LogFAQs > #961194366

4. Bully (PS2, 2006)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/3/AAN44mAACvNz.jpg

The 6th and final Rockstar game on my list, Bully has all the hallmarks of the excellent Rockstar games before and after it but its unique approach, structure, and mechanics make it the most fun of them all.

As a student at Bullworth Academy, you actually have a class schedule where you participate in surprisingly fun themed mini-games like trying to create as many words as you can with a fixed list of letters for English and playing dodgeball for Gym. Its limited to two per day, but because theres tangible benefits to succeeding in class and the game giving me a strong desire to explore campus, the town, and complete missions, it was an effective system to create the internal dilemma that they were clearly going for.

Part of the reason why I struggled to be a good student is because I absolutely adored the weapon selection from the game. All the stereotypical kid stuff, whether or not these were actually common prank objects outside of fiction, are there, including stink bombs, itching powder, marbles, and eggs. While its actually impossible to not play into the titular role given mission objectives, you do have full control over how you behave outside of missions, and its impossible not to give into the temptation to use your items on some innocent sap. Their reactions/animations for starters can be downright hilarious. The itching powder is probably my favorite because your target moves fast then slows down and hops as it takes effect. Its also funny seeing what the flight or fight response will turn out to be, especially if they choose to fight because theres something funny about seeing a random adult in town getting up after having them fall over marbles and try to beat you up.

I always loved this game, but I came to appreciate it more after college because there are some parallels to this game and my observations in college. Like any contemporary-ish Rockstar game, theres a lot of social and adjacent commentary. Part of it in this game revolves around the type of image that Bullworth Academy insists it is, blatantly ignoring the surrounding area with its problematic and decaying society, of whom the faculty and student body is derived from. Now I loved my college and everyone I met, but just outside of its insulated, idyllic campus were some truly economically troubled neighborhoods with their fair share of interesting characters I encountered along the way. It gave new meaning to what I witnessed in Bully, and while it was always neck-and-neck with San Andreas, the few times that I replayed it since college ultimately gave it the edge.