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Bully: Scholarship Edition (Wii)
by johnpeter50 INTRODUCTION Welcome to Bullworth academy, the New England boarding school set to become your latest home away from home. You play the belligerent 'new kid' Jimmy Hopkins, thrust into an unsettling world of jocks, nerds, preppies, bullies, townies and greasers. Upon your arrival you meet the antagonistic Gary Smith, a ... sociopathic jibe-smacking misanthrope who slowly becomes your main rival in the game. To offset the balance, Pete Kowalski (or 'Petey' as he's nicknamed) is the closest thing you have to a best friend inside the walls of Bullworth; although not much of a fighter, Pete's brainpower more than makes up for it. Over the course of six chapters, it's your mission to become the king of the school dealing with the misery of classes, performing tasks for fellow students and completing a cavalcade of preset errands along the way. GAMEPLAY Every day at the academy follows a preset pattern. Upon waking your first stop is morning classes; then, following a short break for lunch, you're straight into afternoon lessons after which you're free to do whatever you like until bedtime. Daily classes consist of a series of familiarly themed mini games. For example, 'Guitar Hero' fans will instantly recognise the sequence mimicking fun of music class, and fans of 'Trauma Center' can rest easy that their cutting skill will come in handy during biology. Similarly, Chemistry takes on a 'Space Channel 5' pattern follow-along feel whilst Art class is a direct rip-off of arcade favourite 'Qix'. On the one hand, this familiarity makes the lessons instantly playable with little confusion over objectives. The identifiable gameplay gives players the opportunity to jump right in and grab themselves extra goodies right from the word 'go'. However, the lack of originality means lessons are often an exercise in persistent drudgery. Okay, so it lends itself well to the rigid realism of educational monotony, but who honestly wants to simulate the authentic ennui of school in their leisure time? Thankfully, you don't need to adhere to this strict lesson plan if you don't wish. Feel free to skip classes as and when you like - just be prepared to face the wrath of roaming hall monitors and overeager prefects if you decide to bunk off for the day. SANDBOX It should come as no surprise to hear that the joy of free-roaming Bullworth's halls triumphs over the rigorous tedium of everyday classes. Over the course of each chapter, more and more environments become accessible, allowing you to investigate a greater area of Bullworth outside of the academy. Although not as expansive and intricate as, say, 'Grand Theft Auto' (on which the 'Bully' game engine is directly based) there's enough 'going-on' to keep things interesting. Bored of missions? Why not perform a side quest. Don't like the thought of attending Chemistry? Break into a locker or three, or even search out a few collectables. There's never a reason to be bored in the world of 'Bully'. Are there any negatives to be had with all this free-roaming space? Well, in the beginning, everything can get a little overwhelming: Learning button combos, finding out directions and remembering when classes start and finish can all be slightly bewildering. But, just like any new school, you soon pick things up and even complex tasks become second nature. You quickly discover shortcuts over low-slung walls, pick up devastating weapons like super slingshots and commit to memory where each building entrance is located on the map. STORY LINE Single player missions are the main thrust of the game and each assignment is clearly marked with a star on the HUD/map screen. Simply walk Jimmy over the top of a glowing disc and hit the Z button to begin the next story mission. Each task is suitably different from the last, with a great range of quests to battle your way through. It's nice to see that each mission adds depth and interest to the overall storyline of the title. Cut sequences introduce and conclude each mission, and really flesh out the people that occupy the game world. Thanks to the joyfully cartoonish voice acting and delightfully contrived archetypes, you quickly fall in love with the quirky residents of Bullworth in much the same way you would characters from a good 'popcorn' movie or a light-hearted comic book. It's not a shock to learn that it's the clever scripting and sadistic plotting that truly make the game a delight to play for extended periods of time. Seasonal plotting livens up the game design no end, with Halloween and Christmas both making mission-based appearances during the school year. If anything, the real disappointment is that the experience is over a little too quickly with each of the chapters offering only a limited handful of gaming hours, even within this extended 'Scholarship Edition'. GRAPHICS Although undeniably 'last generation', the game looks remarkably good considering its age. The stuffy academy is littered with scholastic icons; from damaged, decaying lockers to dispirited 'coat of arms' - everything inside the boarding school is rightfully dour and grime-slicked. The last-century architecture continues the visceral feel, with its counter-intuitive building design and disconnected, labyrinthine structure. 'Rockstar' have definitely delivered in this department. The only minor graphical quibbles I have are limited to the ambient smearing that occurs during night sequences; it can be incredibly difficult to see what's going on when you're out in the evenings as the draw depth drops and light trails start to obscure the locales. CONTROLS The real frustration of 'Bully' on the Wii is its controls. While many nice touches have been included thanks to the Nunchuck/Wiimote combination, it rarely provides a satisfying control dynamic. The button layout feels forcibly clumsy, with sudden unwanted actions performed at regular intervals due to the poor arrangement; woe betide the player who unsteadies their hand at the wrong moment - you'll be entering into more accidental scrapes than I dare mention! Detention here we come... Still, as with any game title, once you've learnt the idiosyncrasies, everything becomes pleasingly straightforward. Diehard accuracy is rarely called for, and can usually be wrangled for the short period it's required. CONTROVERSY Naturally, before the game had even come to full fruition, parents and concerned citizens the world over had condemned the game as being a deplorable affair! After all, it's a game about being a depraved tormenter, raining mayhem and destruction down around you, all the while glorifying and glamorising a demonic lifestyle, is it not?! Of course, the reality is quite far removed from this. Instead, 'Bully' presents your character as the antidote to the very situation the game's said to induce; Jimmy's a 'Joe Everyman' who's here to crush the corrupt spirit that roams the school halls, restoring respect and a healthy sense of balance to the world around him (however ugly that process may be)! In fact, the only note of controversy that could reasonably be levied at the game was somewhat overlooked. Some of the depictions of sexuality aren't the healthiest on the planet; for example, the mission 'Panty Raid' requires you to fuel the gym teacher's perversions by gathering up young ladies' underwear - a somewhat disturbing motif taken outside the sardonic context of the game. OVERALL Professional detractors aside, 'Bully' is a small gem lost against the backdrop of generic sandbox clones. Notwithstanding the telltale signs of digital aging, there's still a solid game underneath with bags to do and a darkly amusing plot to push things in the right direction. So long as you can overcome the quirky control mechanics and repetitious lesson plans, you'll discover 'Bully: Scholarship Edition' for the Wii has a lot going for it and well worth a punt if you can grab a discounted copy from your nearest second-hand store. Read the complete review |
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Bully: Scholarship Edition (Wii)
by Rozzy21 Bully for the wii is such a brilliant game and is one of the only games for the wii that involves strategy if there is others please tell me. There is so much to do on it and there are also big missions that you have to compleate along with smaller missions that you do along the way. The lessons and missions that you can do if you want ... are challenging and it stops it from becoming boring and you can have fun on the game to that you don't need to do to compleate the game such as talking to the other pupils in the school just for fun. The last mission though isn't that difficult and the game dosn't officaly become compleate untill you finish all the smaller missions to, such as collecting all the tokens, blue bands and the lessons at the school so that could become tidious if you didn't have a walkthrough showing you were all are but there is a very good map in the game that is easy to follow. Read the complete review |
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Manhunt 2 (Wii)
by vieri3217 Manhunt 2 is a very gory and violent game and should only be played for ages 18 and over. The story line can be a little confusing first off but gets better as the game unfolds. When first playing the game controls were very hard to get used to but the help features during the game really helped me get used to them ... in the long run. The graphics are great and there are so many ways to execute your enemies with environmental kills and weapon attacks. There are so many levels to get into and i really like the commentary from the characters wingman which was pretty hilarious. Overall the game is very easy to pick up and play and there are so many choices of weapons to use and the chracters are very good in terms of acting and moving in a life like way. It is a very cheap game to buy but does not have the long life factor as the game ends very quickly which was a le down. Read the complete review |
Rockstar Nintendo Wii Game |
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6 reviews Manufacturer: Rockstar / Nintendo Wii Game / Genre: Action & Shooter / Release Date: 2008 - Considering the furore that greeted the release of the first game it’s a genuine surprise to see it get a sequel, especially one as uncompromising as this. However unpleasant the original was though there was no denyin... |
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1 review Genre: Action / Nintendo Wii Game / Rating: M - (Mature) / 1 player / published by: Rockstar Games |
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10 reviews Genre: Action & Shooter / Nintendo Wii Game / Suitable for 15 years and over / Release Date: 2008-03-07 / Published by Rockstar |
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