Bully is one of the more unsung heroes of the Rockstar Games catalog. Bully: Scholarship Edition is the “enhanced” version of the PlayStation 2 classic that was released on systems such as the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and the PC and to date remains the best way to experience this awesome game.
How to Download Bully: Scholarship Edition
The game can be downloaded using Rockstar Games Launcher or Steam. Click on the Download button below this review. There are also mobile versions for Android and iOS. And if you like games about school life check out also Doki Doki Literature Club!, Academia: School Simulator or Yandere Simulator.
The Game Review
While the game is called “Bully” I would not really say that the character you play as is technically the bully of the story. You are 15 years old Jimmy who has been dumped by his mother at a boarding school. You decide you want to be the top dog of the school and to do that you need to become king of each of the different cliques such as the jocks and the nerds.
There is more to the story than that and it does have a few twists and turns that are pretty fun. Bully: Scholarship Edition certainly looks sharper than the standard version. The visuals on PC and Xbox 360 have been given a nice coat of that HD paint, but as well as improved visuals the sound is also much better. Voice samples are far clearer and there are more of them.
So, is this just Grand Theft Auto, but in a school? Well kind of, you see you spend your days at the school where you can go to class, talking to people and get into mischief. There is actually quite a lot to the gameplay and that keeps the game from getting boring. Each day you have so many classes you need to do and these are fun mini-games that can have some nice benefits as you move up.
You have main story missions that you can do, but there are a ton of side missions as well. The different cliques that make up the school are quite interesting and where you stand with them makes a difference. For example, if you are an enemy to the jocks, they will attack you, but if you get them on your side, they will help you. Doing missions and being cool with the way you greet them is how to make “friends”
The overall gameplay is great and if you have played GTA or even Red Dead, you will know what to expect. There is one other Rockstar game that Bully: Scholarship Edition takes a lot from and that is the Warriors. The combat in Bully has fare more in common with The Warriors than any other Rockstar game.
It is far more in-depth than the combat in Grand Theft Auto. As Jimmy is only 15 and the game is set in a school, you will be dealing mostly with melee combat. Thankfully this is a lot of fun thanks to a really cool combo and combat system that lets you pull off all kinds of fun and interesting attacks.
While not a ton of extra content, it does offer more than just improved graphics and sound. It has new missions for you to do which extend the game. Many characters, especially the random NPC’s have far more dialogue. There are more classes to take and new items and clothing you can make use of. Overall, this is a much better way to play the game than the standard version on the PS2.
I think that Bully: Scholarship Edition is a fantastic game and one I wish Rockstar would release physically for systems like the PS4 and Xbox One. It is a very fun experience and will certainly make you think of your school days when you play through it. For me, this deserves the same attention that the PS2 era GTA games get.
