Fazhrul

Two years after making a splash on the PS2, Rockstar has finally brought their high school hooligan to the PC. Bully: Scholarship Edition puts players in the shoes of Jimmy Hopkins, the titular bully. Having been kicked out of a number of other schools, he finds himself deposited at the gates of Bullworth Academy. As he starts a new school year here, he'll have to compete and cooperate with the various cliques around the school as he tries to rise to the top of the pyramid. And what's the best way to gain power and prestige at a new school? Pranks and violence, of course!

In keeping with the successful Grand Theft Auto approach, Bully is largely a one-note affair, focusing on the standard cliches and stereotypes that have been used in countless shows, movies, books and video games. From the very beginning, you see the jocks, the greasers, the nerds and the preps and you pretty much know where it's all going to go. Throw in a wino in a Santa suit, a nauseating cafeteria lady, and the obligatory tyrannical principal, and you've got a game that tries to thwart convention so hard that it just winds up conforming to it. In the end, you get the sense that Jimmy's crusade on behalf on the nerds of Bullworth Academy is really nothing more than an excuse to run around kicking people in the nuts.