Bully: Scholarship Edition - Hands On Preview

Jimmy Hopkins returns to our screens early next month, but this time he'll either be controlled by the intuitive Wii Remote/Nunchuk pairing, or be set under the bright and glossy lights of Microsoft's Xbox 360. It's been nearly a year and a half since Rockstar's original game on the PlayStation 2 and a lot has changed (most notably the media's tolerance towards videogame titles). As a result, these two new versions of the game will come under the original Bully title, rather than the Canis Canem Edit name that Rockstar changed the PS2 game to following a media furore.

Accompanying this reinstalled title is a host of new features, including 8 additional missions and 4 new classes with the added characters, dialogue and music that you'd expect. Rockstar certainly aren't mindlessly re-hashing a two year-old game to fill up their release schedule, as it looks like they've put a good deal of thought and work into these updated ports.

It all starts with the Wii, as it's certainly Nintendo's console that brings the most unique gameplay features to the table. This will be Rockstar's third Wii game after the still banned Manhunt 2, and Table Tennis. When TVG went to get some hands-on experience with Manhunt 2 last year (just before the BBFC banned it), we certainly felt that the developers had utilised the unique Wii controls to great effect. Once again, Rockstar is doing all the right things with Bully on Wii, further illustrating its promise as a third party Western developer that's really getting to grips with Nintendo's motion controls.

Take the new classes, for example. Biology is a nifty little homage to Trauma Center but, instead of carving up sickly humans, you dissect a fish instead (additional marks are given for time and accuracy). As with Trauma Center, you have to use various instruments (scalpel, tweezers etc.) to correctly identify and remove vital organs, while the Wii Remote is used to perform a precise incision with the aid of a steady hand. It certainly captures the appeal of Trauma Center, while the Wii's motion controls are just as well balanced and there's actually quite a lot of depth here for a mini-game.

The other new class that works well with the Wii is Music. Here, the scruffy looking Jimmy has to improve his Xylophone skills in a Guitar Hero style mini-game. The Remote and Nunchuk are used as Xylophone batons that need to be rhythmically thrust downwards in time with the music and on-screen prompts. Both this Class, and all the other classes in the new Bully, can also be played in a 2 player head-to-head mode.

The final two classes are Geography and Maths. Geography lessons requires you to pin the right flags on countries of a certain map, while Maths tests you with basic arithmetic (i.e. ?+5-10=12, or three drawings of objects where you have to identify the heaviest one). It sounds basic but, if set against the clock while competing against a friend, these mini-games can get feverishly taxing. Nevertheless, Biology and Music certainly have the edge on the other two classes, particularly on the Wii.

Wii controls have also been seamlessly woven into the main game, with humiliation moves and combat taking on a whole new lease of life as a result. As you might expect, simple punching combos can be achieved with well-timed swipes of your right and left fists (as long as the Remote and Nunchuk are in them). Similarly, shoving bullies to the ground can be achieved by thrusting the Wii peripherals in a forward motion.

Humiliation moves are where the fun really starts, though. You can perform these by sneaking up on people from behind and tapping directional prompts on the d-pad, or doing the same thing during combat when your adversary's health is dwindling. These moves include Chinese burns (a twist of the Remote), wedgie's (pulling up on both the Remote and Nunchuk), pinching (A+B buttons) and, our personal favourite, making a schoolmate hit them self (jabs of the two motion sensing Wii controls).

As if that wasn't enough Wii Remote related fun, Rockstar has also added a nifty touch to Jimmy's slingshot. The Wii controls imitate the process of firing a slingshot, so you'll be pulling back hard on the motion controls before letting that shot fly. As long as you're locked onto the enemy, the results are both precise and devastating.

One final nifty touch on the Wii is the first person view. Once initialised by pressing up on the d-pad, players can then look around by directing the Remote.

The Xbox 360 version will certainly benefit from the added content in this updated version of Bully, but obviously won't offer the same variation in terms of the control setup. What it will offer, however, is the best visuals of any Bully game on the market, as well as a chance for Xbox fanboys to finally play the game that was so successful on Sony's PlayStation 2 in 2006.

Visually, the Xbox 360 version has been given the makeover that you might expect. The standard next-gen lighting effects have been generously strewn across Bullworth Academy, while all the jagged PS2 edges have been sanded down to form considerably smoother textures. Obviously, if you compared Bully to a visually impressive game that's been developed from the ground up for the Xbox 360, then it would pale in comparison. However, given that it has been built around the original PS2 game, this Xbox 360 version certainly passes the test graphically. There are certainly worse looking games that have been built specifically around the Xbox 360 (not mentioning any names).

We also had the chance to try out one of the new missions on this Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition. "Rudy The Red Nose Santa" sees you trying to resurrect a down and out drunk who needs Santa Claus work. This mission will follow the same story-arc as "Miracle On Bullworth St." that TVG detailed in its First Look at this Scholarship Edition, where your trying to help this dress-up Santa Claus called Rudy.

In this all-new mission, Jimmy is first sent around the city of Bullworth to retrieve various items while being hounded by elves. Following that, he has to take snaps of kids with this tramp-like Santa. This forms the best feature in the mission, as you have to make sure that the little brats are smiling when you take the shot. As they only smile for a short moment, timing is crucial and this really immerses you in the amateur photography related fun.