Bully is the latest incarnation from the devilish minds of Rockstar Games, makers of the immortal and genre defining classic, Grand Theft Auto. This title strays from the path of car jacking, Mafioso madness, and extends into the juvenile realm of the Bullworth Academy boarding school, as one young Jimmy Hopkins.

Graphically, it looks quite similar to GTA, but with more of a cartoony overtone. Many of the interface icons such as the radar display, power-ups and general third-person view, harkens back to that very same game as well. The overall attention to detail is quite vast, from the run-down hallways of your dormitory, the snow-covered (full seasonal weather FYI) fields and the makeshift hideouts that serve as your save points. The dorm room itself is adorned with pictures of past crushes, a chemistry set, headgear from wrestling and more. Being able to see your plunder is a real treat! Other locales are also well done, from the bustling towns adjacent to the school (from the ritzy Old Bullworth Vale to the Blue Sky industrial area), a boxing club, a movie theater, a junkyard and more. Artistically, each place and person in Bully shows a real sense of care and personality, in that quasi-comical nature Rockstar is known for.

The characters are well modeled, but animate a bit stiffly at times, although some of these are rather interesting. The fighting motions look and feel just “right”, from tackling a ruthless jock, to pounding the living snot out of a greaser. The motions synch just right into believable combat.

On the audio side of things, more good stuff to talk about here as well. The voice acting is immense and quite colorful, from a lot of whimsical sayings from Jimmy, to the nasal-pitched nervous laughter of the Nerds, to the stern warnings of Dr.Crabblesnitch, the headmaster at Bullworth. Even passing by certain people will elicit a funny response or two, regardless of the thousands of lines of dialogue during the main story and side missions. The music also fits nicely with the schoolboy hijinks, but gets a tad annoying at times, and almost is akin to the whimsical nature of circus music. And we all know about our own deep-seated clown phobias… right? Thankfully, it shifts from each situation, cueing you into the action, such as a quickening beat when you are fighting for your life, or a laxadasical medley while you tool around town running errands on your bike. Overall, both the audio and graphics are expertly polished - I would expect nothing less from Rockstar.

For the most part, Bully consists of a myriad of main story missions, with a smattering of random side quests, from such things as escorting an old lady to her apartment, finding lost dogs, delivering packages and more. The bread and butter of Bully is a lot of fighting though, so get ready for that. You have to face off against the five main cliques of almost any school: The Jocks, the Bullies, the Greasers (substitute emo/punks/general outcast/troublemaker), Townies and Preppies. Many have their own hideouts, like the Preppies have a beach clubhouse and the boxing arena, both of which can be taken over by yourself after you establish your dominance over said group, or conversely, to help them as with the Nerds, who often request your superior brawn and courage.

Thankfully, fighting is handled quite smoothly, and after spending a few hours in Gym Class or the boxing ring, fighting your way up the ladder, or even learning some sick moves from the homeless veteran, you can improve your punching, grappling, roundhouse kicks and more. Better still, you can wield an assortment of weapons, like your trusty slingshot, early in the game, then on to stink bombs, firecrackers, eggs and more.

On top of all of this, you have to pay attention to your time, with classes coming and going. Being truant is a big no-no and can get you into hot water with the various prefects wandering the streets and halls, looking for tardy young men like yourself. Evading them hearkens back to the days of Metal Gear Solid where a bit of stealth and being fleet of foot comes in quite handy, not to mention a few well-placed marbles now and again. If all else fails, hiding in a dustbin always works. Once you finally make it to your first class, you notice a series of mini-games are now presented before you, like the scrambled word puzzle of English class, or the Dance Dance Revolution inspired Chemistry exams. Each one will test various skills outside of bashing skulls in. After you pass five of these, you have completed the course, and if you beat the main mode first, like I did, you are right around the time of the endless summer, which is basically an opportunity to finish everything you left behind over the school year. Some of these things could be the various arcade games, amusement park rides, and a host of other mini-games. Nothing in this world comes cheap though, and you should always try and make a few bucks on the side, from running a paper route, mowing lawns (riding lawnmower for the win!), or flipping some burgers at a local fast food “restaurant.”

Bully isn’t that hard of a game, to be honest. And this is on the default difficulty level. As you enter this sophomoric world, you will be slowly introduced to the various groups, from the current top dog Gary, who will be your eventual nemesis, to the various other cliques, your eventual arsenal, move list and so forth. This presents an easy learning curve to get accustomed to the ins and outs of the gameplay mechanics, and shouldn’t present any problems for most gamers. Veterans of the GTA series should instantly feel at home.

The controls are pretty spot on, whether fighting a horde of jocks, or zipping in and out of traffic on your skateboard while you skip school. Occasionally, you will run into the dreaded camera issue of “closed quarters chaos”, where you can’t see a dang thing because the walls seemingly close in around you. Aside from this common issue, the overall mechanic’s package is pretty solid.

Overall, Bully is another smash hit from Rockstar, complete with stellar presentation, a hilarious storyline, and enough replayability to make this worth several rentals. If you are any fan of the GTA series, or just like a sandbox game set in the unique environment of a school where you can become the top dog, then by all means, check this sucker out.