Bully

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Intimidation game in a high school setting.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this game is about bullying behavior in a school setting. There is plenty of psychological brutality and physical violence. Weapons include a baseball bat, garbage can lid, and fire extinguisher but there are no guns, blood, or gore. The game contains some sexual remarks and alcohol references; depending on the path taken, the main character can kiss another boy. The game does include consequences for misdeeds.

  • Most violence in game is sparked by others (such as bullies); but there's quite a bit of mischief, too.
  • Mainly fistfights, but you can also use weapons such as a slingshot, baseball bat, fire extinguisher. There is no blood or killing.
  • Sexual innuendos and remarks, kissing, homosexual kiss -- but nothing graphic.

What's it about?

BULLY follows a troubled teenager, Jimmy Hopkins, who's been expelled from every school he's ever attended; his mother and new stepfather decide it's best he spend a year at the toughest boarding school in the country. Fifteen-year-old Hopkins must survive at Bullworth Academy by climbing up the social ladder, avoiding bullies or confronting them with moves or pranks of his own, and outsmarting the corrupt Bullworth faculty and student body. Bully lets the player roam around a huge map (bustling with people you can interact with) and take on dozens of missions as you work your way up to ruling the school. As you protect yourself from bullying students who don't like the new guy, you can use fisticuffs or a slingshot or other weapons you may find on the grounds; the game contains no blood and victims, who usually instigate these attacks, lie moaning on the ground when defeated.


Is it any good?

 

Hoopla aside, Bully is an extremely well-produced debut title from Rockstar Vancouver, but one main issue is the frequent and sometimes lengthy load times. This, however, is likely due to the technical limits of the aging PlayStation 2 platform.

Overall, Bully is a fun, fresh, and lengthy single-player adventure for older teenagers and adults. This "Teen"-rated game does contain some violence, as well as foul language and crude humor -- so it's not for young children -- but those overly concerned about this PlayStation 2 game need not be. While the game isn't as controversial as many feared it would be, it will still push a few buttons for its rebellious attitude. But, after all, this is what Rockstar Games does -- and does well at that.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about school violence. How should you deal with bullies in the real world? Should you walk away or fight back? If you try to be a good person in a world full of bullies, are you rewarded? You can ask your kids why they want to play a game that simulates rough behavior when bullying is a real part of daily life. Does it help them cope or give vicarious pleasure?


This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Teen, 16 years old
October 27, 2009
 
Great game Not that Violent and no really Bad swear words
Great Game no Blood but can Be violent The worst words it says would be... JackA*s, B*sterd, B*tch, P*ick Nothing worse then that though. If your kids nagging you to let them buy it Id say yes if there over 10+ Also can be Educational.

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 16 years old
January 2, 2011
 
GTA for kids
Great game, just as long as kids can handle it and not emulate it in the real world. The "bullying" is no worse than what occurs in a typical high school, and the violence is nowhere near as graphic as Grand Theft Auto, there are no guns, no blood and no killing. Beating up adults, children, police or girls results in serious in-game punishment. The sexual content consists of a perverted gym teacher asking your character to go on a panty raid, kissing girls and kissing certain boys (although this is not required, and difficult to do unless you look up how). Drugs are not really featured, but there is alcohol and tobacco used by other characters in the game. Also, a homeless man abuses medical drugs. Language is not really an issue, "b***h" and "pr*ck" are about as bad as it gets.

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 15 years old
July 27, 2010
 
it is perfect for both older and younger kids
i think the bully game is good for children and adults

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Adult
November 21, 2009
 
This game is awesome. The story mode is pretty long and entertaining. There's lots of stuff to do and things to collect. The only issue parents could have with the game is that it is set in a realistic environment and includes violence and language which kids can imitate. I would recommend this game for older teens. Kids would imitate the things they see in the game.

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 17 years old
March 11, 2009
 
This game rocks!!
Great game. sure its violent, but theres no blood or gore or guns or death. you can kiss people, but that is your decision

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Teen, 15 years old
November 11, 2010
 
The game showld be played reason
This game is about real life what's happening in schools with teenagers so playing this game gives knowledge about how to handle adverse conditions in schools

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Teen, 14 years old
June 26, 2010
 
Good game!
This is a free roam game that is great! The graphics suck though. The missions are fun. If you want decent graphics and more missions, get Bully Sclorship edition for xbox 360

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Kid, 13 years old
June 20, 2010
 
Grrr...

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 16 years old
October 3, 2009
 
Bully bad
i hate it because u cant drive car i mean ur 16 at the end and cant drive cars? plus u cant go home? whats the mattert with u ppl

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 16 years old
May 24, 2009
 
I had a very good time playing this.
The last mission is absolutely spectacular. It does promote vilence and pranking though seeing is that is all you really do in the game. But there is so much for each that you can't stop playing. Very good for those who are mature enough to play it.

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This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Platforms:PlayStation 2
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:Rockstar Games
Release date:October 27, 2006
Price:$39.99
ESRB rating:T for crude humor, language, sexual themes, use of alcohol and tobacco, violence

This review was written by Marc Saltzman

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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