10 Alternate Video Game Costumes You Never Took Off

Suits you, sir.

By William Carter /

As single-player games are increasing in length, it's beginning to feel like a restriction when a game doesn't allow you to alter the look of the protagonist.

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Sure, art direction is of paramount importance for most single-player, story-focused titles, and ensuring a game's carefully crafted atmosphere is maintained throughout is essential, but giving us the luxury of alternate skins is a great way to make players feel like they are adding their own flavour to the experience.

Tone is also important, though, and often the main character's appearance is important to maintaining it.

That's not to say, however, that it shouldn't be an option for those of us who are enticed by the idea of change. Electing to switch to an alternate costume is a familiar way to keep the game feeling fresh while also injecting humour or style to the game's aesthetics. Not all costumes are created equally, though, and there are many that you'll unlock early on and never have the desire to change.

Be it because they harken back to a better time, or they are simply too humorous to ever see the point in trying something new.

10. Halloween Costume - Bully

Though Bully's legacy is largely overshadowed by the monstrous success of Grand Theft Auto, the schoolyard setting was a brilliant deviation from the big city formula of Rockstar's most popular project.

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Jimmy's jaunt through Bullworth Academy is littered with disagreeable students, pesky teachers and uneasy alliances, and through the game's Halloween missions, the dubious alliance with the psychotic Gary takes centre stage.

Halloween isn't complete without a costume fitting of the day, and Bully leans into the 80's for Jimmy's outfit inspiration. Consisting of a skeleton mask and outfit, the costume is a staple of Bully lore, but fans of the beloved Karate Kid film franchise (or even Cobra Kai in recent years) will recognise the similarities between Jimmy's choice of clothing and Johnny Lawrence's outfit during the Halloween dance in the very first film in 1984.

Though it might look silly when the in-game Christmas festivities begin, the skeleton get-up is more reminiscent of a high school bully than anything else in Jimmy's closet. Completing missions, nabbing collectibles, and getting into mischief while wearing the costume only serves to elevate the roleplaying aspect of Bully, because The Karate Kid made it so very popular some 38 years ago.

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