well i think its new, well its a diff previewer so its new,
i put up the link before i read, long preview...
BULLY INFOSPOnG.com
Rockstar has been very quiet about the details of Bully. Inevitably so – since the game’s announcement there have been outraged cries from the mainstream press that it’s yet another ‘demoralising sinister game’ from the house that GTA built. There’s no denying that this is getting the game some much sought after attention, but is all the negativity justified? Does Bully (or its new reformed name in Europe, Canis Canem Edit) aim to promote real life playground bullying?
When we visited Rockstar’s London headquarters to get a sneak preview of the game, it quickly became obvious that the Bully/Canis Canem Edit is anything but a promotion of school menacing. Hugh Michaels, before moving onto anything else, showed us a trailer of many other TV shows and films that highlighted school life and the highs and lows that came with it; “Many films, books and TV series are allowed to deal with school settings and the harsher side of it. Harry Potter and Grange Hill certainly did this… really all we’re asking is why can’t video games express those same ideas and issues?”
We then got stuck into the game, starting with the introduction of Jimmy Hopkins, the protagonist whose role you take play in Canis Canem Edit. Expelled from every other school in the area, this problem child’s last chance to get an education lies, almost inevitably, in the toughest establishment in the country – Bullworth Academy. On the car journey there, an argument erupts between Jimmy and his mother’s new husband – some rich guy that the poor kid has never seen before. Assuming the role of good parent, Jimmy’s mum dumps him at Bullworth’s school gates, announcing that she's going on honeymoon for a whole year. That’s love right there, that is.
It is here that you grasp control of Jimmy, and begin to explore the Academy’s courtyard. It’s an expansive place, and this represents just one small segment of the game world – Canis Canem Edit is split into five chapters (each owing to a season of the year) [how many seasons are there – Ed?] and later in the story you will be able to leave the school gates and reconnoitre the nearby town. Complex missions will require you to explore and reach different areas of the world, and the style is, as you would expect from the eyes of an impressionable child, larger than life. The courtyard itself is thronging with teachers, prefects and pupils, each with their own type of dress code depending on which clique they belong to (more on this later). The school’s classrooms can be found on one side, while boys and girls’ dorm houses are opposite each other – naturally the chance to sneak into places you’re not allowed to will arise sooner or later. You little scamp, you.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Right now Jimmy is in casual clothes and has just got a bollocking for not wearing uniform. So the aim right now is to reach the boy’s dorm, get to your new room and change clothes. As we’re exploring the courtyard for the first time, Hugh explains a little more about Jimmy’s character. “He’s a tough kid, he can look after himself – but he’s not a malicious thug. Throughout the game he will get into trouble and start fights as any kid would, but you mainly see it through defending himself or protecting weaker kids in the school”.
And right now we’re about to get a taste of that. Jimmy attempts to get into the boy’s dorm and is surrounded by bullies. “You know what time it is? Yep, time for a beat down!” yells one of the ugly beefcakes standing in your way. It turns out nobody really likes new kids much. Time to defend yourself we thinks. Rockstar’s Richard Barnes demos the fighting tutorial for us, and teaches us how Jimmy will be able to protect himself in the game.
Blackboard JunglePut simply, fighting is limited to two buttons. Square will make you attack, and is context sensitive – if you’re facing a bully, you’ll start punching them, but if you manage to get them on the floor the same button will have Jimmy kick them in the ‘happy sacks’. Triangle is used for grabbing and throwing, and you can use a combination of those two buttons to perform various fighting manoeuvres. It’s very simple to get the hang of, and very satisfying to be rugby tackling nasty kids to the ground, punching their face in wrestling style, then picking them up and launching them sideways.
At this juncture, if it wasn’t at all clear for players beforehand, it was certainly made obvious now that Canis Canem Edit is a very light-hearted look at school life, seen at a ‘larger than life’ scale. There’s no blood in this game – enemies don’t gain physical damage and nobody dies in Bullworth. What you do get to do, however, is humiliate them. Each bully or enemy has a health meter underneath their model, signified by a circle and a coloured bar within it. Once their energy is low, you can head towards them and press Circle to deal the ultimate blow. It can range from giving the loser a Chinese Burn to grabbing their hand and making them hit themselves in the face with it. It’s a very comedic style that serves to bring the funny side of your childhood into the spotlight. And in true Rockstar fashion, it’s presented in the same hyper-real approach that has resulted in Grand Theft Auto being lambasted in the mainstream press for so long.
A teacher breaks up the scuffle and, as only a purely oblivious teacher can, has a go at Jimmy for not being in uniform. Never mind the fact that about ten kids were on him at once, eh? Before the game continues, we are introduced to a chap called Gary – a kid that looks like a cross between a preppy kid and a bully himself. He befriends you, but doesn’t beat around the bush about his desires to take over the school and humiliate all the other cliques in Bullworth. After visiting the boy’s Common Room (featuring a soda machine to restore health, a TV and a noticeboard amongst other amusements) Jimmy heads to his room to change into uniform.
Although at the beginning of the game we only have the basic Bullworth sweater to choose from, later in the game players will be able to find and buy new items of clothing and can even customise how they want Jimmy to look. As we take a tour around his rather run-down pad, Hugh details the timeline structure. “Each day will have a structure to it, such as lesson times and curfew and each night you’ll need to come to bed to sleep… if you leave Jimmy awake beyond two or three in the morning he’ll pass out. You’ll be able to break the school’s curfew and head outside at night but there’ll be consequences for things like that if you’re caught”.
It’s just like being at a real boarding school, except without the buggery. We’re kinda nervous. One of the first missions we get to see in action takes place a little while ahead of the first chapter, and has Jimmy attempting to rescue a nerd as he gets ambushed by bullies. After the cut scene, you have to leg it past the courtyard around the school (which is quite a distance in itself) to reach Bucky before his life is drained. There are more instances of the combat system here, and we’re told that as the game progresses you’ll be able to learn more fighting moves and combos to perform.
We also see weapons for the first time, but instead of guns or knives we get balls, slingshots, stink bombs and cricket bats to satisfy our desire for administering a beating. Completing each mission sometimes gets you a new item to use, but it will always affect how different cliques in the school view you. In saving Bucky, our Nerd Respect shot up but as a countermeasure our Bully Respect went six feet underground. It’s this kind of balance between the different cliques that makes the game really dynamic and it could also affect how you play as well.
Walking on the MoonThere are Bullies, Nerds, 60’s rocker style Greasers and snobby rich kid Preppys to associate with, and you’ll be dealing with all of them at some point or another in the game. A later mission sees you vying for the attention of a Greaser chick (who, naturally, has been playing the field and actually revels in the competition) by way of a button-mashing bike race, with the winner getting a snog from the girl. Another has you fulfilling the objectives of a disgruntled science teacher as he asks you to sneak into the Preppy’s dorm and kill a magnificent plant that is in direct competition with his. One mission we played even involved sneaking into the girls’ dorm to steal their knickers for a pervy sports teacher, in a tongue in cheek and not-quite-so innocent moment.
Each clique has a different look, as already mentioned, but the differences also extend to their fighting styles and the way they approach a situation. Bullies will have no problem running in and beating the mess out of someone, while Preppy’s will believe in a clean sporting fight (they were trained by their daddy’s boxing trainer, don’t you know, and observe the Marquis of Queensbury rules). Although as we were legging it outside the Prep’s dorm (while sliding down the banisters – brilliant!) we found their approach less than sporting as one of them launched at us from behind. Foul play, old sport!
Richard then proceeded to demonstrate one of the main functions of Canis Canem Edit – and of course, school in general. Lessons. These form an integral part of the game, as you would imagine, and there are six different subjects that are placed within your timetable, including Gym, Science, Art and English. Each subject has five stages to complete and when you fulfil each stage you will advance to the next when you next have that lesson.
The classes themselves are built up of mini-games, and differ depending on what subject you’re learning – in English you get a set of letters and you must try to build as many words as you can (a bit like Countdown but without Des Lynam’s ‘tache), while Art will see you uncovering a picture while avoiding obstacles. “Each class gives you a new ability or opportunity when you complete it, so although you can skip classes, there’s another incentive to turn up”, Hugh explains.
Darn tootin’, yaw. After completing some classes we got to snog a bird (granted, she wasn’t great shakes but you gotta work your way up the chain haven’t you?) and apologise to a huge bully called Russell, both of which raised a certain skill or ability of ours. We’re told that when you pass a certain level of Science classes Jimmy will also be able to make his own stinkbombs and potions! Why would anyone want to skip class with that prospect in line?
But because it’s an open game, you can skip class if you really want to. Just be sure not to get caught. As you avoid learning there’ll be a ‘Truancy’ warning on the screen, and any prefect walking the halls will hunt you down if they spot you. You have the chance to escape their grasp by mashing Triangle if they catch you, but they’re very strong and sometimes you can end up right in the poop. To the right of your map, there’s a ‘Trouble Meter’, and whatever you do that’s against school rules will raise that meter depending on the severity of the offence.
Pinching girls’ bums will raise the meter a little bit, and will get you a bit of a scream and not much else. You can break into other kid’s lockers to nick whatever’s inside, and for every second you delay, your meter will continue to rise until someone spots you. Once we spotted a younger kid and decided to bully him by shoving him around and hitting him, we knew we were really in the mess – the Trouble Meter not only shot up to full alert, but a prefect materialised from out of nowhere (figuratively, not like he's been beamed down by Mr Scott) dived towards us, tackled us to the floor and started giving us ten ounces of pain. That was, of course, before they decided to send us to the Principal’s office.
The Corn Is GreenWe see the Principal giving Jimmy a right telling off, and confiscating all of his items (save for his slingshot and skateboard). This will happen the first couple of times you decide to step out of line. After that the lanky headmaster will give you punishments to do around the school. We’re told this changes based on season – Jimmy may be asked to dig the teacher’s cars out of the snow in winter and mow the football fields in summer. A glorified minigame these punishments may be, but there is a sordid price.
Continue to get caught when causing trouble (which is very easy to do) and you will find yourself doing the same minigame punishment again. And if you get caught again, you’ll be doing the punishment again. And again. And again. Rather than promote bullying – which mainstream press such as the Daily Mail are all too quick to assume – Canis Canem Edit pretty much does the exact opposite, giving players tedious minigames to complete every time they do something against the rules.
“It’s not in Jimmy’s character to be a bully. It’s an open game so we can’t stop people picking on kids at random if they really want to, but if you start playing this like GTA and causing trouble it will really hamper your progress…” Hugh’s words immediately explain the game’s nature and pretty much the sole reason why this is no ‘bullying simulator’. More than anything else it has strict guidelines that prevent you from doing nasty things constantly, and Jimmy’s character is tested throughout his entire stay at Bullworth.
With Gary as his partner you’ll be able to get away with doing fun things to humiliate each of the cliques – using the slingshot (which can be used in either a third person or close-up first-person style view) to knock out Jocks while the sports teacher tells them to ‘Stop being so lazy!’ is pleasure you can’t measure. Even friendships are tested, with a revelation between Jimmy and Gary evident at the end of the first chapter, which results in you having to fight big chunky bully Russell.
Characters have personalities and have conversations with one another (most evident during our espionage into the Preppies' dorm) and almost everyone can be interacted with – hold down L1 and you have the choice to be nice to whoever you’ve locked on to, or be nasty to them – with the ability to give kids wedgies when standing behind them. With the different missions you’ll get to see in each chapter, varying depending on season, and the sheer diversity of how you can play the game, we have no doubt that Canis Canem Edit is going to bring a nostalgic glint into even those who hated school throughout their childhood.
As we were being dragged out of Rockstar, SPOnG definitely felt that Canis Canem Edit’s strength was not just in its sandbox world that the developers are so well known for, but also in the humanity of the game world, the colourful and exaggerated view of school life. The game speaks directly to everyone’s desire to relive their past and do things they always wanted to do as kids, but never got the nerve or the opportunity – nabbing girls’ underwear speaks volumes to us, for certain.
Those of you eager to get your hands on the game only have a few months more to wait when it is released this Autumn. Which happens to be the start of the new school year. Funny, we only just thought of that.
