A Rockstar open world set in a school. The satirical tone, sharp humour and freedom of action replicate GTA DNA in a school setting. An original and memorable experience, unjustly less celebrated than other Rockstar titles of the era.
Your verdict
Category
Open-World1 player16+
Description
A 2006 Rockstar open world that transplants the GTA formula into an American boarding school. You play Jimmy Hopkins, a troublemaking teen working his way up the cliques between classes, fights and pranks.
Bully review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Dropped into a merciless boarding school, a rebellious teenager climbs the ranks of a scholastic jungle ruled by its cliques. A satire of coming of age that is both biting and tender, the tale captures adolescence with rare humour and precision. Beneath the provocation runs a genuine bittersweet chronicle that has stayed cult.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Roaming an open boarding school, attending classes as mini-games and then settling scores in the yard weaves a surprisingly gripping school routine where each day unlocks gadgets, quests and zones. Earning the respect of the cliques keeps reviving the urge to push on. The hourly structure sometimes constrains you, but this lively, biting world keeps a constant appeal.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Paced by a school year, Jimmy's adventure blends main missions, classes to attend, side activities and secrets to dig up in a teeming sandbox. Exploring the town, winning over factions and wrapping everything up at 100% fills long hours. That density of content, typical of Rockstar, earns the title a stubborn reputation as a generous open world.
A Rockstar sandbox transposing the open-world formula into a boarding school, where high-school intrigues replace urban crime, backed by a satirical tone. Still fairly widespread in the West, its interest lies in this original setting within the studio's catalog rather than scarcity. A piece valued by Rockstar fans wanting one of its most singular games.
A questionable morality
Surviving an English boarding school sounds like a noble cause, but the method boils down to slingshot pellets, planted firecrackers and ruling the schoolyard through brawls. Framed as a bullied kid's comeback, the daily grind amounts to becoming the school's own little terror, something you pull off with a faintly guilty grin.
Is Bully still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2006 on PS2, Rockstar Games' project offers a high school open world inside the fictional Bullworth Academy boarding school. The young Jimmy Hopkins must navigate cliques, classes and conflicts, with a caustically humorous staging. The brawl handling and the map reading stay readable, and the slightly old fashioned British art direction works very well. The camera and the 3D modelling have aged. Recommended today for authorial open world devotees, for Rockstar fans curious about an unexpected signature and for PS2 collectors fond of off beat narrative experiences on Sony's second home console hardware globally.
