Because Rockstar chose to make Bully a Playstation 2 exclusive, we must deal with sub-par graphics. Sure they are fairly decent, and among the better graphics of games made for the PS2 lately, but if it had been released for Xbox 360 I’m sure the graphics could be considerably better. Jimmy and his peers have instantly recognizable faces and outfits, but space-filler students and teachers all look the same. Besides the character graphics, the school looks drab and boring.
Oh look! There’s a yellow blocky school bus. Oh cool, what looks like a brick on the ground! Neat! A blob moving towards me that I can shoot with my sling-shot! Damn, if only I could tell how fast it was moving! Okay I’m exaggerating a little bit, but after playing Xbox 360 for several months my expectations have gone up for the level of character and landscape realism. Bully just doesn’t cut it.
Controls are fairly simple, but sometimes fighting is a pain as you must hold triangle while pressing the square, circle, or x-button repeatedly. Unless you have crazy and unnaturally jointed thumbs, this task is irritating. Also, aiming with the sling-shot can be difficult if you’re used to the precision of a mouse or Xbox 360 controller.
I’m used to running with the d-pad, not the left joystick. In this game, the d-pad has a different use, so I was constantly doing other things that didn’t include moving. Lastly, the player must hold the x-button to run. I thought the days were gone when walking was the preferred mode of transportation. The thumb can become unnecessarily tired after a long gaming session.
What’s with the one-time, one-place save feature? If I had to count every task I had to wait to do because I needed to save in the boy’s dormitory, I would run out of fingers AND toes and anatomy in general! Why can’t I open up the start menu and click on “SAVE”!? Really, how hard is it people?
The game is very expansive; after the first few percentage points of completion you can open up new areas like the surrounding town. But do you know how long it takes to get to that point? Too long for me to hold interest. I have a little game ADD you must understand, if I cannot feel like I’m making progress quickly, I get tired of the game. Wasting time in school and making a curfew of 8pm every night doesn’t leave time to complete a normal amount of tasks during the remaining hours of daylight. Averaging about two tasks a day (provided you don’t fail any) makes completing 4% of the game take two and a half hours. Who has time for that?
Sound in Bully is okay. Nothing remarkable, just a few bleeps and bloops every once in awhile. The voice acting, however, is quite good. If I had to wait during the load times and then read dialogue, I’m pretty sure my head would literally explode. Jimmy and his classmates fall into preditable stereotypes; Jimmy has a fake bad-ass snarl and the nerds have nasal voices, tend to snort, and are overall big whiners. Some of the acting comes off cheesy though, like when the principle attempts to sounds controlling. Also, there’s a funky and intentionally seductive voice the secretary employs when in the presence of the principal…. gross….
