Making GTA feel like Child's Play

Bully is a game that takes the tried and true formula of the Grand Theft Auto series (the ones 9 out of ten of you have played, obviously, not the first two incarnations and trial by fire in London) What Bully does exceedingly well that GTA hasn't, ever, is it creates a free roaming game while still giving you enough direction to keep you focused. Want to run around the streets all day? Then you'd better not get caught for truancy. Yea, beating up hookers in GTA is a blast. Don't so much as a run into a girl faster than a walking pace or prepared for prefect beatdowns. That doesn't sound as good as it felt writing it, but here's why you'll enjoy the new caveats that come with bad behavior, you can finally beat the crap out of authority! Sneak up on prefects and teachers and townsfolk and give them wedgies, just make sure you high tail it out of there. Now for the meat and potatos of the review. Bully scores big for its nice use of the sandbox style of gameplay. In a genre that's being watered down faster than the talent pool of the MLB, this game stands out in a big way. Bully also hits because of it's awesome mini-games which are played at any of your safe houses (yes, the young man's a very serious real-estate mogul it would seem) or by actually attending class. I recommend going to class because not only are the games fun (Dodgeball, Text Twist, PaRappa styled chemistry), but they are really rewarding in terms of bonuses. Biggest score for Bully in my book would have to be its irreverent sense of humor. Anybody out there that has a sibling who picked on them will get to finally feel what it's like to be the big kid, while the older siblings will revisit the glory days of indian burns, making the bullIED hit themselves and spitting on your hand and rubbing it into their face. It's glorious. The only places that I don't feel this game really goes above and beyond in is it's overall story. At it's core, it's still the same GTA story you've seen at least twice before. But that much doesn't bother me because the setting and style has changed enough that I hardly notice unless something triggers a flashback. Other knock is in it's music. Or lack thereof. You'll hear the same 5-6 jingly-jangly tunes throughout your duration at Bullworth Academy. But I'm big on the radio while I play, so unless it's late at night I don't tend to notice too much. Go on, you've read enough, rent it or buy it... I'm sure that if you like sandbox games, you'll get more than your share of enjoyment out of this.