These days, Rockstar Games is one of the most famous developers in the world. That’s primarily thanks to their magnum opus, the Grand Theft Auto series, but also the Red Dead Redemption games, and to a lesser extent, L.A. Noire and the Max Payne series.
In just a few short weeks, Grand Theft Auto 6 will finally be here, a game that has felt like a distant dream for so long, after delays and a slow trickle of new information. But 20 years ago, Rockstar released one of its most unique games that has hints of the classic GTA formula, and it's a crying shame that there is still no sign of a sequel. Bully, or Canis Canem Edit ("dog eat dog" in Latin) if you're in Europe like I am, was released to critical acclaim in October 2006, with a metascore of 87/100.
This was an open-world game set in a fictional town called Bullworth, in New England, USA. You could explore the town freely, start fights, steal vehicles, equip weapons, and complete missions. You're a teenager, not a criminal.
The protagonist, Jimmy Hopkins, has been enrolled in Bullworth Academy, and quickly becomes embroiled in what is essentially gang warfare. It was a charmingly adolescent spin on the formula Rockstar had perfected over the years — Bully was released between GTA: San Andreas and GTA 4 — and it was a concept video games hadn't really tackled before. Those fights I mentioned?
They were between Jimmy and his schoolmates, such as bullies and jocks. The vehicles that could be stolen? Bicycles, skateboards, and scooters.
Slingshots, stink bombs, and baseball bats, to name a few. Even romance was possible for young Jimmy, but it was limited to the odd smooch in the hallway; far more innocent than the raunchy scenes GTA flaunts. It'd be easy to pass this juvenile entertainment off as just nostalgia.
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