It was immediately apparent that the content was nowhere near as strong as in the GTA series or Manhunt (all passed at 18) and that the concerns that had been aired in the press were misplaced. The game was classified by a team of two examiners, although given its nature it was seen by several other members of staff at the Board, including the Director. The school motto is ' canis canem edit' - 'dog eat dog' in English - and pretty soon Jimmy realises that's the way things are at Bullworth, with bullies ruling the school hallways and predatory teachers in the classrooms. The unruly fifteen year old has been expelled from one school after another and so, fed up, his parents decide to dump him in the toughest school of them all. Using a similar engine to the GTA and Manhunt games, the player takes the part of Jimmy Hopkins, a student at the fictional Bullworth Academy. Some commentators complained - without apparently seeing the game - that it was a "bullying simulator" and would lead students to copy its aberrant hero.
At a time where anti-social behaviour in schools had become a hot topic, the game was therefore controversial.
Whereas the Grand Theft Auto ( GTA) franchise featured 'over the top' style characters and was, essentially, a hyper-real version of cops and robbers, this new game was reputed to give the player the chance to play as a schoolboy and bully other students. Initially a PlayStation 2 title, the game's reputed content did nothing to assuage the unease generated by the inflammatory title. Given the notoriety of Rockstar's other, more infamous franchises, it was no surprise that the videogame Bully should have aroused public unease in the period before its publication in 2008.
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