BULLY: SCHOLARSHIP EDITION

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Rockstar New England

Publisher : Rockstar Games And Bethesda Softworks

Engine : Gamebryo

Genre : Modern Action Adventure

Release Date : October 21 , 2008

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 3000+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7500 Series
ATI : Radeon X1300 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 4.7 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

PC game enthusiasts know they're in trouble when a game's menus require keyboard input rather than allow you a mouse pointer. That's the first indication, but hardly the last, that this version of Rockstar Games' boisterous look at schoolyard folly is just a quick cash-in. There seems to be little regard for the platform here: The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, the keyboard and mouse controls are awkward, and for a game that hardly pushes the capabilities of a halfway decent computer, it performs poorly. As new-kid-on-the-block Jimmy, you find your sneering self dumped at Bullworth Academy, a private school populated by the usual cliques we all came to know and hate in our own adolescences. By fulfilling missions, you'll progress from one chapter to the next, alternately gaining sway over one social circle while alienating another. One of Bully's many brilliant aspects is the variety it throws into these tasks. At one point, you'll man a potato-spewing turret to defend arm-flailing, bedwetting nerds from invading jocks; at another, a professor instructs you to infiltrate the preppies' dorm and kill a prized Venus flytrap. In fact, some of the most amusing missions were created specifically for the Scholarship Edition and revolve around a Kris Kringle gone bad. He's also believable and is likely to remind you of at least one person you know or knew in your younger years. The enormous surrounding cast of goofball nerds and slick-haired greasers deserves equal praise, from the obese and enuretic Algie to Mandy, the head cheerleader with a surprising streak of insecurity. The success here is twofold. First off, you have an incredible script bursting with both cringe-inducing realism and snort-out-loud one-liners. A romantic interest says "I'm such a player" after flowers and a kiss; cafeteria cook Edna tells you that hawking a loogie into the mystery stew gives it flavor. At first glance, these moments seem to play to stereotype, but each character transcends labels and comes across as remarkably individual. Second of all, the voice acting is utterly spectacular, from the main cast to the hysterical quips from minor characters you overhear in your travels. If you choose to stay on campus, you can attend class in the morning or afternoon. In biology class, you must carve open a specimen and remove its vital organs in an allotted amount of time--and it's much tougher than it sounds. In geography, you must place the appropriate flag on its corresponding country. Math takes a Brain Age approach by asking you to quickly solve simple math problems, whereas music class involves a rhythm-based minigame.

Of course, you can skip class entirely and tool around on your own. Here, you can bully other kids to your heart's content or save the meeker students from their own bullies by beating up the aggressors. Close combat is on the simple side, especially after you unlock various combinations. Alternately, you can run quick errands for townspeople, mow lawns for extra cash, participate in bike races, drop some quarters into arcade machines and gun for a high score, egg cars, take yearbook photos, or head to the local carnival and lounge with the little people. You could probably hurry through the main quest in 10 hours or so, but you could easily spend four times that number if you wanted to see everything Bully has to offer. As you move from one task to the next, you will discover some of Bully's other idiosyncrasies. This is a game that does a lot, though mechanically speaking, some aspects don't work as well as others. Triggering an event or opening a door can sometimes be a pain because, for whatever reason, even standing right on top of the marker won't always generate the prompt; bicycle and skateboard controls can be loose, which in turn leads to some frustration on certain missions; and some targeting foibles can make it tough to punch or aim, among other peculiarities. For some reason, outdoor environments are all washed out; everything is fuzzy and overlit during the day, as if you turned up the gamma settings on your monitor. There are also all sorts of weird lighting glitches, like flickers and blinking shadows. Additionally, Bully's technical performance is decidedly mediocre, and the slowdown isn't limited to the frame rate: The entire game speed lurches along, slowing down and hurrying up as you move in and out of more populated areas. At least you'll get an amazing sonic experience. As previously mentioned, the voice acting is outstanding, and everything from ambient sound effects to the eccentric minimalist soundtrack strikes just the right chord. However, we ran into a number of sound bugs, such as frequent occasions when voice-over and lip movement became desynched or when speech was completely inaudible. The game offers plenty of memorable moments and crafts an adolescent world that is both surreal and painfully truthful, but a poor job of porting means that you need to overcome a number of obstacles to get the most out of it. lazy porting job hinders Bully's classic classroom hijinks.

GAME REVIEW :-

6.5/10

Bully: Scholarship Edition Trailer :-