Bully: Scholarship Edition (Wii)

In the mid 1980s, I can remember a game called 'Skool Dayz' which I played on a ZX Spectrum. For a couple of weeks, I was distracted from Jet Set Willy by this blend of comedy and ultraviolence. Your character walked around a two dimensional environment, trying to steal things, knock teachers over with a catapult, avoid getting punishments and kiss girls.

Step forward in time twenty years and Bully arrives on the Wii. Simplifying ...
...its predecessor every eighteen months. This means Bully should be quite a lot better than Skool Dayz. Oh my, how much better it is!

The plot of the game is straight forward. You take on the role of 15-year-old student, Jimmy Hopkins, sent to a New England boarding school, called Bullworth Academy. While appearing to be something of a thug, Jimmy is actually more of a Robin Hood-type character, helping the nerds and misfits, as they ... more

In the mid 1980s, I can remember a game called 'Skool Dayz' which I played on a ZX Spectrum. For a couple of weeks, I was distracted from Jet Set Willy by this blend of comedy and ultraviolence. Your character walked around a two dimensional environment, trying to steal things, knock teachers over with a catapult, avoid getting punishments and kiss girls.

Step forward in time twenty years and Bully arrives on the Wii. Simplifying Moore's Law, a game should be twice as good as its predecessor every eighteen months. This means Bully should be quite a lot better than Skool Dayz. Oh my, how much better it is!

The plot of the game is straight forward. You take on the role of 15-year-old student, Jimmy Hopkins, sent to a New England boarding school, called Bullworth Academy. While appearing to be something of a thug, Jimmy is actually more of a Robin Hood-type character, helping the nerds and misfits, as they are pummled by teachers, jocks, greasers and other knuckle-headed stereotypes.

The playing area is huge, taking in Bullworth Academy and its surroundings. It has a late 50's / early 60's feel, like Dead Poet's Society. This suits the mood of the game perfectly, creating the perfect nightmare of a boarding school. If you want to see this nightmare in action, watch the film 'If...' with Malcolm McDowell.

Bully was developed by Rockstar, the studio that gave us the Grand Theft Auto series. There are similarities in the format of the games. Bully provides you with a free-roaming landscape, peppered with objects and people you can interact with. There is a storyline which unfolds as you select and complete missions on your travels. You can choose to attend your classes or play truant - if you choose the latter, you have to be careful to avoid being caught.

There are enough missions to keep you going for hours and the scholarship edition contains even more for you to do. Simply exploring the environment (without getting caught) will take you a long time.

As someone still getting used to the Wii's unique controls, I'm still finding out what Jimmy is capable of. Certainly, the game makes full use of the Wii's versatility. It's no surprise that you require the numchuk controller in addition to the main one. The numchuk is held in one hand, while the main controller is held in the other. During fights, you hit your opponent by making a punching motion.

As you become more familiar and nimble, you can use other buttons while you punch to perform actions such as head-butting and taunting. You also develop an arsenal of stink-bombs, marbles and other trouble-making paraphenalia. Add to this walking, running, jumping, creeping, skateboarding and a host of other ways of travelling and Jimmy is so versatile he makes the original Lara Croft look like Pac-Man.

Bully has been given a '15' rating, and deserves it. It is violent and contains strong language. Attempts were made to ban the game, as they have been for years - Postal and Manhunt are two examples off the top of my head. That's a debate for another day, but keep children below 15 away from this game.

As an adult, I appreciated the irony of the game. To me the violence is cartoon-like, impressively animated and engaging. It's the same experience I had when I played Skool Dayz years ago and, as then, I don't feel a need to thump someone when I turn the game off. There's so much more to this game and once again I am impressed with the bug-free playability of a Rockstar title. I hope Ubisoft catch up with them.

 

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