It all begins with Jimmy Hopkins being dropped off by the Bullworth Academy - while his mother and her eleventh fiance goes off on a honeymoon. Bullworth is a school for troublemakers and punks who need extra supervision and discipline. Here rules the law of the jungle, the one who does not bully gets bullied. Just like in the Grand Theft Auto series the story is being guided forward by missions you chose to pursue in order to advance in the social ladder. At the school there are a number of stereotype groups, including snobs, nerds and jocks - everyone reacts to Jimmy depending on how you behave.
Instead of guns and batons there is a rascal arsenal, just as predictable as it is, in fact, charming. Firecrackers, stink bombs, marbles, slingshots etc are some of the toys you can have fun with and the slingshot is upgradable. Common fights are in spite of this the most fun way to go, the attitude of the opponent goes from bad ass to frightened and humiliated. But look out when entering a fight, if a prefect catches you there will be a punishment in form of detention (mowing lawns). The school prefects acts as policemen and are almost impossible to shake off if you are not well prepared. As the game progresses, you can, however, be better at verbal excuses and get away with minor offenses, I will talk more about this later, but it does not really matter - the violence is not easy to get away with.One is early on introduced to Jimmy's skateboard, which honestly is extremely awkward. I was excited when I first heard about it but Jimmy's legs becomes completely stiff when riding and the speed increase is very very slight. Thank god for the bikes on the other hand, which you can buy in shops all over town. But the town is not available in the beginning, you have enough to do in the schoolyard. And they really put in some effort in designing the schoolyard, it is a nice environment that makes me want to explore my surroundings although most doors are just flat surfaces unable to open. When the game opens up to the outer areas and gives Jimmy things to do outside the school premises it becomes ebvious that it was the school they worked the most on - the rest of the town looks mediocre and is full of bugs. It is not uncommon to be able to go completely past buildings before they are rendered properly. Certain voice overs are late or absent, terrain textures do not load... Sometimes I felt as if the game just was not finished.
"I would not recommend this as a first choice when it comes to open world sandbox games but it definitely is worth a look."
But back to school, most of the stuff happens there anyway. There are classes to take, built around various mini games - which if completed results in upgrades depending on the subject at hand. English class offers expanded vocabulary, art gives romantic tricks, chemistry provides access to firecrackers and so on. These classes are divided into one morning class and one afternoon class every day, so you have to get to each classroom in time before it ends for the day. Well, one day is about fifteen minutes of real time, and that makes the time pretty valuable. If you want to attend a few classes and at the same time be able to do some missions you barely have time to get home to your dorm. If you do not make it back to your bed before 2:00 in the morning you fall to the ground right where you stand - which often results in you being robbed when sleeping. It gets pretty hectic to say the least.
Where the music is unusually boring (it is one song, repeated in the infinite without interruption) the voice actors puts in some heart. I found myself eavesdropping on my fellow students discussing small everyday problems while I was looking rubber bands. Yes that is right, they have added rubber bands around the map that you then must collect for bonuses, just like in Grand Theft Auto. And they really mean business with bonuses, you unlock clothes and other special things after almost every successful mission. But the different options to dress differently is like polishing the brass on Titanic. The whole "dress-your-own-character" idea falls with the fact that it is a strict uniform dresscode at the school. No matter what kind of outfit you wear it must be changed as soon as you set foot on campus - which unfortunately is every time you want to save your game (unless you want to save in the city, which usually means that you then still have to get to school for more assignments and loose precious daytime) and also every quarter since you otherwise will faint and get robbed.Despite all this I still had fun - there was amusement in the little things, even if they were not so nicely done, and the will to put some annoying people straight drove me continue and finish the game. I would not recommend this as a first choice when it comes to open world sandbox games but it definitely is worth a look.
