“Bully”: Rockstar’s Forgotten Gem That Deserves a Sequel

Rockstar Games has been providing gamers with high-quality fun games for many years now. We all can remember that one GTA game that we played for hours during our childhood. Other than GTA, Rockstar also has other famous video game titles. Red Dead, Max Payne, Midnight Club, and L.A. Noire are to name a few. But above all the other games, GTA Online is the one that gets the most attention from the company. It is a fact that GTA 5 is the most lucrative title for Rockstar and they have to maintain that, but some of the other titles get thrown by the wayside for this reason. One of those games would be Bully(2006).

Bully came out in October 2006 as a surprise entry in the Rockstar games collection. It wasn’t the typical Rockstar game everyone would presume. Instead, it was set up around a high school kid.

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The Story of Bully

You play as James Hopkins, a troublemaker who gets admitted into a boarding school called Bullworth Academy. At first, the player’s character struggles to find his footing in the school. He gradually earns the trust of some kids and makes friends with them. During that period, he gets involved with the girlfriend of the leader of Greasers, a gang of the school that has control over others. Jimmy then rounds up the “Nerds” to take on the Jocks and succeeds in the attempt. This way Jimmy takes over the school with his own gang.

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Gameplay Elements

Bully’s gameplay was really impressive at the time it was released. The game had features that made the school environment of the game feel much more immersive. Rockstar was already famous for the work they put into their games. And this one was no exception. Features like slingshots and skateboarding around the school made the game feel more natural. For realism, the game has amazing mechanics, you could start a canteen fight by throwing food at each other. If you got caught by the teachers you had to go to detention. You had to do experiments for chemistry class that sometimes went south. Features like these felt really awesome and made the game a wonder. The game lets you wander outside the school and explore the city area. It was really a well-made game considering it came out in 2006, to this day, Bully is the best game made around that setting.

The game released an expansion called the Scholarship Edition. It had extra missions, clothing, and other minor additions that weren’t available in the main game.

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Critic Reviews

Why isn’t there another Bully game

The game conjured good reviews from every main website like IGN, Gamespot, and Games Radar, and deservedly so. But the game deserved more recognition than it got. The game was a victim of its time. With all the other titles Rockstar was releasing at that time, Bully got lost in between some of the other popular games. The most popular game at that time for Rockstar came out just two years ago in GTA: San Andreas. So, Rockstar was more focused on those types of games and Bully felt like a less serious game compared to them.

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Bully was maybe released in the wrong era as more people are calling for a Bully 2 now but it seems Rockstar games are too busy with their heavy earners. Primarily GTA Online and Red Dead Online. Although it is not likely that we would get a sequel to Bully. But the chances of getting a Bully 2 are not fully dead. Considering Rockstar knows what their fans want and eventually they ought to give their attention to Bully. We can only hope to get another game like this brilliant one Rockstar made.