If you haven’t yet listened to the final episode of our Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Game Club, you may not have heard the news on our next four-part Game Club series. Beginning next Monday we’ll be doing a weekly show on Bully, the poll-winning choice from last week. As always, we’ll be reading comments from you guys on the air, so consider this post the place to write your comments on our first session. For Week 1 we’ll be playing through the “Fall” portion of the game.
Want to play along and support Rebel FM? Then click this link to purchase a copy of the game for Xbox 360, Wii, or PC from Amazon. And whether or not you buy the game through our affiliate link, we owe you all a huge thanks for playing along and leaving your thoughts! We couldn’t be doing this amazingly fun show without you, so thanks!
so glad i picked it up on my last trip to gamestop! this’ll be my first time playing a game concurrently with you guys, i’m so pumped. EPHEMERAL FANTASIA!
I guess this fits better here, huh?
For Canadians, here’s the Amazon.ca listings:
Bully SE (Xbox 360) http://tinyurl.com/Bully360
Bully (PS2) http://tinyurl.com/BullyPS2
Bully SE (Wii, USED/SELLERS) http://tinyurl.com/BullyWii
I’ll sit this one out, but I’ll still listen.
Yeah i’ll just listen like I usually do I suppose, this will be like a long game review. I’ve never really gotten into bully so if it sounds good i’ll probably go out and get it.
Hey! You guys should really announce this in the regular podcast, I hadn’t picked up Cthulu so I chose to hold on to those episodes till later, but it would have been nice to get a heads up on when and where to vote for the next one just the same. Guess I can play some Bully (putting asside Yakuza for now) but it wouldn’t have been my choice. Sorry if I come off as whiny, but please – next time give everyone a chance to vote by mentioning it on Rebel FM.
been thinking about grabbing bully since the price dropped to DAMN NEAR FREE, so i think ill give this one a go with you all.
but i do think you guys should give a shout out on the regualr podcast, giving everyone a heads up on whats coming up in the next few GC.
how many episodes we think this will be on Bully?
Kiss as many boys as possible.
Bully is anywhere from 20-40 hours depending on how many sidequests you take on. They’re all beneficial, like picking up radios for a hobo and going to class, but suck up a lot of time. You can certainly get through the game at lightspeed if you just stick to the story, though, but you’re missin’ out on some fun stuff. Really, though, once you’ve romanced or locker-stuffed, you’ve romanced and locker-stuffed.
Clearing Chapter One should be enough for the first go. One and two are the major hurdles when it comes to length. It’d be safe to go:
Week One: Chapter One
Week Two: Chapters Two and Three (three is VERY short)
Week Three: Chapter Four
Week Four: Chapter Five
I tried to look for this game on Steam, but it doesn’t seem to be available from Europe.
Is there an affiliate link for those of us in the UK? If I’m going to buy the game, I’d like you to get a cut if that option is available.
Unfortunately, our associates account is domestic only. So don’t worry about the affiliate links. Appreciate the interest though.
I just picked up the Scholarship Edition through Steam a few days ago, so this should work out well. I’m on Spring Break right now too, so that should free up some time to get a good start. Looking forward to the show, great job again, as always.
Awesome! That is a game in my backlog. You all will now give me more incentative to put some time into it
Excellent, have this still wrapped on my shelf. Look forward to playing it for the club.
Yay! I can now play along since I have this game. I loved this game that I played threw the PS2 version twice and even rented the X360 version and played through it.
Would it count if I played the PS2 version?
Never mind. They said in the Game Club episode 4 that you can play it on all systems the game is on.
Awesome, Bully is one of my favorite games. This is a great excuse to dust it off!
Is there a difference playing this on the PS2 instead of the Scholarship Edition? I only have the original version.
Nice. I already have it for PS2 so I don’t even have to break out my wallet this time. Time to limber up my slingshot fingers.
I’ll be able to ge through this time.
Great! I’ll play along, just picked it up for 360, never played it before. So, first impressions after an hour or so:
- graphics aren’t great, but that’s to be expected
- the only technical stuff that really bothers me is the frequent load screens and the stupid save points
- great characters, even just a few minutes in, you’re sucked into the world, feels like a school
- I really dig the simple fighting mechanics
That’s all for now, I’m gonna play a little more.
I installed the game to my hard-drive, and although the loading screens are still omnipresent, they’re super short. On a few I haven’t even had time to read the ‘tip’ or whatever.
Sweet; I’ve been wanting to get back to Bully for a while now, and this is a fine excuse.
As far as I know, the big difference with the Scholarship edition are four new classes, and a few new side missions.
i hope you guys read my gaming nightmare even though i didn’t win.
i guess Bully is a good choice. it’ll be interesting to see how you guys tackle an open-world game. i’m sure there will be some pretty funny stories.
Remember Kiddies, this is the game Jack Thompson referred to as “columbine simulator”…which is odd, because you don’t actually ever shoot anybody with a firearm in it, or wear a trenchcoat.
SCHOLARSHIP EDITION according to wikipedia:
Bully: Scholarship Edition was released for the Xbox 360 and Wii video game consoles on 3 March 2008. The game features exclusive content which was unavailable in the PlayStation 2 version, including eight new missions, additional characters, four new school classes (Biology, Music, Math and Geography) and new unlockable items and clothing. Some small script changes have been made, and several new holiday missions have been added to Chapter III. The random NPCs also have more lines. In addition, single system 2-player competitive multiplayer minigames have also been added, along with Achievements for the Xbox 360 version and Wii Remote and Nunchuk motion and pointer controls for the Wii version. All ports of the Scholarship Edition use the game engine Gamebryo, rather than Renderware which was used for the PS2 version.
Ordered Bully for PC this morning on amazon for £7 (including p&p), dispatched already.
Listening to this made me remember a nightmare from when I was 7. I was running in slow motion, and then holy shit it was a Zodasaur from Star Tropics II. It ate out my stomach and I remember falling to the ground, again in slow mo. I remember thinking it was weird how it didn’t hurt.
Also, yes The Wire! Sheeeeeiiiiiiit.
Tips for starters:
-Skipping classes isn’t much penalised. It’s easy to outrun pretty much anyone (you won’t get tired, even from sprinting).
-If you do wish to avoid truancy, then complete all 5 levels of each class an you won’t have to bother coming in. But this might be a bit of a grind.
-Do try and complete as many art classes as you can. It makes the rest of the game a lot easier.
-There are three wrestling classes of the 5 in gym. Do them all because one of the best moves you’ll learn from the third class.
-Don’t bother much with exploration this chapter. At least until you get the skateboard.
-Except on Halloween. Once this starts there clock will be off and you can go all over the place without having to worry about time at all.
-After you’ve done the required pranks on Halloween, stick around for a bit for an extra mission. Keep in mind though that now the clock is back on.
My experiences playing this first chapter:
I felt a bit thrown into the deep end, which is probably fitting. Hyperactive Gary introduces so many things of the world and things you can do in the world that it can be quite overwhelming.
Playing a bit more and I could relax a little. The game is surprisingly lenient. It’s weird but I never felt bad about being caught other then having failed to stay out of the adult’s hands. Downtime is so minimal it’s almost negible: since the world chooses for detail rather then size it means nothing is ever far away, and you’re allowed to keep all your actually important weapons & items.
Past that, it’s surprising how often you get rewarded in this game. Small rewards mind, but since they don’t take much effort these constant effort/reward loops make the game very addictive and the lack of frustration from nasty punishments by the game for not doing things right makes the game incredibly compelling to experiment, try and just do whatever shiny thing caught my attention.
And the game’s attention to detail is superb. I love how the rader switches to metal gear mode when you’re in trouble. It’s like it read my mind. Me: ‘Damn, gotta keep an eye out for prefects, it ould be nice if ..’ Game: ‘Here you go, I’ve marked out the prefects, their alert status and their vision cone’.
No nowing how detailled the game is, at first it seemed claustrofobic, being stuck in such a tiny area for so long. But the datail is just staggering. I’ve actually finished the game a few days ago and even towards the end I would still be pointed to something new in the starting area I completely missed.
It is a bit unfortunate though that the game starts in autumn. It make make story and context sense that grey skies and bare trees make sure the game doesn’t look too appealing. It does make for the biggest contrast when the seasons change though, look forward to that
The game is at it’s most fascinating when contrasted with a Persona game. Persona is a society absolutly regimented. It’s the point of those games to manage time with all the things you have to do and seek moments to do what you want to do.
Bully at first tells you something similar. But then takes you aside and whispers to you that no, it’s actually set up so that you’re positivly encouraged and rewarded for disobeyance. It sets up a context of regimen but all the gameplay tools are there to break from it.
Ps1. If you walk up behind a male student, target them and press the taunt/insult button you get to pull a wedgie.
Ps2. When the game tells you that you can now kiss girls that like you for extra health, it doesn’t quite tell everything. There are missions to get a girl to like you, and those then are the obvious sources of health. But .. don’t forget there are always a few girls at a school who like, ah, all the boys.
Ps3. Kiss a girl in front of another girl you’ve kissed before. These developers really thought of everything!
Interestingly, I just started playing this game and (this isnt an attention grab but…) I fear I have been having much more fun playing this than playing GTA IV. It just brought me back to the time when Rockstar wasnt so serious and they realized that their sandboxes are simply a way to put a lot of fun mini-games into an addictive (well articulated, hilarious) narrative (I think that Chinatown Wars looks to be this way as well. Perhaps other than the hilarious part).
I dont notice the awful enemy AI, which plagued GTA IV. I also feel like the RPG elements of the game make it much more fun. I am constantly scouting for radio transistors and try to make it to class if at all possible. GTA IV suffered greatly for all but banishing any such game play. The only such elements that were left were the “sim” ones, where you go on dates and play games which, most of the time, are unhelpful to you and can become downright annoying (shut the fuck up Roman, stop calling me. All you can offer we is a slow cab service, and playing darts sucks).
Oh cool. I’ve had Bully (well, Canis Canem Edit) on the shelf, and a save file on the last chapter for ages now, so this gives me a bit of impetus to actually finish it. I can’t recall why I put the game down because I remember really loving it, after initially being pretty sceptical. Time to dig out that sweet reindeer jumper and brush up on my bmx riding skills and get around to defeating my school nemesis then.
The biggest problem I had with Bully was the horrible freezing glitches that marred the Scholarship edition’s experience (Xbox 360). To this day I have not beaten the game, despite being near the end, simply because the game would freeze anytime I get anywhere near finishing a single mission.
Because of this horrible crash problem, it caused me to hate everything about the game. Characters are not very memorable, missions are boring after the first seven, and overall I felt like I should’ve been playing GTA instead (Which is the only reason I bought the game, it came out two months before GTA4). I’m interested in hearing what you guys have to say about the game, but the crash bugs are a clear “Do not play me” sign. Even the patch didn’t make things any better.
Picked up a PC copy from Amazon, this’ll hopefully be the first game I actually get all the way through with you guys, tried forever ago with Beyond Good and Evil, but stopped because of the lousy mouse and keyboard controls. Looking forward to playing along!
Hey. Now I’ve got a reason to play my $5 that I picked up from Blockbuster. That’s assuming that I’ll put down Dead Space and Killzone 2.
If I hadn’t just played through Bully I’d be all over this. I’ll still listen. For those that haven’t played it, you’re in for a treat. Bully is a great game.
Artie, is your game scratched up? I had no issues with freezing at all playing the scholarship edition on 360. Seriously, it didn’t freeze a single time.
I want to share a somewhat frustrating story I have about this game, it is completely spoiler-free, except for things mentioned in the achievement list:
I bought this the day it came out for the Xbox360, having previously owned it for the PS2. From the outset I resolved to get 100% completion, and all the achievements.
I accomplished this quite easily, except for the last achievement, which was to get 100%. I had one achievement before this which was to kiss 20 boys. Thinking that this was the one that would bump me to 100%, I did it as quickly as possible. Having done it my percent complete notched up to 98.5%.
I then spent the next 5 hours tracking down any remaining missions from students, the ones that just come up to you. Each one bumped my percent complete up by a tiny amount. After getting frustrated I looked up a FAQ and identified the missions I couldn’t remember doing. I spent another hour doing this. At the end my percent complete was 98.9% complete. Defeated, I saved and turned off the Xbox.
The next day when I was ready to dedicate a couple hours trying to get presumably the last few missions done, I unlocked the 100% achievement approximately 30 seconds after the game loaded.
I was dedicated enough to play this game probably for 6 hours longer than I needed to. That’s how much I love this game. I will be playing along, this time attempting to complete it with as little class attendance and therefore upgrades as is needed to advance.
Another tip: As soon as you guys can, get the moped. Cops will try and stop you for riding without a helmet, but who cares since they can’t catch you while you’re on it. (I never found a helmet.)
You can’t get the moped in the first chapter.
It’s also not that much faster. Certainly a racing bike with some good peddling is way speedier.
You are rewarded with helmets through completing various racing series.
The moped tip was a general one for when you are able to get it. Not specifically Chapter 1.
The helmet thing? Obviously I never checked my wardrobe for them because I never used one.
Will I know when the ‘fall’ portion of the game is over? Or do I have to check a FAQ to find out?
You will know.
Oh yes.
Specifically:
-It’s very clear about the end of one chapter and the beginning of the enxt.
-The seasonal thing isn’t just something you’ll know from the date. Especially winter is sorta like a full conversion, they really went all out for it.
right i dunno if you guys read all these but… I have a suggestion for game club, my favourite game of all time that i would love to hear your opinions on: Kingdom Hearts!!
i doubt you’ll end up doing it because its only on one platform but i still wanted to put it out there =D
finally a game that i have and can play along with you guys
Great! Just picked up a copy of the Scholarship Edition for PC. Big warning though – if you have over 2gig of RAM in your system then the game gets seriously buggy. Rockstar promised a patch but, as far as I can tell, it never surfaced.
There is a fix however:
1. Launch the MSCONFIG (there’s a shortcut but I just search for it).
2. Click on the Boot tab and click “Advanced Options”. (On XP the “Boot” tab is called “Boot.ini”)
3. Check the “Maximum Memory” box and change the setting to exactly or less than 2000. (On XP the “Maximum Memory” option is called “MAXMEM”.)
4. Reboot
For me, this fixed the ghastly draw speeds, empty blue rooms and endless loading screens. Hope that helps!
I have Vista 64 and well over 2gb RAM, all i did was use compatability mode (Win XP SP2), works fine so far.
Will be playing PLAYSTATION 2 version. You know, the superior version. Haha, seriously have to finish that game.
After the recent CoC podcast of bug upon bug, the PS2 of Bully version is probably the best one to go for with Bully. Just to recover from game crashing messes.
Going from CoC on backwards compatibility on the 360 and then Bully: Scholarship Edition on the 360, that’s probably going to be an endurance.
Somehow, I think that’s what’s likely to happen to Ryan.
You guys mentioned Goozex on the last RebelFM podcast, and I just wanted to say that I’m an avid fan of that website, and am using it to get my hands on the 360 version of Bully so I can play along.
By the way, not to push this as the next game, but Call of Juarez is only $5 from GoGamer for the next 3 days:
http://www.gogamer.com/Call-of-Juarez-for-PC-All-PC-Games_stcVVproductId5640239VVcatId444774VVviewprod.htm?AID=171950&PID=1312731
Looks like I’ll be playing along this time! The thoughts of game ending bugs and the fact that it scared the shit outta me kept me from going any further with CoC. But it was still great listening to you guys talk about it and learning more about the game.
The first thing I realized when Bully was confirmed though was, didn’t this game need a patch too on the 360 version which was supposedly buggy and froze often? After reading about the whole patch issue, it appears that the patch even made things worse for some users! Well, I hope none of us playing the 360 version encounter these problems and hopefully Rockstar released a patch to patch the patch just to be sure.
Keep up the great work guys! Looking forward to playing with all of you. EPHEMERAL FANTASIA!!!
One great thing about Bully is it doesn’t fall in to the same problems that GTA has with narrative. It’s easier to relate to your character because the missions make him seem like a regular kid with some anger issues, unlike how just about every mission in a GTA game makes the character look like a total psychopath.
There is also a set of somewhat logical restraints set upon your character. You can’t wage a one man war against the authorities like you could in GTA as they can total kick your ass, but at the same time it’s not like prefects will show up at random, and they aren’t to hard to run away from. The prefects seem more like regular people in this game, they are a series of individuals placed in the world rather than a constantly respawning army of cops. And even though they want to apprehend you they won’t go to extraordinary means to do so.
That is indeed the thing this game does best. It’s a sandbox game that manages to have everything in context. Freedom in gameplay, story and character is never at odds.
(Of course, GTA wasn’t either, exactly, it’s just that there’s still this weird attitude that these characters aren’t or shouldn’t be psychopaths. Just looka t all the mob movies, all the characters there view themselves as just a misunderstood scamp who is being forced to thr fringes by society in between killing a guy by using a powerdrill on ‘im 37 times for looking funny and not showing proper respect. Main character does not equel hero, an come to think of it, if you’d look at even someone like Gordon Freeman, look at how many people he’s killed, if he were a real person you wouldn’t want him to walk around freely either. It’s just that games never really acknowledge what such an actual bodycount says about the main character if the narrative actually meant something.)
I’ve already played through Bully and then some.
I’m not going to play through it again because it isn’t going to be refreshing for me this time round, just the same ol’ same ol’. I’ll maybe watch some Youtube vids while you guys play on.
Anyways… I was looking through Steam to find a old/cheap game to play through and Beyond Good and Evil popped up. I never played it, and I’m curious why the game has gotten such glowing remarks from people. Got Vampire: The Masquerade instead though.
If you guys are ever going to do Beyond Good and Evil, I’m definitely in, even if its just for the curiosity.
http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3149975
1up FM episode 12/01/08 and the next three for the Beyond Good & Evil Backlog at the end of each episode.
Do you know what eps have the Shadow of the Colossus backlog?
Scroll down a bit and read the descriptions. Actually, best to go down to the first episode and go up as, iirc, Shadow of the Colossus was the first backlog game.
thanks.
lol… totally missed those somehow…
They are dled but not marked as new on my iTunes… Maybe I just forgot.
I picked this up awhile back anticipating you guys starting it on game club. Looking forward to it! Bully sounds quite long depending on who you talk to, so I guess I’ll have to put down RE5 for awhile since I don’t have much game time available to begin with.
Sitting this one out. I found it hard to keep up when it came to cthulu. Maybe I will join in next time though.
Played bully last night for about 3 hours, and I had forgotten how fun it is. It’s a little draggy in the first couple hours but it picks up. I totally forgot about the halloween segment. I smashed all the pumpkins this time! I also kissed the girl with the growth on her face.
So far the PC edition seems to be a technical mess, with a stuttery framerate, pop-in from out of this world, and rooms that dont appear. Oh yeah, and load screens that freeze. Henry Oz’s Reply (#39) might fix it, he seems to be describing the issues I’m having.
Arrived in the post a few hours ago, my first impressions. It reminds me soooo much of GTA 3 series, but set in a school. It wouldn’t take too much imagination to see both games existing in the same universe.
One thing that’s annoying me a little bit is that i feel like i gotta rush everything i do cos of those damned classes. i guess i’ll just miss one here and there. Also i dont like the main character so far and have no sympathy for him. I hope that the story leads him to realise what an asshat hes been. And when he finishes his year there his parents don’t come back to pick him up, karma bitch.
Looks like this game is very unpolished/buggy on PC, so I think I’ll skip. I’ve learned my lesson.
I played all the way thru Bully a year or so ago and I think you guys are really going to like it. I see it having much more in common with GTA IV than any of the previous GTAs. It’s smaller in scope, a little more intimate, and the town of Bullsworth has a ton more character than a GTA big city. Once you’ve played it awhile I think you’ll see that GTA IV cribbed a lot of it’s vibe from Bully.
I haven’t played Bully yet but I picked up a copy today through your link to Amazon. I love the show and I am looking forward to playing with you guys.
Meh, I won’t be joining in on this Gameclub. I always buy the game with the best intentions, but then it falls off my radar.
I have played Bully twice though and never beat it. I love the more refined start of the game, and actually always feel a bit overwhelmed when the town opens up.
Maybe if there was more to do I would have more fun traveling the town…. but I got reeeeaaallly sick of going. everywhere. slowly.
I would love to see a sequel to this game though!
I was wondering if you guys use word press witch theme you use?
We use a heavily modified implementation of wordpress. Almost all layout and CSS is done using photoshop, text-edit, dreamweaver cs4 for site management and ftp, and firebug/web developer plugins in firefox for speed of prototyping.
Bought it yesterday from direct2drive, been trying to get it working for 2 hours, have hideous draw speed problems, intro videos are even worse. 2 gig hack didn’t work for me
Guess there’s a good chance I’ll have to give up and buy the 360 version.
I’m almost done with fall, I started today.
this game is much more fun then I thought it would be.
I beat the hell out of Bully over Thanksgiving and enjoyed almost every minute of it. It has an odd spark that simply doesn’t exist in the GTA games, and I think it’s because the game captures the awe of being a kid—a.k.a. that period of time when the Go-Kart was the ultimate mode of transportation.
Can’t wait to hear what the Rebels think.
Oh jebus, the music! It’s…. so… GOOD!
I’m a little confused how many chapters are going to be covered in the first podcast
p.s the key board blows for this game i sugest if playing on steam or the pc disk to go out and buy a wired 360 controller for windows (if you dont already have one
I noticed this too about the music, I want to say that it got completely retooled in some spots but I don’t have anything to back it up. Maybe it’s just that it sounds different coming through a headset then it did on my TV the first time around.
So I bought the XBox 360 version because it was just 20 bucks and I wanted the new classes, mission, and outfits (I already owned the PS2 version). However I notice that the audio is kinda off. Like when to go to bed the music just plays as normal but in the PS2 version, the music did this cool little riff and the music ended… I am a being music buff so I think I am going to start all over and play through the PS2 because I really love the music in this game.
I’ve started playing, and I really love this game! It’s very similar to GTA except that the school setting is much more intimate. I also appreciate how a lot of the bit characters have very distinct looks from one another. It’s really cool to run into someone you have seen before and actually recognize them.
Just got this today and played through just a couple of hours but am loving the whole school yard thing.
i really liked the mission to learn how to use the slingshot. when you get to take down all those football players.
can anyone let me know when exactly i need to finish? does it tell you the change of season.
Glad this was chosen. The other games in running were garbage.
I’m excited to hear what you have to say about Bully, and especially interested because of how open-world it seems. With that in mind, I really think you should tackle Far Cry 2 in some future Game Club. First of all, it’s pretty darn cheap now, like $25. It’s also available on PC, 360 and PS3. Most importantly, the open-world nature allows for some great storytelling on the podcast.
I know for me the most interesting part about past backlogs are the stories that are told about the different ways that you might have approached different situations, like the different approaches to the jailbreak scenario in Call of Cthulhu. Look at how excited everyone seems to get by Anthony’s Civ 4 stories, as well. Far Cry 2 seemed to kind of fly under a lot of people’s radars, so it would be neat to discuss. (unless you did this already for backlog and I somehow missed it, in which case I’m a dumb dummy)
Even after playing well into the second chapter I am not sure what to make of this game.
I can say that my favorite character so far is the Biology teacher – his lines/voice acting is just outrageous!
**spoiler**
I really appreciated the end of the first chapter when you finally beat Russell and the bullies all stop attacking you on sight. It was really starting to piss me off that I couldn’t walk two feet without someone trying to jump me!
I also appreciate the short and sweet nature of the missions so far. It’s a nice change from the serious, self important nature of most games.
I got the PC version of the game and have had no problems at all. I only had to set compatibility to xp sp2 and run as administrator.
OS: Win 7 beta
CPU: AMD 64 X2 4400+
RAM: 3GB
GPU: BFG Nvidia 8800gt 512MB.
No problems at all. After playing for nearly 8 hours, it hasn’t crashed once.
i was wondering if it would be a possablity to have suggestion box put in for the next GC because im sure listeners would have a lot of good ideas for games that they feel have been over looked or under appreciated
second-ed.
Picked up a copy of Bully and started playing it last night. I have to wonder what sort of strange infatuation you guys have about games with bugs. I only played a couple of hours but have already had one game crashing bug. This occurred when I went to shoot rocks at the jocks. I stood by the tree and had a total screen lockup. Hard reset and return only to find out the last time I saved was as soon as I was shown the save point. Needless to save I’ve been saving frequently since then.
Second odd bug was after my first night. I decided to be a good little boy and change into my PJs for bed. I woke up the next morning, quickly changed back into my school uniform and then ran all the way to class. Only to enter the school building and find out that I had magically changed back into my PJs. By now it was too late to go back and change so I just went to class in my PJs and avoided anyone who tried to catch me.
So far I’m enjoying the game and I really didn’t think that I would. Looking forward to playing more tonight.
A lot of people are confused to when the Fall season ends. Does it state it clearly in the game? I’ve finished chapter one, but I’m afraid of playing too much further and getting ahead. Can someone just clarify for everyone what point we are playing up to .
Don’t worry. You will definitely know. Just keep playing and there is know way you can miss when the seasons change.
One apect of the game that I’ve really appreciate is that when you change how Jimmy looks (hairstyle, clothes) it presists in the cut scenes. This is production value I didn’t expect from this game!
Also enjoy how when you complete certain classes or missions trophies show up in your dorm room. I’ve started to admass quite the collection!
As of what I have played…I am at the beginning of the Christmas section. (Chapter 3) Bully begins off as a very stereotypical game, you are this arrogant trouble maker, a screwed up kid. You are in a school filled with a few different cliques that are also extremely stereotypical. You hate everyone and everyone except for these two other individuals also hate you. Immediately I was very insulted by the stereotypes but then the game began doing something strange. The game began to parody itself. One of the main character’s (the name is slipping my mind) begins to talk about how he is too cool to be a nerd but to nerdy to be cool. This is striking because it becomes much more relatable to real life. What is also interesting is that the playable character who comes off as a ass, I began to sympathize with this when I understood his situation. In the real world I think of myself as a very cautious well thought out individual but if I was in his situation maybe I would have turned out a bit differently. It is amazing that I can sympathize with someone so different then myself.
I do think that like all rockstar games Bully’s biggest strength is it’s characters, Petey “to cool to be a nerd, to nerdy to be anything else” really is one of the most easily relate-able characters in the game. And Jimmy does become very sympathetic as the game progresses.
Sweet. Think this’ll be the first game club that I’ll be participating in.
Some quick thoughts, having finished CH1:
The mission-based structure is taking some getting used to. I realize this is classic GTA structure, but none of the GTA’s have grabbed me enough to play for any length of time. I’m still not sure how I feel about it.
Save Algie. Dear God, and Escort mission? I’ve hated those since X-wing and Tie-fighter! They were one of the main reasons I quit playing Jak2! I think I had a mental block on that mission. It took me far more tries than the difficulty warranted.
Why is everyone in the school a psychopath? Why do I get tackled by the Jocks on my way to class, and then even the NERDS join in and try to kick my ass? What the hell?
“Save Algie. Dear God, an Escort mission?”
That’s what I said to myself as well. And I swear that was the tough freaking mission in the game so far . . .
I entirely agree, after you get him into the first bathroom and he refuses to use it I had no clue where the other one was, and after finally finding and Algie was too slow and peed himself.
Then second try I got him into the stall, and beat up the dudes that rush the bathroom, and of course a prefect walks by as I’m just finishing them up, and I get busted and failed. Third try was the charm though.
The crazy dude who lives behind the bus. Get him his transmitters as soon as you can. He’ll teach you how to kick mucho ass. The hand-to-hand combat was one of the things I found surprisingly fun about Bully.
Something else that relates, but I was never able to pull it off, try stuffing one of the hall monitors in a school locker. I don’t think it’s actually possible, but I always wondered if it could be done.
It took me a while to figure out the big H on the screen was the hobo and that he was ready for me to bring another transmitter to him. With all of the detail in this game, I don’t think it would have been too hard to make each transmitter look different, heck they all look like a radio.
I can’t really formulate any cohesive opinions on the gameplay other than how buggy the 360 version seems to be. I’m rather glad I both waited until now to play it as I got patched up and chose to store my saves on my mem-card instead of the hard drive. I have, however, started a running narrative of the adventures of out protagonist…
Day 1: The bitch and her new fossil dumped me at Bullsworth Acadamy. Damn reform school has a reputation of taking the worst and refining them into the meanest bits of slime to enter the prision and legal system. The principal’s brown-nosing PA met me at the gate and hauled me to his office where he gave me the “Shape up or we’ll beat you into the ground” speech. I can’t wait until she catches him cheating on her, that’ll be a fun day. I met Gary at the dorm. He seems like a cool guy, even if he’s jacked up on Ritalin. I’m sure we’ll be able to raise all sorts of hell at the school, probably drag the bitch back from her cruise to yell at me.
Must remember to avoid Eunice at all costs, I just know I’m going to wake up screaming one night after dreaming she’s smothering me with her neck.
Day 2: I don’t like the teachers I’ve already met. That’s OK, the feeling is entirely mutual. I kinda hope we get to shoot arrows in gym, ‘cause I’m going to steal a few for later.
Day whenever: It’s been long enough that I don’t care. There’s nothing to do other than go to class and running errands for everyone else. Speaking of errands, I’ve been making a killing off of these spineless dorks around school. Am I the only one that can get anything done around here? Well, except for Gary, even then he’s brains and needs a mob to follow through. Been meeting some of the girls, except Eunice. Beatrice looks like something fun to toy with, that perfect mix of spinelessness and desperation.
Nov 1: Last night was the best. Dressed up and caused minor mayhem about school with Gary. The best part was saved to last with a flaming bag of fresh dog shit outside the teacher’s lounge. I’m starting to like Gary’s plans for running this place. They’re all sheep.
Screw the dates, I’m turning this into a list of what’s wrong and why.
I take back anything nice I’ve ever said about Gary. He’s a psycho prick. The bastard set me up today after making me chase after his twisted ass all afternoon only to throw me into a pit at the bottom of the school’s basement and fight Russell ‘cause I’m some sort of threat. I don’t give a shit about Gary’s plans anymore, but he’s not going to stop making my life hell from here on out until I’m expelled. News of the fight spread and I got a talking to from the principal, and an offer from the preppies to join their boxing club. It sounds fun.
OK. Beatrice was fun while it lasted, but she’s just as psycho as Gary, just not in the same way. Pity, she sucked face like a vacuum.
Mr. Galloway is a confirmed drunkard. I caught him fighting with Mr. Hattrick. Spent the rest of the day looking high and low for his stashes of booze. I know where I’m going for a drink next time. Got a camera out of it too, this is going to make blackmail and extortion so much easier.
The preppies are annoying as hell, stuck up snobs the lot of ‘em. The rumour of inbreeding is entirely true ‘tho. Found that one out after helping Pinky jump the line for a movie. Not going to sleep tonight either, can’t bear the thought of dreaming about Eunice. Did have fun taking Pinky to the carnival, she’ll be a good rebound from Beatrice.
I caught Mr. Burton sneaking out of the town porno store with a fist-full of cheap skin mags. Was hoping he’d give me one as a bribe, but he sent me to break into the girl’s dorm and steal some panties for him. I’d heard he was a pervert, but I’ll have to add sicko to the list. I did get them ‘tho, and one of the girls yanked their dorm’s alarm which gave me the chance to get the hell out and give Mr. Perv his panties. I’ll have to ask around and thank her later. Sometimes I have to laugh when I see someone digging their own hole, can’t wait to help start filling it in.
Dr. Slawter had some fun for me, snuck into the preppie’s clubhouse to kill some rare plant. Fun times were had, and I’m sure the pansies are going to remember my knuckles for a while. I’m starting to think the teachers here are no better than the students.
That bastard Gary is still out to get me, he turned the preppies against me twice. If he sees me as a threat I’ll damned well be one. I’ll rule the school first, and then I’ll throw his ass out on the curb. The preppies are taken care of, had to beat them all senseless to show them who the boss was. I don’t think I’ll be able to hold a pencil for a week, but I feel another lecture coming on.
You are amazing.
Thank-you. There will be more
I should note that I never saw the chapter/week breakdown, so this week includes chapters I and II as I played until I saw snow. next week will be correct and include Chapter II and III.
I have the PC version but the constant bugs and no achievement points made me buy it for the 360 today. Which reminded me why I hate GameStop. The clerk wouldn’t shut up about how I could save 2 dollars on an used copy. I understand its his job, but he told seriously 13 times about it. Lets not mention the scratch disc insurance bullshit he tried to sell me.
If it wasn’t for the pre-order “bonus” stuff I would never shop there.
I love the sense of humor, but I feel that Rockstar could have done much more if they were to make this more serious, sort of like what the did with GTA4. A more serious version could contain things like drugs and sex. If Rockstar isn’t going to do something like this who will?
I would have to disagree, I think if anything that this is the most believable, realistic open world game that Rockstar has ever made. Unlike GTA 4 where they want you to think of Niko as some sort of sympathetic character who doesn’t want to be involved in his life of crime, but then goes and shoots 15 cops, steals a few cars and causes outrageous anarchy that are in direct conflict with how they want you to identify with Niko. In Bully you’re actions are limited to beating up fairly small groups of people, and are pretty much defenseless against the prefects or cops, nothing you can do breaks your character but you don’t feel limited because of it.
And drugs and sex at boarding school? Not that I’ve been but according Dead Poets Society its exciting for boarding school kids to have snuck a page from a playboy.
I see your point, the game play would not allow you to do stuff like going around causing anarchy and killing people.
I actually really really hope they make a sequel to Bully that takes place in a private college and it can include stuff like that. Think of the frat hazing minigames!
I don’t think “serious” issues would of fit in with the attitude this game takes. It’s not trying to create a gritty, realistic world. I wouldn’t want to run around giving wedgies and throwing stink bombs, and then have a mission where Jimmy learns about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases. This game parodies the real world, but doesn’t try to recreate it.
I tried to play this last July but ran into too many disc-read errors on the 360. I was happy to see this as the choice so I could give it another shot. A heads up to 360 owners – this game benefits from a harddrive install more than any other I’ve encountered. To anyone confused about when “Fall” ends, I believe the end of chapter 2 is what you need to have done.
Actually I have decided to join in. I bought the game for PC. There may be some minor performance issues, but other than one crash at the start of a mission, it runs alright. The game kind of plants you into the school with little actual direction and I think that is the beauty of it in a lot of ways. I hate it when an open world game puts you in situations that you have to complete before getting to some of the cool things about it. A good example of bully letting you do cool things from the outset is the fact that they give you the slingshot and super slingshot before the first chapter even ends.
Shit. I just got a new nvidia 260 GTX gfx card, tested it out on crysis, awesome. Went to run bully and most of the walls are now missing, serious gfx glitches. Looking for an alternative to the fix that limits your RAM to 2gb. Thats pretty lame to have to do that for one game. Might have to sit this one out but listen along anyways.
I wish developers didn’t treat console ports as just ‘ports’, and actually try to make it more pc friendly. Rockstar also dropped the ball big time with GTA4 for PC.
I got my copy for the 360 and started it up on Saturday. I made sure to install to HD. Besides the initial loading of the game the load times are very short. I have only hit one game ending bug, which I won’t mention yet, it happens during winter. Speaking of which since I hadn’t read where to stop I played well into spring. This game is extremely addictive and I probably would not have picked it up if it were not for backlog.
Though Rockstar’s GTAIV is a great game I prefer this game since the missions are all relatively at the same level of difficulty. I have yet to finish Niko’s story due to a motorcycle chase mission that has kicked my but time and again.
I only have a couple of problems with the game; they are with the controls. It feels harsh on the controller that I need to repeatedly hit A to sprint instead of just hold it down, esp. since Jimmy doesn’t tire. Also in Biology class how slow the cursor moves. Also I wish the music mini game used the bumpers as the triggers on the 360 controller seem that they are not really built for timed responses.
As for bugs the only one I have seen through fall is that sometimes a character will get stuck and twitch in one spot.
I also have the game installed to the hard drive, and like you the only glitch I’ve seen is characters getting stuck in an animation. It actually happened to me during a dodge ball game, where the opposing members all just stuck in a run animation, but just stayed in one spot. Made it super easy to win!
Am I the only one that picked this up for the Wii? Oh well, so far i’m having a great time with this title. The writing is classic Rockstar. The character development is excellent, I knew kids like this when I was in high school. The waggle controls only add to my overall enjoyment. Just got to chapter 2 and so far my favorite part is screwing with people. Getting close to a security guard and having someone attack you only to see them get hauled off is hilarious. And girl fights in the cafeteria soooooo hot.
I can see taking classes being a lot more fun on the Wii version. Do you use the IR for Biology?
Girl fights are kind of a funny little detail, after I unlocked the make out thing from art class I used it on a couple chicks, the last one I did in front of one I’d made out with early and the flipped out in the middle of the school, hair pulling and everything, of course I just walked away from it.
Yes. Biology is the most fun class so far. It plays just like Trauma center. Pick up the pin place the pin, pick up the scapel then play connect the dots, pick up the forceps place heart on tray. All with the Wii pointer.
My thoughts on Bully so far:
Bully so far strangely reminds me of the book “Catcher in the Rye” which is awesome. It’s a similar setting and opening and he uses the term “phony” much like Holden did. Maybe for a sequel they could really go with a “Catcher in the Rye” theme.
I like the short mission setup and the missions have a pretty nice variety. I also LOVE the music. It’s so simiple, and yet so catchy. What did you guys think about the music?
The one thing that bugs the crap out of me are the frickin’ LOAD TIMES!!! To simply get to class you have to go through 3 load screens and that’s assuming you don’t go anywhere else! It makes the game take a ton longer.
My thoughts on Bully so far:
Bully so far strangely reminds me of the book “Catcher in the Rye” which is awesome. It’s a similar setting and opening and he uses the term “phony” much like Holden did. Maybe for a sequel they could really go with a “Catcher in the Rye” theme.
I like the short mission setup and the missions have a pretty nice variety. I also LOVE the music. It’s so simiple, and yet so catchy. What did you guys think about the music?
The one thing that bugs the crap out of me are the frickin’ LOAD TIMES!!! To simply get to class you have to go through 3 load screens and that’s assuming you don’t go anywhere else! It makes the game take a ton longer.
If you have the 360 version and a HD, install the game. The load times are almost unnoticeable. Like a previous poster said there isn’t enough time to read most of the advice on the load screens.
Is it just me or is the Jimmy Character model just to short. My girlfriend walked in and asked who the short Monkey was. To the adults he only comes up to their stomach. Having fun and have finished chapter 1. Voice acting by Gary has been very well done. I got a bit anoyed by the fact that when I was working on something the bullies faction would always go after me for no reason. They were easy to avoid by running away but it would always take me out of my focus on what I was doing.
I hated how I could so easily hit someone that I was not targeting. I would try to protect someone (and if it was a girl you were really screwed) and they would get hit by accident. Friendly fire just became a problem for me.
I decided to do all classes before doing missions and that really helped me enjoy things on my clock as apposed to the games (you are no longer required to go to class if you finished all five levels.)
See how things go from here.
First time I have ever played a “open world” game, and I find there is less freedom than I expected. These respect digits seem to be set in stone with necessary and linear missions. I’d like to pick and choose which groups I earn respect with, but that doesn’t seem to happen… And I am unsure what this mechanic is suppose to do.
I also find that when I pick up errands, they are asking me to do things that I have no idea what to do, and I am assuming I will earn this skills (stuffing people into lockers). I find that there is a tension between the open world and the linear skill development and story.. but this may be just an early game issue.
Also, as this is a Rockstar game, I assumed there would be some shock value, but the very second I enter the school to begin my game, the black kid immediately ran up and started to beat me up. As I had no idea how to fight back (especially with the Wii version), I got a pretty good pummeling before I could fend him off. I know its probably just how it happened and wasn’t planned, but I thought it was hilariously over the top, especailly for a rock star game.
I spoke to soon about glitches – I’m having achievement glitches. I completed all five levels of every class, but the “complete six classes” and “nine classes” achievement never unlocked. Makes me cranky.
From the start a question has come into my mind, and that is this, was there a fuss over the content that is in Bully? Admittedly I have not done my research, but the question stands. I find the content in Bully to be far more disturbing than that of any GTA or Resident Evil or any other game which has been put on the controversy cutting board. I don’t know what dictates what makes us feel disturbed and what doesn’t but I have a feeling that in this particular case it has something to do with kids, and their portrayal as sadistic and twisted.
I am only 12 percent done with the game according to the progress tracker in the game, but I still feel that this game has the potential to be a game that really makes me question the way I feel about violence on some level. I am not however going to condemn the game just as I wanted condemn a film such as American History X for putting something in front of me that I may not feel comfortable with.
Sorry it should read wont condemn