'm meant to play a gangster, then he's obviously going to be a badass which ever way you look at it ? the profession justifies the actions. Jimmy, our protagonist in Bully, is like controlling a piece of four by four who's bad because, well HE'S BAD.
I guess the problem is, the whole story line is a tale of hypocrisy. You can't ever work out who the illustrious ?bully? is. Jimmy is fighting against Gary ? a Seann William Scott clone with a chip on his shoulder ? as Gary attempts to take over the school. Thing is, Jimmy's use of fire fighting fire is hardly morally supportable and gives him little ground to stand on when you actually think about the way he treats his fellow pupils like scum to achieve his ends. You don't feel like a paragon of equality, you feel more like the OTHER cretin ? the other bully. Now, this would be fine and logical if Rockstar hadn't tried to pin Jimmy as some sort of everyman, out to fight the oppressors and free everyone from bullying forevermore, or given him softer sides where his character breaks facade to reveal his noble ambitions. Plenty of individuals think that the ends justify the means, however this makes Bully fail in my book, as Jimmy becomes more of a hypocritical turd that decorates your screen with stupid catchphrases and jockery seen in every teenage movie for the last three decades. I think the biggest irony of all this is the fact that the prime demographic for video games are typically those who often live at the mercy of bullies. I suppose it wouldn't be breaking form for Rockstar to offer an unhealthy shadenfreude method of catharsis to those poor souls by giving them an opportunity to bully those just like them. Psychology aside, like watching Jason Statham, the main storyline with its bland, shallow, exposition delivered morality just makes the whole experience, well, annoying. I'd like to say that I threw the controller through the screen out of rage or perhaps converted the disc into a casual jacket. But I didn't ? it wasn't that disappointing ? it was just average. So I just turned it off, poured myself a cool glass of orange juice and watched MTV for a while.
Game play wise, it gets a bit repetitive. I say this because many of the actual game features, aside from the serviceable fighting combat, feel like tacked together mini games. It's as though someone has strung a story and world around a poor man's Xbox Live Arcade. I never felt that there was any depth to Jimmy's actions, as he appeared to be brilliant at everything. I never had to go back and replay something or take the time to get good at it; whether it be a Space Invaders clone or Bike Racing, because he just excelled at everything. I got the feeling that if I, the player, wasn't present, Jimmy could still win any task assigned, and his arrogance affirmed this - to the degree where I disliked him so much I accidentally let him be maimed in a game of bike vs car chicken. Now, I like to work my way up, and develop my character. I would have preferred to start off as a nerd and build myself into a position of power. Instead, it feels as though the whole game could have ended in the first 15 minutes if Jimmy had just organised an open brawl and rocked up with enough mind numbing arrogance that it would have taken a physical form and stupided everyone to death.
Similarly, a lot of the nice unlockable costumes actually have very little effect on your character other than making him incredibly frustrating to play, as every law enforcer in sight has issue with your non school regulation attire. I like the idea of Bill the character artist coming out of his darkened cave, covered in coffee stains, blessed with a condition of DVT and shortsightedness, triumphantly declaring that the costumes were completely rendered and ready. Oh Bill, I weep for you, your pointlessly toil-full existence.
Okay, I should probably talk about the game now. The music is repetitive to the point where a family member would become irritated by it after three minutes in the room. The graphics aren't great, but we can live with that ? the fun cartoon style works well and gives the whole game a bouncy feel that it really needs. The dialog, with the exception of Jimmy and Gary, is nice, and characters were built who I were so fond of (Algie and Russell) that I greeted them verbally ? in the style of a mesmerized 5 year old. The controls for vehicles are incredibly clunky and generic, and Jimmy, typically good at everything, is able to jump 2 stories just because he can. The whole thing generally seems very patchy.
I guess I wanted to like Bully, due to the ?undiscovered gem? award so many big review publications gave it, but in the end, it felt sort of flat. It was as though the team weren't communicating when they made it, with all departments pulling in a different direction and emphasizing different experiences within the game. Now, this didn't ruin it, but it made everything a lot shallower than I felt it deserved. What could have been another cash cow in the Rockstar franchise appeared to have been unloved, uncashed and subsequently bullied to death (arbitrary, semi-irrelevant pun).
