Aaron_G

Bully arrived almost two years ago on Sony's PlayStation 2. At that moment we saw Rockstar could make a game that didn't have guns, car driving, or blood. Bully follows the story of Jimmy Hawkins, a teenage boy, left behind at Bullworth Academy as his mother and new step-father drive away for the Honeymoon, which will be a year long. You are now left alone at Bullworth, to make your own path, by fitting into new groups such as the nerds or greasers, go to class, or even get a girlfriend (kissing scenes included.

First off, the game's graphics have been toned up for the Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition. Character's faces appear to have more detail this time around. Even the school and surrounding community has been toned up for Jimmy's Scholarship edition. Note though that the graphics are not something truly amazing. This is not running of what GTA IV is going to run on or even anything impressive we have seen on the Xbox 360.

The story remains the same, but with some new mini games and a Christmas story that was added into this version of Bully. If you played the game before you are going to remember the story, so it could be boring if you play through again. Even so, the story is a good story that give you a chance to experiment with the different groups and pull pranks on all the other students at Bullworth. You have the chance to attend classes at school, such as Gym, Chemistry, Music, Art, Biology, etc. These classes are simple mini-games that you either pass or fail. Passing classes help you unlock new items and such. Classes are only optional, except when you are caught by a prefect during class hours, which you are then forced to attend class.

For being a game about a school you are allowed to leave the school and walk, ride a bike, or skate board around the surrounding community. Bully is a sand box game which give you more freedom. In the community around Bullworth you can get a haircut to customize Jimmy or buy items for your use. In school and around the community you may get side missions by students to escort them somewhere or put something in a locker for them. All these things could possibly get you into trouble with the authorities if caught,.

In Bully: Scholarship Edition one of the games new features is the ability to play with a friend. But not how you would want to play it. You can only play games with the friend, which is fun, but not something that would be fun for a long time. It would have been more interesting to see Rockstar allow co-op play for Bully this time around.

In closing, if you were disappointed to see Bully canceled for the Xbox and never got a PS2 to play it now is your chance, with some new content included. If you did play the PS2 version, buying it again probably isn't worth because the new content is not that great. Also, if you don't like bugs Bully: Scholarship Edition is full of them on the Xbox 360. These bugs can cause your game to freeze and even crash. These bugs can cause you to save a lot and when it happens to become frustrated when it does.

I do recommend Bully: Scholarship Edition, but a buyer beware.
Note: At the time I reviewed the bugs in the 360 version still had not been fixed.

Rock Band is developed by Harmonix the guys behind Guitar Hero. This year the guys took it one step forward and introduced not only the guitar, but also drums and singing into the mix. This leads to one of the best family and friends experiences I have ever had playing a video game.

Rock Band's set up is very nice. It is set-up well and plays out well. First lets talk about the instruments themselves. The guitar control, which can also be a bass, is very much the same as the Guitar Hero controller. It has five buttons that are all color coordinated with the button you are supposed to press. The drums work the very much the same way, but you have to hit the drum set according to color as well, and use the foot-petal too. Singing is very much like a karaoke game. The words scroll across and you have to match the pitch. Playing all these together you can become a great band.

Rock Band features two playing modes: a solo tour and Band World Tour. Solo tour is essentially Guitar Hero. You can play this mode with any of the instruments. Solo tour is nice, but you really want to play Rock Band with someone else. Band World Tour is what Rock Band is all about. You and up three other friends can create a band and start touring the world. You each can create a custom character and even name your band. You start out as a little band playing in your home city, which you select. As you play more and more you unlock new cities. Eventually you will be prompted to play in a concert to unlock new traveling means such as a van or bus. This allows to play in even more cities and more places. World Tour does have it's problems. You can not play World Tour online with anyone. A major setback. You also have to move up in difficulty as you progress through World Tour. (Note: As I went through Band World Tour this was still a problem, but I believe a new patch fixed this.)

Rock Band does feature a "battle mode" called Tug-of-War, where you can face off against someone playing the same instrument. When doing this you each play a part of song and push each meter down. Once the song is over and the person who has the other person pushed all the way down is the winner. It is an interesting battle thing, but more would be nice.

You can't help but to talk about the track list in Rock Band. Rock Band features a lot of great songs already included with the game. The does feature a in game music store that allows you to buy more songs to play in Rock Band. Many great songs are available for download at reasonable prices.

Fans of Guitar Hero will find themselves at home with this one. But Rock Band does have limitations. As I mentioned no online World Tour is possible at the moment of this review. Rock Band's imitation instruments do have their limitations. The drums do not always respond and the foot petal is frail, so people with lead feet be warned.

These are only minor problems, all of which can be fixed. I recommend this to all.

Rockstar brought back Liberty City for Grand Theft Auto IV. This time Liberty City has been changed and made more realistic and more fun for the player. Rockstar has also fixed all of the problems in past GTA IV games, from irritating glitches and the weapon system to make a more rounded game.

This time round we follow Niko Bellic. He has come to the United States to start a new life, a better one that he had in the "old country". He comes on behalf of his cousin Roman, who tells him stories of his success. Niko finds most of this untrue, but still will try to make a living.

The game begins and plays like any GTA game. You are first driving people around and doing little tasks for people. This task all feel familiar but also new because many of the mechanics of previous games have been re-worked for this game to more enjoyable to play. This first thing you will notice that Niko walks like he would, not just a normal walk. The driving in the game is also different and will take some use to get used too.

Things are also missing or have been taking out of this game that we present most notably in the last GTA game, San Andreas. Plans are not flyable in this game, helicopters are though. A stats system is gone too. You don't need to worry about eating, only to restore health. Don't worry about hitting the gym either for there isn't one and that has also been removed. Dual wielding is also gone.

Mission wise, many that you do feel like GTA missions. Some feel new where you will kidnap someone and they will try to wreck the car, and feel more real. In the game there are also the side mission for the police, fire truck, and drug runs. These have been revamped and, in my opinion, present much better. For example the police mission are from the police computer and you can choose which one you want to do and so fourth. Much better than the jump-in and do it style presented in the previous games.

Multi-player is available for you as well. You can jump into a game write from your cell phone in the game. You can play with other people or people from you friends list. No matter how you play it can be really fun. Rockstar did a good job with multi-player.

One of the best part of any GTA game is the free play you can do inside the game. As in the past it is still fun as ever. Getting in trouble with the cops and causing the most destruction you can in Liberty City is great. The affects of explosions and the colors and weather affects are amazing and if you are not careful can distract you.

The strongest aspect of the game is the story. Rockstar has developed character that you care about and that show emotion and that you connect too. In this game, unlike previous ones, you have at some points in the game to affect the story by making a choice. This really intensifies the game because what you do has repercussions on the people around you. Some of these choices are hard to make, some you even have to think about. GTA IV is one of the few games that I felt the story was very compelling and actually playing to complete that story and see what would happen next.

Rockstar was really able to hit home with Grand Theft Auto IV. Fans of the series will see this as Rockstar's greatest achievement in the franchise. People who like to see a good story develop will also see this as a great game, even thought it can be violent. I recomend this game 100% to anyone looking for a good time with a great game.