Bully 2: Could Rockstar Be Sending Us Back To Bullworth Academy?

Rockstar released their game, Bully back in 2005 on the PS2 and has since moved to the PC  and Xbox 360 and is still a popular game for people to replay, or even play for the first time. Bully grabed the attention of gamers everywhere with its unique approach to the open world adventure game. Bully had you playing as Jimmy Hopkins a boy whose mother and new husband left at a boarding school while they go on a honeymoon.

He becomes a intriguing character to play in the situation he was in.  Jimmy’s quick wit and smart mouth attitude made him a character to remember for many gamers. Recently, there have been grumblings online about a Bully 2. Take-Two Interactive recently registered a trademark for Bully Bullworth Academy, so there may be something going on. Could this just a Bully (Redux) edition, or a whole new Bully game? It’s definitely not wrong to hope for a new Bully game at this point, and Take Two making it would mean it’s in good hands.

"Rockstar has had so much time to also perfect this kind of open world genre title, and I’m sure plenty of games wouldn’t mind heading back to class at Bullworth. We certainly don’t need to play little Jimmy Hopkins again, and there’s been enough time where a new character would be just fine."

There hasn’t been a new Bully game since the era of the PS2, so it’s about time for one. Rockstar did well with the first game but really hasn’t done much with the franchise, which is surprising, Bully was a unique approach to the open world game play in the setting of a boarding school in the Eastern United States. The original Bully had quite a bit going for it too, with great satire playing quite ridiculously off the the stereotypes you’d find in just about any school. Rockstar took the most absurd parts in schools and exploited the crap out of them. All the NPC’s in the game, teachers, staff, and just general students personalities are so blown out of proportion that only Rockstar could do. We see these sorts of characters in all their games, From every GTA to Max Payne and Bully. There is an outlandish quality to the player’s character in Rockstar games, but they fit the world they exist in, which is also almost just as crazy, still most of the characters in any Rockstar branded game seems to still be an outcast in one way or another, an extreme personality that don’t quite fit societies norms, even if they are nutty as hell, themselves.

This is what made Bully such a brilliantly unique and unexpected kind of title. Mr. Hopkins is a fish completely out of water in this case. He’s not a well-off privileged kid, he just seems to have find himself surrounded by people who come from rather “well to do,” families. Bullworth Boarding School is certainly the last place that he would want to be in. There is quite a lot of great content already, and Take-Two certainly has a good thing going with both 2K and Rockstar games, we’ve seen some great games come from them in the last few years so they are riding high from releases like Grand Theft Auto V, it would be a perfectly acceptable time to announce a new Bully game.

Rockstar has had so much time to also perfect this kind of open world genre title, and I’m sure plenty of games wouldn’t mind heading back to class at Bullworth. We certainly don’t need to play little Jimmy Hopkins again, and there’s been enough time where a new character would be just fine. It would be wonderful to see them at the same school, hopefully with some familiar faces. These NPCs helped make the first game what it is, so why not bring at least a few of them back. Or maybe they could go a bit more crazy and take us back to sometime in the 50’s or 60’s Rockstar’s version of “The Dead Poet Society.” With various students causing mischief and a bunch of trouble at the school, it would be a nice change of pace to the run and gun, style gameplay that we’re used to in open world games, especially where Rockstar is concerned. Maybe even take control of a couple of students from different classes to run the long-con, much like the player character setup in the most recent GTA game.

"Simply because the game has been trademarked, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re about to use it. Sooner rather than later may be better for this one, but Rockstar’s never been the company to “strike when the iron is hot.”"

There is quite a lot they can do with this game format at this point, with new consoles and the original game’s success we can probably look forward to playing another great title like this, that is if we’ll be seeing it any time soon, which is unlikely. Simply because the game has been trademarked, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re about to use it. Sooner rather than later may be better for this one, but Rockstar’s never been the company to “strike when the iron is hot.” They are more the “bide their time and wait for the right moment kind of company” and they never release a game until they think it will be ready, so even if there’s a very good chance that we’ll be playing another “Bully,” it definitely won’t be any time soon. We also don’t know what platform the game will be launching on. With so many options now, it could be a handheld, or it could simply be a remastered version that runs on Nintendo Wii U.

All of us at Gamingbolt know what we’re holding out for another game of “Bully,” but it’s going to be awhile. With scores of advancement in the open world genre and Rockstar’s continued ability to surprise us with good stories, no matter how ridiculous they may be; makes it a great time for another Bully game. Rockstar’s labels are doing wonderfully now, so spread some of the wealth around and give fans of Bully something to look forward to.