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Jan 14th, 2008 at 02:35:23 - Bully (PS2) |
GAMEPLAY
I’ve been digging deeper into Bully and I’m really happy to see the direction it is going, but I just hope it can follow through and actually build up a dramatic conflict by the end of the game. By now, I have an annoying enemy who has dreams of ruling the school, whatever that means. I hope something epic, but still in league for the setting, will take place by the end of the game.
I have had the chance to interact with more of the characters and they are all really entertaining. Every nerd and jock is a parody of the stereotype they are trying to emulate. Their dialogue has a great habit of being both very outlandish and very believable for a character. Such strange statements such as “I’m going to get good grades so I can get a good job and make more money then anyone!” and “I love it when boys give me gifts; it really boosts my self esteem!” are hilarious but also have a strange sense realism to them. Just because no real high schooler would say them doesn’t mean they aren’t true.
I’ve also had a chance to leave the school and explore the small town. It’s actually a very different environment, for where you rule in a school, you're nothing in town. It’s almost impossible to take down an adult, and the police are a lot stronger then the prefects. It’s interesting how easily my bubble is burst once I step outside the school. I am glad there are so many ways to get around, between the bus, the skateboard and my bike. I’m interested to see how the town people will change the experience of the game.
I’ve also been noting the reactions of my roommates while playing this game. ‘Bully’ is a controversial game because bullying is a controversial topic. And this game has a large bias against it mostly based on a lack of understanding of the game. One friend, familiar with arcade games and party games but not sandbox, came in the room and was confused on how the game play even worked. She asked if the game was “Preps Gone Wild” and couldn’t understand why I would spend hours playing a game about being at school. Another friend came in and upon learning the game’s title, asked me if I knew how many kids committed suicide a year because of bullying. Oddly enough, when I told her the game lets you stop the bullies, she asked to beat up a random in-game kid. It was interesting how these two people reacted to a game that was largely out of their element. The first friend was not a gamer, and so she didn’t seem to want to approach the game. The second friend took the game very seriously, as if I was bullying real kids but then suddenly became more bloodthirsty then I would have been. Other friends who watched had different reactions. One friend told me to hit enemies with bats or to break their arms. Both of these actions cannot be preformed in game and even if I could, I do not think I would want to because their violence oversteps the bounds established by this setting. So in this case, my friend broke the mood created by the game on two levels.
DESIGN
‘Bully’s design is based on an interesting element that I have seen a lot lately. A setting is taken, in this case the school. An ecosystem is added: the teachers and students, each in their own groups. Then a wild card is thrown in the mix, the player. Like many sandbox games, this world seems to work perfectly without any of my input. Bullies beat on nerds, jocks beat on preps, and it all blends together to form a seemingly independent world. But then the player comes along, suddenly someone is standing up to all the bullies. Now I seem to see a lot less bullying in the game. Bullies would harass me on sight. Now they leave me alone. It cannot be easy to create an AI such as this, because it all works very convincingly.
Although it may seem like a formula that has been tried before, I’m impressed by all the new things that ‘Bully’ brought to the table. The time factor gives the player a lot of choice in either obeying the rules, or disobeying them and facing the penalty. Going to class had rewards, but sometimes I would just rather do missions. But then I’m skipping class and have to keep a low profile, otherwise I’ll get a detention. The way the school and rule system works is impeccable. I was not forced to do anything, so I could be the bad boy I wanted to be, or follow the rules. Both had their excitements and rewards.
When I started playing, I made the choice to play the game as a “good kid.” I usually take this path with most games and leave the bad boy play through for the next time. So I was pleased that ‘Bully’ gave me that option. As I went around the school yard, I would save kids instead of bulling them myself. What was an interesting element about the design, however, is that the player is not explicitly rewarded or punished for following either path. It is up to the player to decide what is right or wrong, or to decide that they don’t care about these fake computer people. I ran into some interesting situations because of this. For one, it was up to me to decide if I was really being “good” or “bad.” I would save weaker kids from bullies, but then sometimes I would give the bullies themselves a taste of their own medicine for no reason. At my point in the game, when I shove a bully off another kid, he backs down and begs forgiveness. At first, I would just beat them up, but then I realized I was just being a bully(!) myself. When I said that I wanted to play the good kid, I meant that I would play the game with the morals from my own world, treating it as if it were a real event ( mind you I’m still aware that it is fake!). However, this attitude would sometimes falter. I would call what I described above as imaginative play, imagining something to be real and taken seriously within the context of the game, basically role playing. But other times I would just decide to mess around. I treat the game as a game, a fake world. I decide to beat up everyone in sight. I pick unwinnable fights. I betray in game friends. I just generally muck everything up. And the game itself has no punishment for this. Where you would lose if you killed a friend character in another game, ‘Bully’ lets you do almost whatever you want to any character, for the most part. What I find so intriguing about this approach is that it allows seamlessly allows different types of play. Those who want to stay inside the realm of the game story and not step outside their avatar’s character can do so, while others who just want to play a game also have that freedom. I think what is important is that the game subtly offers that choice and therefore can appeal to many different kind of players. It is also possible to freely switch between both styles of play without any change in the game world. I believe this is what makes a great game.
This entry has been edited 5 times. It was last edited on Jan 15th, 2008 at 03:36:55.
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Jan 13th, 2008 at 21:56:10 - Bully (PS2) |
SUMMARY:
In ‘Bully’, the player takes control of 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins as he is dropped into the world of Bullworth Academy preparatory school. The player interacts with an extensive variety of characters which mostly consists of students but also includes teachers, prefects, school staff and other authority figures. Bully is an action-adventure game with a sandbox format, first made famous in Rockstar’s own ‘Grand Theft Auto’. However, the sandbox format features a big twist in the form of a school schedule. The player is expected to attend class and obey rules such as school curfew.
GAMEPLAY
When first looking at ‘Bully’, many similarities can be made to Grand Theft Auto and its sandbox game play. As Jimmy, I was dropped off at Bullworth Academy and then set loose. After a talk with the principal and some tutorials on fighting and interacting with my peers, I was given a school outfit and a dorm room which doubles as a save point. The display includes a mini map to help me move around and a clock to keep track of the time. This clock is extremely important as time puts many interesting factors into the game.
As Jimmy is a student in a school, he is expected to attended class. Each class includes a mini game, such as button prompts for Auto shop and a word scramble for English class. On their own, classes are enough fun to stand and don’t seem like a chore, especially since each class only has to be attended five times until you do not have to worry about that class anymore (assuming you pass every time, which I did not). Not only that, but each passed class offers unique bonuses, such as access to new items or abilities. All in all, attending classes was a good use of time and not boring. I also did not feel like the freedom of the sandbox design was ruined as I could always choose to ditch class.
The title ‘Bully’ can be misleading, as Jimmy is not necessarily a bully and does not have to be. That choice is completely up to the player. As a student, the characters I interacted with most were other students, each divided into various groups, such as nerds, jocks and preps. Each group has general “nerd” or “jock” characters, as well as many named individual characters who give out missions. In many games, these characters are mostly unseen in the casual game world and are only featured in cut scenes. However, in ‘Bully’ all of these students can be seen walking around and interacting with both Jimmy and each other. As I walked around, I saw bullies picking on smaller kids, preps fighting jocks, kids slipping on banana peels and all sorts of interactions. Best of all, once I got in a fight with a few bullies, a group of students gathered around me and cheered on for no side in particular. That is until a prefect came and everyone scattered. Next thing I knew, I was running through the halls try to get away. Unfortunately, I soon found myself in the principle’s office.
Another great aspect of the game I found was the character interaction. It would be pretty easy to just have a solid combat mechanic and call it a day, but the interaction with students is a lot deeper. I soon learned how to greet and insult my peers. I could shove someone to intimidate them, and try and apologize to prevent a fight. Not only that, but there are a number of context sensitive interactions. Instead of knocking out a kid, you can perform a type of finisher where you can humiliate them, such as giving an indian burn, dunking a head in a toilet or applying a wedgie or wet wille. All these options give Jimmy a trove of non-violent or less violent options to succeed. It was very satisfying to stuff a bully in a locker while he was giving a nerd a wedgie, much more then it would have been if I just beat him up. At one point, I accidentally provoked two fat nerds and next thing I know they are trying to swing at me. I didn’t want to hurt them, as I was trying to be a “nice kid”, so I tried shove them off so they would leave me alone. When they continued, I was happy that I intuitively found alternate ways to stop them instead of beating them up. With one nerd, I found I could fake him out by cocking my fist as if I was to hit him, he then wet himself in fear and ran off. I gave the second a shove and he tumbled backwards into a garbage bin, getting himself stuck. Both outcomes saved me from having to hurt anyone seriously, but still disabling the situation.
My reaction to this game actually surprised me a great deal. I’m a firm believer in video games being an outlet for aggressive thought and see no harm in imagining even the most violent act as long as it stays imaginary. When it is said that first person shooters cause school shootings, I wonder how a kid learned to use a gun from a controller. I also have never felt more violent after playing a violent game, as the actions are usually so outlandish from my everyday life that I cannot make a connection. I mean, when I have I ever seen a person reach into someone else’s ribcage and pull out a heart? But this school setting is a lot closer to home, and fists are something everyone knows how to use to some degree. So I was surprised to find myself becoming a little aggressive emotionally after playing the game. I’m not saying that I got in any fights or shoveling matches, or even insulted anyone. But I felt a great deal of self confidence both during and after playing the game. I would rate this as a positive reaction, but I still approach with caution. I have felt a lot of emotion while playing video games, self confidence included. But something was different about this time. Maybe because I was revisiting high school, or maybe because I could relate to the actions or maybe because the entire setting is pretty similar to my setting now, but as I said, it think self confidence was good, but I am weary about it turning into aggression.
This entry has been edited 3 times. It was last edited on Jan 14th, 2008 at 23:11:14.
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