Bully / Game

I have been waiting for this game for ever.. I love it and will pass it on to my brother

The game does not work on the PS2.

Right This is going to be somewhat tough, as I love playing through my classic collection, but until now, Bully has went under my PS4’s radar. It’s somewhat strange, as I always thought Rockstar had missed the chance to upload this diamond in the rough, searching on PSN, I found it in up scaled 1080HD, and you can bet I got it in a heartbeat.Why? Bully is an open world game set in a high school, which is something you almost never see in video games as a backdrop, but it’s actually a very welcome change to Rockstars usual formula.Instead of the R rated (and to be honest, boring in my personal opinion GTA stuff) you find yourself immersed in a world where high school hijinks and hilarious pranks are the way of life with each level and area you unlock. From the main school area to the dorms and the surrounding town, any number of crazy gameplay antics can happen.You’ve got your typical gangs who each think they own the place to either befriend or go up against, and they come in four cool types. First, You’ve got the Nerds, these are the kind of guys and gals who hand around the Library playing tabletop games all day all the while seemingly trying to stay out of harms way, even though they drive the other three factions nuts with their geeky behavior, resulting in some really comical fights which you’ll either want to jump into to back your proffered faction up, or run away from depending on who’s gone after them that time.Then, you’ve got the Preps, they’re the kind of people who are rich, like to dress well and even have their own private quarters, called Harrington house, they seem to be in their own world most of the time too, mostly being high roller posh kids with all sorts of strange ideas of fun, personally they’re my favorite faction in the game as they seem to be in the middle of the lineup between the geeky kids and the downright nasty other two factions. Are they easy to ally with? That’s the tough part, while the nerds back you up if you rescue them from bullies, the Preps have higher standards than most. Unless you get their uniform, earn some decent manners in the class mini-games and help them with their main rivals, don’t expect the Preppies to back you up until you reach their standards.The other two groups are the types you want to avoid messing with at any point early on, as they tend to bully their way around the most. They’d be the Greasers and Jocks, your very typical tough macho type of gangs who think they own their respective hangouts with impunity. I find them really annoying and brutish most of the time as they often come after you with little to no warning for the smallest of pranks you might try pulling on them, and they also make the other factions lives a misery, choosing to beat them down or pick on them any chance they get, trust me, I’d side with the high rolling yet slightly crazy Preppies over those guys any day of the week.Now onto the main story, which is very cool even today. You play as Jimmy Hopkins, your rebellious teenager who has got kicked out of so many other academies that surviving the faction warfare and corruption of what is basically something similar to a prison for teens type of guy. He is actually somewhat likeable if you play him right and make him into a proper man via the mini games. He tries to get by day by day at Bullworth, while avoiding and getting into all kinds of antics with cool characters throughout the five decently written chapters that make up the story, I’m not going to spoil it, play it and have a really good laugh.You have your usual types of gameplay expected from a Rockstar open world game, instead of guns and explosions going off everywhere in gore filled fashion GTA style, you’ve got a hilarious arsenal of fire crackers, sling shots, stink bombs amongst other non lethal yet fun weapons to fight with when it comes to combat. Ever wanted to prank the bully you hate by throwing a fire cracker down a toilet they happen to be next to? Now you can.Mini games in Bully, are classes which you would find in a high school setting, with their own unique bonuses. They range from English class, where you basically play word jumbles to improve Jimmies charisma, which you’ll need if you want to make friends instead of enemies with the four factions, most notably the Preps. (trust me at the start, Jimmy is just clueless at what he says when it comes to the social integrating, it’s beyond corny).Then you’ve got classes like chemistry and Gym, which help you buff your stats in hand to hand combat, or make the fire crackers you need to fend off the Jocks that you made mad by being at the wrong place at the wrong time etc, I could go on, but having only just got back into the game after 11 years I’m still refreshing my memory a little, so I cant remember them all just yet, they’re fun though and worth doing if you want to progress your options outside of the main story.Now onto why this is a four star review. Being from 2006 Bully is still fairly modern, being somewhat of the PS2’s swan song, it holds up really well, but there are a couple of issues here. First off is the difficulty curve I remember from the later on in game events, it goes crazy at some points, and if you’ve not built your character up well enough, you’ll see how hard some of the later levels are (trust me from personal experience, it drove me nuts when it occurred when you forgot to get perks or got busted by security losing you the weapons or boosts you needed for said tough level).Then there’s the writing and dialogue, plus the decent only AI. I get that you aren’t meant to take this game in any way seriously due to its PG13 rated prank wars and hilarious crude ideas, but wow, it gets very cheesy at times especially in terms of stereotypes. I know its intended to be that way, but sometimes it gets somewhat annoying if the Geeky or scheming teens constantly say the same lines all the time, or the mission you keep failing due to someone being stupid rather than helpful.Overall though, Bully (to give it its real uncensored name, seriously some of the controversy surrounding this game is meaningless like title edits or jibes at its ideas In actual fact what you get is PG13 rated content that’s more funny and light hearted than ever compared to other Gore Bore Fests, I would happily play Bully rather than GTA any day)Holds up very well in the modern era of gaming when stood alongside titles from a couple of years ago. The PSN version is very good looking for its age being upscaled to 1080HD , and if you want an open world game from Rockstar that’s very unique, different and one that has none of that micro purchase garbage in it (Using real money in a GTA casino to buy virtual coins? No thanks, that’s –low-) then Bully is well worth a look for its charm.Even 12 years on, I’m going to award it a deserved 7/10 as despite its intended corny nature and slightly dated graphics, this is a classic that I’m very happy to have found again. I played it for ages when it was first out, you can bet I’m going to relive that experience.A diamond in the rough it may be, but one that still shines brightlyBring it on.

It should've been made clear in the product description that this won't play on UK consoles. This is amazon.uk after all. I'll keep it just because I like the box. Look for the Canis Canem instead if you want to play the game on a UK console.

The game doesn't work on the ps2, is this an American disc?

The Disc does not format with a playstation 2. DO NOT BUY!!!!