Bully - PS2

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: 10-17-2006
Moby Score (1-10): 8.2
Player Score (1-5): 4
Genre(s): Action

Bully is an open-world action-adventure game set at Bullworth Academy, a troubled New England boarding school. The player controls Jimmy Hopkins, a rebellious teenager who has been expelled from several previous schools. When his mother and new stepfather leave him at Bullworth for the school year, Jimmy finds himself surrounded by hostile cliques, strict teachers, corrupt authority figures, and students who are often just as unruly as he is. With the help of a few allies, his own wits, and a willingness to fight back, Jimmy must survive life at Bullworth while trying to bring order to the school’s social hierarchy.

Often described as “Grand Theft Auto in high school,” Bully shares some structure with Rockstar’s open-world crime games, but adapts it to a school setting. The game world includes the Bullworth campus and, as the story progresses, the surrounding town and nearby districts. The story is divided into chapters that follow Jimmy through different parts of the school year, with changes in season, available areas, missions, and the balance of power between cliques. The player can follow story missions, take on side tasks, attend classes, explore freely, interact with students and adults, and participate in various activities between major objectives.

The high-school setting changes the tone and mechanics of the open-world formula. Instead of hijacking cars or using lethal weapons, Jimmy fights with punches, kicks, grapples, pranks, and improvised non-lethal weapons such as slingshots, stink bombs, firecrackers, marbles, and other schoolyard tools. He can ride bicycles, skateboards, and other small vehicles, but cannot drive cars. Missions include chases, races, stealth sequences, escort objectives, pranks, fights, vandalism, errands, and confrontations with different student cliques.

Bullworth is divided into social groups such as bullies, nerds, preppies, greasers, jocks, and townies, each with its own members, hangouts, and attitude toward Jimmy. Jimmy’s reputation with different cliques changes over the course of the story, influencing whether students ignore him, greet him, harass him, or attack him on sight. Authority figures also patrol the environment: prefects, teachers, police officers, and other adults may chase Jimmy if he breaks rules, fights, trespasses, skips class, or stays out after curfew. Rule-breaking increases Jimmy’s trouble meter, and more serious offenses or repeated misbehavior draw stronger attention from prefects, teachers, police, or other adults.

The game includes a school schedule. During weekdays, Jimmy is expected to attend classes, each of which is presented as a mini-game. English involves forming words from a set of letters, Chemistry requires timed button inputs, Gym includes dodgeball and wrestling-style challenges, and other subjects test different reflexes or puzzle skills. Passing classes unlocks useful rewards, such as new abilities, items, clothing options, or upgrades. Jimmy must also manage time, since staying out too late, skipping too many obligations, or failing to reach a safe place can cause him to pass out and wake up elsewhere.

Outside the main story, the player can take part in many optional activities. Jimmy can run errands, collect items, compete in races, play arcade games, earn money from jobs, buy clothing, get haircuts, decorate his dorm room, and form romantic relationships with certain students by giving gifts or completing interactions. Clothing and appearance can be changed for style, disguise, or completion purposes, while safehouses and save points become available as the game progresses.

*** Data by MobyGames.com ***