Enjoyment:
The game is a riot. It's a fun pick-up-and-play title. You don't have any learning curve to deal with as it is very straightforward. You can sit down with it and enjoy lots of laughs and have a good time. It is a game that doesn't feel like work. You go to class or not, you play missions or not. You can blow things up, beat people up and be as criminal or truant as you want to. If you want to be a good kid, then you can do that too. It is basically a mirror of real life. In spite of the vagaries of life that present themselves, the choice of how you react is up to you. There are bullies, prefects that pick on you and a generally hostile environment that puts unfair amounts of pressure on kids in both directions. Good and bad are portrayed in a ratio that is a reflection of what any high school is like today.
Conclusion:
This game exemplifies the reason why people should play a game through before they open their mouth and start complaining about it. It doesn't advocate violence or encourage kids to be anything that they are not. It is original in the way that Rockstar gives us a slice of life that some people might not want to look at or deny that has always been right there. If Grand Theft Auto taught us that "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp" then Bully shows us that it is just as hard out there for a teenager.
Marketing Efforts Towards Women:
In this aspect the game may just be Rockstar's back-handed apology to female gamers for the infamous ho's in Grand Theft Auto. If you want to get attention from the girls in the game and kiss them, you have to offer them candy or flowers, and dress nicely to impress them. Hitting them over the head does not work in this game.It is a shame that there isn't an option to play as a female student. The storyline is familiar from just about every high school genre anime on TV. In anime girls get into fights and pull off all of the antics that you find in this game. The game is devoid of sexism, and T&A. The girls are expected to be treated with at least a modicum of respect.
Whether it's rats that tell on kids, beatings, bribes, stealing from weaker kids, and making the nerds pay for protection, none of it is new or shocking. Those high school horrors aren't limited to one gender or another. Kids are cruel on both sides of the schoolyard. There aren't any guns or killing, just mayhem and silliness.
Once again we have what might be expected to be a "guy game" that girls will enjoy. I know plenty of girls and women who play GTA and the whole gamut of WW2, and the other war games. Enlighten up dudes, we don't want Barbie - we want this game right here. Design me a female, gum chewing, pigtailed, kung fu fightin' girl, in a leather jacket to play as, and put her in the sequel to this game, and don't forget to pay me my royalties for the idea.
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