And now for something completely different...

I have my favored genre for most things in life.  I prefer action or sci-fi movies over dramas.  I prefer sushi over Italian food.  I prefer brunettes over blondes.  The list could go on and on.  It also includes my tastes for video games.  I favor first-person shooters over most other types of games.  However, all of that said, it doesn't mean that means I don't enjoy a change of pace from time to time (wonder if my wife would look good as a redhead? ).  So in a break from Call of Duty 4, I went and picked up a new 360 title yesterday:  Bully: Scholarship Edition.  After an evening with the game, I thought I would post up a few early impressions of the newest Rockstar addition to my gaming library.  One note is that I did not play the previous version for the PS2, so this is a new experience for me with the Bully franchise.

For those who don't know, the game takes place in a fictional boarding school called Bullworth's Academy, where the main character has been dropped by unattached parents on their way to their who-knows-how-many-times-over honeymoon.  Through some quick cut scenes, you know immediately that you're pretty rough around the edges, and have a propencity to get into trouble.  With that, you are thrust back in time to the days of high school, complete with bullshit cliques, sophomoric behavior from every kid on campus, to classes about nothing particularly interesting.

That last statement, while sounding overly negative, isn't.  In reality, the game setting and presentation did a great job pulling me back to those days gone by, and had many near-LOL moments.  Reviews I read said the first few hours were fairly bland, and they weren't far off.  The path is neatly laid out in front of you, but that is by design to get you used to the main game mechanics.  I'm sure, both on what I saw and reviews I had read, that the game will open up significantly with just a little more time invested into it.  What I did see from the gameplay gave a solid variety in the first few hours, and I imagine it will only become more varied throughout the rest of the game - and that's a very good thing.

The graphics of the game are quite well done.  Certainly not COD4 or GoW quality, but still adequate for the title.  There are reports of framerate issues with some people; fortunately I didn't experience any of those.  Textures are pretty standard, and character models are definitely a bit dated.  However, for a title that is $50 out of the gate, they're passable.  As I eluded to above, dialog is spot on from what I've seen.  Nerds act like nerds, jocks as the arrogant SOBs they are, etc.  All in all, job well done so far.

So in short, Bully: Scholarship Edition looks to be a fun little diversion from the other titles in my collection that have been wearing out the 360's drive.  I'll be looking forward to the next kid I can give a weggie to while he takes a leak, or the cute little brunette who's itchin' for some schoolyard lovin'.