Bully 2 would have featured expanded tree climbing mechanics, a detailed relationship mechanic, and individual blades of grass that could be mowed.
According to a new report from Game Informer, Bully 2 was reportedly in development in 2009 by Rockstar New England, before being shelved so that the team could work on other projects. Although the project is seemingly no more, we did get some interesting gameplay details from what could have been.
According to several anonymous developers who were interviewed for the report, one of the big focuses of Bully 2 was expanding on the first game's insult and complement system, this time making it so that characters would remember Jimmy's actions towards them. One developer said, "We really wanted to make sure that people remembered what you did, so if you pulled a prank on your neighbor, they’d remember it".
As pointed out in the article, it's similar to how Red Dead Redemption 2 would eventually portray morality and how characters view Arthur, with two developers telling Game Informer that it includes "parts of this system". Rockstar New England also developed a realistic glass fragmentation system that was eventually used for Max Payne 3.
Although Bully 2 was never intended to have as big an open-world as GTA 5, it was aiming to make every building on the map enterable, whether through walking through the front door or breaking in. One developer said, "f you could see it, you could go into it". Similarly, Bully 2 was going to expand on the climbing mechanics from the first, with specific focus being put on climbing trees and being able to pull pranks from them.
Another gameplay feature that was revealed through the report was a progressive grass-growing system that would let players see individual blades and see the grass grow over time. On the feature, one developer said, "You could actually do a good job, go back and forth, and create lines on people’s lawns, that kind of thing". Another developer said, "It sounds so silly, but it was something that we were all excited about because of the technology behind it".
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