Ahh school, we’ve all been through it…unless you were homeschooled or were just naturally born smart. But I bet a good 97% have all been through the struggle that is school. We’ve all experienced the classics: homework, friendships, relationships, and bullying. Someone should probably make a game about it…and that’s when rockstar came into the picture. I’m sure many people would’ve laughed at the idea of the devs behind gta creating a game about being in school, how ridiculous. But it fucking rules.

You play as Jimmy Hopkins, a troubled school boy who has been sent by his mother to a new school in the town of bullworth. As you proceed through the game you become accustomed to the town and the school itself. You find the groups: the nerds, the jocks, the greasers, and the preps. Unfortunately I’m from Britain and only 2 of these groups exist in my school and the rest are just more of an American thing I guess. It pretty much controls like a gta game with obvious changes.

For starters you can’t drive cars or steal cars, you can however use bicycles and steal them from other students…except the girls, DO NOT STEAL A BIKE FROM A GIRL. There are also no guns and instead you have to resort to more friendlier weapons such as potato guns and fire crackers. You can also go to lessons which are basically just little time wasting mini games with slight benefits. For example if you go through English, you’ll have to assemble different words using a certain number of letters…so you could put the word ‘war’ down and all of a sudden you know how to flirt with girls better. You can also do jobs around the town if you want to but it’s not that necessary as you just get money from completing jobs and can get pretty rich for a 15 year old. You can also compete in bike races which I’m literally an expert on. Move over Lewis Hamilton, Jimmy Hopkins is the new champion.

The story is basically about assembling the school together and forming a more friendlier society. You go up against Gary who wants to basically do the same but take it a step further by taking over the entire school and creating chaos. I don’t usually like to copy from others but there was a YouTuber that pointed out quite a few parts of the characters in the game. For example Gary mentions how he takes medication which adds a layer of sadness to the character and almost makes his actions make sense. Which is another thing about this game: it is very well written. From the grease wannabes to the alcoholic English teacher each character has interesting and unique details and dialogue.

The town itself is also a part of the game I wish to quickly discuss. You play throughout the game whilst the world slowly changes from season to season. You also get to go to the different places around the town, such as the amusement park and the insane asylum (which is right near to a school for some reason lol). Also you have the opportunity to unlock new places to rest and save. To start with you only get your room at the school to save and rest but as you continue playing you can get the basement of a comic shop all the way to a lighthouse. A 15 year old is now a property owner.

Bully is one of the most creative and witty games I’ve probably ever played. In my honest opinion it’s one of rockstars crowning achievements and it deserves a sequel or revival of some sort.

Brilliant gameplay, excellent music, beautifully designed world, well written characters, great story, everybody do the cow dance

recently there's been a lot of praise for kane and lynch 2's camera (maybe too much), but i'd argue the way these early rockstar games do the exact opposite thing with the player pov is a lot more succesful - the handheld camera in that game may look superficially filmy, but it almost never helps you look at things a certain way, while bully's actively encourages players to throw objects into the frame in interesting combinations. there seems to have been a lot of consideration to stillness and distance, the way it pans and zooms in relation to the npcs and locations is beautiful (the diegetic camera is a delight), it doesn't encourage you to look at the world because there is no reward in doing so, it simply reminds you that the act itself can be something very nice. i think there's a slightly romantic quality to putting that on a game about a kid completing random objectives to get assimilated into a world that hates him.

Eu adoro essa temática que a Rockstar conseguiu construir nesse jogo de colegial, de escola, um ambiente muito real, os GTA ainda tinham muita ficção, uma coisa mais extraordinária, enquanto o Bully tem uma abordagem muito mais pé no chão, o que torna a história ainda mais próxima e imersiva da gente, e que protagonista incrível, é muito bom esse moleque aí todo problemático conquistando respeito aos poucos na marra. A Rockstar antigamente era qualidade garantida, todos os jogos que ela fazia eram muito bons, e o Bully é um dos meus favoritos porque ele é muito diferente, até dentro dos próprios jogos da Rockstar, essa temática escolar dá aberturas pra você colocar mecânicas que simplesmente não teriam como aparecer em outros jogos como GTA ou Red Dead, coisas como por exemplo a rotina, a frequência nas aulas, a gente tem que ir pras aulas de química, aula de inglês, aula de artes, ir frequentando essas aulas nos horários certinhos... Ou seja, você tá vivendo aquela vida ali de meter porrada e conquistar respeito na escola, mas ao mesmo tempo você ainda é um aluno que tem que ficar indo nas aulas e fazendo as atividades que são pedidas nelas. Tem também os seguranças da escola, se você ficar faltando muito nas aulas eles começam a te procurar, são mecânicas pequenas, mas que tornam a experiência muito criativa e muito divertida. Tudo que eu mais quero ver da Rockstar é um Bully 2, mas tá foda pra isso acontecer.

Right, so... there's quite a bit to say about this game and this is likely one of those instances where it's either overhyped, resulting in lesser enjoyment, or hyped up purely through nostalgia. In any case, my thoughts would remain the same.

For starters, the plot is fuck all interesting. I don't really care about any of these characters and the overarching plot feels very rushed and put together at the last minute leaving for a very sudden and abrupt ending that would leave much to be desired but doesn't because it's just not interesting enough.

That being said, the crown jewel of this game is it's addictive gameplay, which can sometimes fall flat. I wasn't a fan of certain tasks abandoning checkpoints (as others did have them), I'd end up playing a tedious task 4-6 times because of a minor fuck-up, sometimes the game would tell me things after I had done something resulting in a failure which was the biggest pain in my backside.

Which means, the even bigger jewel of this game is actually the soundtrack, even though the ending fight soundtrack completely ripped off Pirates of the Caribbean for whatever reason, but it slapped.

It is definitely a game that exists, something fun to pass the time ig, but a masterpiece? Pretty far from it.

JOGÃO, JOGAÇO JOGAZAÇOOOO

fácil o jogo mais divertido que joguei nos ultimos anos, PUTA QUE JOGO BOM caralho, eu joguei no emulador por preguiça de ficar procurando crack ou esperando promoção na steam, então joguei a versão de PS2 e não a completona que soltaram depois, não faço ideia se tem muita diferença dessa do PS2, mas se tiver eu compro facil na steam, porque to apaixonado nesse jogo e zeraria ele de novo numa boa depois

mas falando do jogo, pra epoca que saiu ta excelente, não envelheceu tão mal, os graficos são bonitos e a história e os personagens são divertidissimos, não consigo ter nada pra criticar no jogo, por ser emulador tive uns bugs ali e aqui, queda de frames em alguns lugares, mas nada que me atrapalhou tanto, e por isso meti um 5 estrelas sem dó, porque é realmente um JOGÃO

espero um dia ter um remake desse jogo ou uma sequencia, ia amar voltar pra esse universo da rockstar

enfim, jogaço, recomendo TODO mundo a jogar esse jogo porque não vão se arrepender nem fudendo

GTA in school format, what could go wrong?

Surprisingly very little, instead they gave us a more light-hearted story compared to GTA where guns are replaced with a slingshot and other fun weapons such as a marble trap and firecrackers. Fun character interactions with an engaging story you'll blast right through.

The gameplay was way more interactive than I initially thought, fun combat with a cool way to level up your skills; you have to attend your classes which are simplistic minigames and you are awarded even more depending on your grades.

Overall the game is just FUN, most modern games lack this nowadays and are more obsessed with politics than telling a fun story. I'm waiting on a Bully 2 set in a college setting. but that'll never happen...

rejoguei essa bomba por nostalgia como algo pra rejogar dps de ter zerado um jogo pesadão e meu deus como isso é bom até hoje

hoje em dia tendo jogado red dead redemption 2, da pra ver que a rockstar tirou coisas até de bully pra fazer aquele jogo, oque significa que eles nao esqueceram da existencia dele

até hoje eu acho ele o melhor jogo da rockstar, porque os temas que ele aborda são muito mais únicos e diferentes


ele não é um jogo de criminoso nem de caubói, é um jogo sobre escola, um bagulho que todo mundo consegue se relacionar e isso é muito interessante

ta ae um jogo que merecia um remake, mas cepa nunca vai acontecer

um verdadeiro banger da rockstar

This is easily one of my favorite Rockstar games, the story is great and paced well and fits the school environment. Speaking of environment the world building is great, all the small fun activities make the game's map feel way better than the GTA games which are relatively empty. The soundtrack can get repetitive however I personally never got tired of the songs that played while doing various activities. despite this being a PS2 game the controls are still nice and crisp. Overall an amazing game that aged pretty well.

Bully is a game that really surprised me. I really admire how Rockstar was able to create a pretty unique spin on a formula quickly gaining traction in early 2000s gaming, rather than just slapping a school uniform on top of it and calling it a day.

There are so many aspects of this game that are so well thought out:
- The varied minigame aspect with classes, and the in game rewards that going to class gives you, while not completely stunting you if you decide to skip.
- Small school things implemented into the gameplay like how you use the controller to open lockers, bikes/skateboards/buses in exchange for cars in quick travel, and forced stealth aspects (being able to be bad as a kid involves A LOT more sneaking than for adults lol).
- Popularly stereotyped high-school cliques, with unique challenges based on their individual aspects: having to get a video game high score for access to the nerd base, beating the preps in their country club sports for their respect, etc.

The humor is very 2000s Rockstar, with many of the jokes still able to stick the land, while others are just straight up uncomfortable. I think the biggest thing I couldn't stand was all the vomit and piss in the game, but again, it's a 2000's Rockstar game, I knew what I was walking into. The greasers were the only clique in the game that had me scratching my head on why the hell they added them, but the game itself even pokes fun at the choice with comments like, "Do those guys know it's not the 50's anymore," towards it. I personally think a group like "The Emos" would have been more fun to have, but that might have been just a bit too underground for Rockstar to pick up on yet.

The ending for Bully was really fun, with all the cliques in complete chaos. My only nitpicky complaint would be not seeing Gary for a fairly long time (think he's last seen with the greasers at the half-way mark), only for him to reappear as the ultimate villain, because I mean, did you expect the kid that dressed as a Nazi for Halloween to NOT be? His final boss battle is great though, building up the suspense and drama of FINALLY being able to beat up the kid that acts like all the worst people on online forums, and man, it feels fucking AMAZING when you finally do beat the snot out of him.

I had a lot of fun with Bully, and could see it being a game I try and 100% at some point! Some of the humor and relatability is a bit of a miss for me, but that's just something to expect not being the target audience for the game. Even then, I really enjoyed it, and think it works great as an example of some of the PS2's best of the bests.

4/5

acho que eu nunca partilhei o amor intenso que sinto por esse jogo desde o ps2. Ele é um dos jogos que eu mais zerei, sendo 16 vezes ao total, e eu nunca enjoei dele.

As músicas desse jogo me encantam de um jeito que eu não sei explicar, desde a trilha mais calma para viver um romance em um cinema, até a trilha mais agitada feita para enfrentar dezenas de valentões na base da porrada

O combate do jogo funciona muito bem e é bem simples, contendo poucos combos fáceis de serem executados

O ambiente do jogo foi feito de maneira perfeita, conseguindo inserir o jogador num ambiente escolar decadente de maneira surreal, não tendo uma data exata de quando o jogo se passa, assim fazendo com que todos os públicos se identifiquem

Os npcs do jogo não se repetem no mundo aberto, com todos eles tendo um nome, história e características variadas

O enredo é bem básico e não tem nada de mais, brilhando principalmente nos personagens da história

O mundo aberto do jogo é rico em detalhes e é divido em diversas partes que vão sendo desbloqueadas a partir da progressão do jogador na campanha

O jogo também é divido em capítulos, com cada um deles tendo uma estação do ano que modifica o mapa e a temática da parte da história em que está inserida

Depois de tudo isso, acho que é minha obrigação falar que bully é atemporal e é um dos jogos mais divertidos já feitos.

10/10

esse foi um dos últimos jogos da era em q a Rockstar ousava arriscar alguma coisa diferente. depois disso vc só teve Manhunt 2 e talvez meio q Max Payne 3 (depende de quem vc perguntar). ele tem um estrutura de mundo aberto meio rara em jogos ocidentais, com um mundo de uma escala bem menor e com um foco bem diferente. o negócio está mais em vc conhecer Bullworth e entender como ela funciona e usar isso a seu favor do q te oferecer uma simples sandbox pra vc fazer o q quiser.

vc pode fazer até uma comparação a Shenmue e Yakuza, o q é meio q uma comparação um tanto q engraçada. mas considerando o tanto de muleque q vc vai descer a porrada nesse jogo, tbm n acho tão errada assim.

eu realmente não esperava q eu fosse gostar tanto de Bully. ele é escrito de um jeito legal. tem ainda aquele humor de muleque fedido da Rockstar, mas até q funciona nesse jogo (na maior parte do tempo, pelo menos). o Jimmy é um ótimo protagonista, as setpieces são divertidas e o combate é simples mas engajante. destaque tbm vai para a trilha sonora, q genuinamente acho a melhor de qualquer jogo da rockstar (quando se trata de músicas originais e tals).

o climax desse jogo nunca aconteceria hj em dia sem times da SWAT tomarem conta do campus em minutos e acabar se tornando um dos maiores incidentes internacionais do ano.