Bully: Scholarship Edition was originally developed by Rockstar Vancouver, and originally appeared on the Playstation 2.  Because of licensing issues with the game’s engine, the XBox 360 and Wii versions were developed using engines from Rockstar Toronto and New England.  Bully: SE was released on March 4th, 2008, for both platforms.  As always, this review will focus on the XBox 360 version of the game.

Story:  Jimmy Hopkins, 15, has just been dropped off at the “prestigious” Bullworth Academy by his mother and new stepfather.  Having been kicked out of several schools already, Bullworth could be his last chance at getting an education instead of a nice pair of pinstriped prison duds.  It’s not his fault, though — it seems that trouble just follows poor Jimmy wherever he goes.

It isn’t long before Jimmy sees Bullworth Academy’s inner workings.  Though touted as an institute of highter learning, it’s clear to him that the principal plays favortites and turns a blind eye to various bullys and ne’er-do-wells (most likely as these students come from wealthy families who contribute to the school).  As the new, poor kid, Jimmy immediately ends up on the Principals $#!* list, even though he’s done nothing wrong yet.

The name of the game is respect, and Jimmy must earn the respect of the school’s various cliques to make life bearable.  Each chapter of the game focuses on a particular group (bullies, nerds, preps, greasers, jocks, and the not-in-school “townies”) and Jimmy’s efforts to gain their respect… by taking over that clique.  He must also contend with Gary, an intelligent yet sociopathic young man who has his own schemes of taking over the school.  Add in classwork, wooing girls (and boys!), and various activities in and out of school, Bully will have you busy from beginning to end.

Graphics:  Even though it’s ported from the Playstation 2, Bully’s graphics were touched up a bit and given the requisite high-def shine.  Despite the polish, you won’t mistake this for Call of Duty 4 or Bioshock.  Characters are still cartoonish and flat-looking, and still feature those crazy blocky fingers that Rockstar seems to be famous for.

There’s a serious framerate issue, as well.  Most of the games looks kind of choppy, running somewhere around 30 fps.  Then, in smaller areas (such as your safehouse save points), the animation will run at an astoundingly clear rate — the difference is very noticible.

Gameplay:  Bully, in its PS2 version, originally used GTA: San Andreas‘ engine to give life to Jimmy’s hijinks.  The new engine is remarkably similar, and feels right at home if you’re a veteran of the GTA series.  There are even a few mechanics that show up in modified forms in GTA4.  Since this is a sandbox game, you’ll be spending a lot of time in transit, though you’ll not be jacking any cars in this game.  Your main modes of transportation are your own two feet, a skateboard, and bicycles of various qualities.  You can also unlock a scooter and go-kart much later in the game.

Missions will have you carrying out different tasks for whichever clique you’re trying to infiltrate, from fetching things, racing, and protecting students.  Each successful mission will net you some cash and sometimes new items, such as a slingshot, stink bombs, and even a potato gun.  Cash is used for buying health-replenishing soda, playing carnival games, and even buying different clothes and haircuts for Jimmy.

Unarmed combat is surprisingly well-done for a Rockstar game, who have always had issues in that particular area.  By attending Gym class, Jimmy can learn new combos.  By completing a handful of tasks for a hobo that lives behind the school, Jimmy can learn how to fight dirty as well.

The classes that Jimmy can attend are a collection of mini-games, some handled better than others.  One of my favorites is Art class, which recreates one of my favorite childhood arcade games, Qix.  Each class has five levels of increasing difficulty, and beating each level of a class usually grants you upgraded abilities or new clothing items.

The controls on-foot and … “vehicular”, for lack of a better term, handle really good, as well as armed and unarmed combat.  My only major gripes are your weapons management system — when on the run from a prefect or other authority figure, it can get bothersome to have to scroll through every equipable item just to get to your slingshot or firecrackers (the items you’ll most likely use most of the game).  Secondly, there is a ton of loading in this game, and each loading period will feature the same rotation of about half-a-dozen images.  You’ll learn to loathe them.  That’s the price we pay since Microsoft enforces developers to completely disregard its hard-drive capabilities in their games.

Sound: Unlike the GTA series, Bully is devoid of licensed music.  Most of what you’ll be listening to, though, are the voices of your peers and teachers in Bullworth Academy and the surrounding town.  Rockstar has always been very good with voicework, and Bully is no exception.  There are a few annoying voices here and there, but the lead characters are thankfully handled quite well.

Multiplayer:  There’s no online mode, but two people can compete in offline competitive mini-games.

Achievements:  Bully offers a very reasonable set of achievements, most of which are gained just by normally playing through the game.  The big achievement, 100% game completion, may look daunting, but isn’t that hard to nab (the hardest part will be finding and photographing each student, but even that’s not too difficult).   Fairly seasoned gamers can earn all achievements and boost their gamerscore by 1000 points without a sweat.  For a full list of achievements, visit XBox360Achievements.org.

Intangibles:  Bully is easy — really, a bit too easy.  You should have no problem breezing through the missions and optional sidequests.  In fact, the hardest parts of the game are the later-level classes, and that’s due mostly to less-than-perfect controls (I’m looking at you, Gym and Music).

- I’m really impressed that Rockstar lets Jimmy kiss a few of the boys.  Not only that, nobody makes a deal out of it… in-game, that is.  There’s nothing long-term that comes of of this, though, as Jimmy’s only bonus for kissing another boy is a health-bonus, exactly what you get if he kisses a girl.  It’s a nice change of pace from, oh say, Mass Effect, where there’s a “for-the-boys” lesbian angle but no such option for a male character.

- When Bully first shipped, many people complained that it was broken — a later patch seemingly resolved these issues (though some reported it was made worse).  Here’s hoping that your XBox is connected to the net, as you need it for the auto-downloaded patch when you first play the game.

- In Europe and other PAL regions, Bully was released under the title Canis Canem Edit (Latin for “dog eat dog”) — to appease a bunch of old people with nothing better to do than bitch about video games, I’m sure.  However, Scholarship Edition launched in those areas with the original Bully name.

The Bottom Line:  Bully is a Rockstar game through and through, with enough wit and humor to really make you laugh.  It’s a bit light on social commentary, falling back on tried-and-true schoolyard cliches that doesn’t offer anything new to add to the genre that made John Hughes famous.  But, it is an enjoyable game, giving you a taste of the Grand Theft Auto experience without the heaviness and violence that series is known for, but still creating its own unique identity to help it stand on its own.

If you’re thinking of giving it a try, definitely rent it — it can be completed fairly quickly, and the lack of multiplayer and a straightforward story severely reduces its replayability.  Once you get past a few spots of iffy controls and those damnable loading screens, you should be pretty happy you decided to go back to school with Bully.

7/10

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