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Bully vs. Harry Potter

Posted by Zonk on from the you-don't-have-to-like-me dept.

Via the ever-enjoyable GameSetWatch, a post on a blog for the development house Surreal Game Design. Surreal is a Midway division, and it's interesting to see a company blog actually ponying up opinions on the work of other designers as they do in this discussion of the unlikeability of Bully's setting. They discuss the problems with setting the game in a boarding school, the protagonist's sniveling classmates, and the unfavorable comparisons between Bullworth Academy and the halls of Sunnydale High or Hogwarts. From the post: "A while ago I was talking to Director of Design Richard Rouse along with some of the other Midway studio creative directors about our experiences with Bully. In both our cases, we really, really wanted to like it, but only played a few hours before giving up. Since it was blessed with many high reviews, we were left wondering 'What were we missing?' ... Harvey Smith of Midway Austin (and Creative Director of Area 51: Blacksite) rightfully pointed out that high school has been a successful setting of great things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Ultimate Spiderman comics. Richard noted that the high school of Buffy was populated by attractive, always-witty teenagers that killed freakin' vampires. Those California high schools you see in TV and movies are probably some of the most idealized environments you'll ever see."

4 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Freaky by Asmor · · Score: 1, Informative

    I read the title as "Buffy vs. Harry Potter" on the /. main page, and then it turns out Buffy does indeed feature prominently in the summary.

  2. It's pretty obvious... by AgentOJ · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's pretty obvious from the article that the author spent no more than an hour playing the game. He complains about the game component of going to class, saying that it doesn't tie into the game at all (not true, if you go to class you unlock "upgrades" for your weapons, transportation, etc). Once you've passed a class, you have a free period in which to "explore the world." I played the game, and enjoyed it, but all of the arguments the author puts forth crumble if you take into account that the ramp-up portion of the game takes about an hour of play before things get going. I've had my fair share of games that were so horrible that I just had to stop playing them, but I think he didn't give it enough of a chance. Also, what's up with the year delay on this article? Bully isn't new.

    1. Re:It's pretty obvious... by CastrTroy · · Score: 2, Informative

      I hear the same thing about Zelda: Twilight Princess. People spend half an hour, don't make it out of the village, and complain that you have to fish to much, conclude that the game sucks, and don't play any further. This isn't Ducktales. You aren't going to beat it in 3 hours from the first time you pick up the controller. I've played over 40 hours already, and I'm not done. And I haven't even really focussed on getting all the sidequests done. That's just time spent trying to go through the game. Spending an hour to get out of the village at the start seems like nothing when you spend a couple hours running around the temple in the sky.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  3. Ah, for the good old Daze by mccalli · · Score: 4, Informative

    Skool Daze, that is. Kids today with their new-fangled Bully thinking it's something new...pah!

    Cheers,
    Ian