Bullworth Academy is the worst school in the country.  It is home to ruthless bullies, sadistic sociopaths, and abusive faculty and staff.  It is also a work of art.

“Bully: Scholarship Edition” for the Xbox 360 re-emphasizes Rockstar Games’ ability to create an engaging, cinematic open-world experience.  The world of Bullworth is literally brimming with life and atmosphere, from the chatter of NPCs in hallways to the realistic class schedule; you really do feel as though you’ve stepped into a very unhappy, but very realized world.  Rockstar’s gift for game-making becomes even more clear when realizing that Bully is a sum of Rockstar’s greatest parts mixed with a heaping helping of innovation.  The game uses the best aspects of “Grand Theft Auto”’s interface, the raw energy of the evolving combat system in “The Warriors”, “San Andreas”’s RPG-like skill evolution and streamlined health and item system to turn you into Jimmy Hawkins, the new kid in school and a jack-of-all-trades.

Jimmy has been dumped at Bullworth Boarding School by his floozy mom and rich, well-to-do new step dad for a year of reform education.  Soon after arriving, Jimmy realizes that Bullworth is overwhelmed by bullies and jocks, who terrorize the geeks and run the school with KGB-like fear tactics.  The administration is no help, and the hit first, ask questions later school prefects do little to alleviate the problem.  In order to make it through the year alive, Jimmy needs to toughen up and shake up the power structure at Bullworth and eventually end the bullies’ reign of the schoolyard.

“Bully” is a gorgeous game.  Despite being ported over from a nearly 2-year-old PS2 game, the level of detail lavished upon the school grounds creates a towering, menacing institution that is far more frightening than the outside world.  Though I was skeptical about how much exploration there is to be done at a school, Bullworth is surprisingly large, featuring all the hallmarks of a traditional school, plus added extras that characterize a live-in school.

Gameplay-wise, “Bully” really shines.  You do have to go to class, but class is extremely useful.  Rather than level-grinding a la “GTA: San Andreas”, “Bully” features a diverse array of minigames that correspond to each subject matter.  You’ll use chemistry class to create firecrackers, English class to improve your social skills (which helps you gain rep with the various factions), gym class to learn combat skills, and so on.  These mini-games are actually really fun, and the range of mini-games makes it never a chore.  Since Bully operates on a standard 24-hour time system, you’ll receive an alert whenever it’s time to go to class.  If you take too long getting there, you’ll become truant, and the prefects (with “Metal Gear Solid”-style vision cones) will be out to get you.  If they catch you and bust you, don’t worry, you’ll just get sent to class.  Since class is pretty fun, this isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

Beyond class, there is a “GTA” style mission system in which you arrive at an area on the open world map and hit the Y button to take on tasks given to you by various members of the school population.  You’ll protect geeks from bullies, pull pranks on jocks to damage their reputation, help a bum build a radio, and a huge array of other missions.  These are very rewarding, because many of them also help improve your skills and reputation.  In the general open world map, you can do your standard start fights, romance girls (or boys), make friends, make enemies, become a bully yourself, and wreak general mayhem on the school.  Such actions come with a cost however, as you’ll likely attract the attention of the prefects, who would love nothing more than to bust you.  Luckily, you can hide out in trash cans and lockers to divert attention away from yourself.

Everything in “Bully” works well.  The gameplay is fantastic, the story is compelling (and often really funny), the music is pitch perfect (you’ll sometimes catch yourself nodding your head along with the beat) and you really will feel like you are in this school.  The Xbox 360 and Wii versions of “Scholarship Edition” come with 8 new classes, 4 new characters, new outfits, and other extras to make “Bully” worth playing a second time around.

I will quickly address the screen stuttering and game freeze issues that plague the Xbox 360 version of “Bully,” as Rockstar has already stated that they are rushing to issue a patch that will resolve these problems.  In the meantime, though the issues are noticeable, they don’t ruin the game experience, and in a very short time they won’t exist at all.

“Bully” is an amazing game, and remains a testament to the power of Rockstar games nearly 2 years after its release.  Pick this one up immediately, cause it’s a real treat.