Bully Hands on Preview
When Bully was announced back at E3 2005 to a small closed door group of press it immediately garnered a ton of attention. Unfortunately it was the wrong kind of attention with numerous groups and a lawyer that should not be named claiming the game was a Columbine Simulator. These people went as far as saying the game should be cancelled and that it was irresponsible of Rockstar to make such a game. These people are also idiots. They were irresponsible for not getting all the information on this game before making these outrageous claims. Bully is a caricature of boarding school life. Bully is no more a Columbine simulator than robotic crabs are a part of Japanese history.
In Bully you play Jimmy Hopkins, a 15 year old kid with a mom who is a professional wife. With his mom on her 5th marriage, the game starts with her and her latest husband dropping Jimmy off at a New England boarding school named Bullworth Academy. Being at a boarding school isn’t easy though as Jimmy tries to fit in with the numerous cliques in the school. On top of that Jimmy must attend a morning and afternoon class as well as make sure he gets a good night sleep each night. The game takes place over the course of a school year and is broken down into 5 chapters. During the school year the weather and seasons will change as will the decorations around the school according to the holiday.
Each morning and afternoon Jimmy must attend a class. There are 6 classes to choose from including photography, art, English, chemistry, shop and gym. Each class is a mini game and each class contains 5 levels of difficulty. After completing a level in a class Jimmy unlocks a new skill. Pass level 2 in English and maybe Jimmy can talk himself out of a difficult situation, pass level 4 in Chemistry and maybe Jimmy is able to create stink bombs.
Your main base of operations is your dorm room. From here you can view your in game achievements proudly displayed on the wall above your bed. You can also change outfits to fit in with the different cliques around school. Your dorm room is also where you must sleep at night. Jimmy needs his sleep and if you stay up too late the game starts to slow down and get blurry, and if you aren’t asleep by 2AM Jimmy will pass out from exhaustion wherever he is. In fact most of the game follows a strict schedule like this.
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