Bully: Scholarship Edition

"I Wish Jimmy Hopkins had Gone to my High School..."

First and foremost I never played the original Bully game. From what I hear and read, this is just a minor update from the orginal, but I am rating this game like it was all its own. Bully: Scholarship Edition is one of the 10 best games out for the Xbox 360 right now, that much I know.

Game Play: 10/10
Obviously the strength of Bully. There are so many extras and little niches to find that it will take up much of your time.

The main story is actually sorta basic. You play as Jimmy Hopkins, a child with more problems and arrests than years hes been alive. Bullworth Academy is the only school willing to accept him and he has no choice but to pass. Soon after he begins Jimmy realizes the school is a complete disaster, and believes if he can take over the school he can preserve the peace. You play through the trails of Jimmy becoming the most respected kid at school, by taking out each "clique" (Bullies, Jocks, Nerds, Preps and Greasers.) and one by one Jimmy takes them out.

The game play has an impressive range through out the whole game. There are mini games (classes), including animal dissection, photography, dodge ball and more. Missions that progress the story along, side missions which often have you do secret work for less than moral teachers. There are hidden objects, which unlike most games, in Bully you can unlock where they all are so you aren't wasting countless hours wondering around looking for little things.

The achievements are among the best for any Xbox game so far. It is a lot of fun getting these. In fact in order to get 100% you will have to pull fire alarms, give wedgies, beat up rich kids, throw eggs at cars and a lot more.

Graphics: 8/10
A lot of tiny errors but absolutely nothing that would keep you from enjoying the game. They probably aren't next gen good, but I grew up playing Playstation and N64, so uhh... it will do.

Sounds/Presentation: 6/10
No real place for radios and such due to the fact you only ride Mo-peds, bikes and go-karts. The voice acting is actually pretty good. The issue I have is the loading screens are really annoying. They show the same 4 pictures with the same tips for game play through out the whole game, and almost every single transition requires a 10 second loading screen. After awhile it gets very annoying, but doesn't exactly ruin the game either.

Overall: 9/10
Bully: Scholarship Edition is a very enjoyable, fun game with a lot of extras. You probably won't want to beat it more than once, so a rent is probably good enough (but you probably won't be able to get 100% in just one rent.) It is a good 30 hours of absolutely great game play and an easy 900 achievement points!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/08

Game Release: Bully: Scholarship Edition (US, 03/04/08)