A remake of Rockstar Games' Bully, built within Unreal Engine 5, gives the beloved open-world school simulator a complete overhaul. The 2006 title lets players explore the fictional town of Bullworth and attend Bullworth Academy while rising through the school's ranks to end bullying. While rumors that Rockstar Games is developing Bully 2 have largely been proven false, one dedicated fan has demonstrated what a modern installment in the series might look like.
Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 is an extremely popular game engine available for use by anyone through GitHub. First launched in April 2022, the latest version of Unreal Engine is notable for its Nanite feature, which lets users import highly-detailed photographs into a game as source material. The extremely advanced Lumen lighting system is also able to calculate light reflections and shadows automatically, allowing the creation of photorealistic lighting. Since its launch Unreal Engine 5 has been a very popular game creation tool, with developers using the software to create new games or recreate older ones in 4K resolution. One user recently rebuilt Red Dead Redemption in Unreal Engine 5, and now another Rockstar Games classic is being remade too.
As reported by Dexerto, talented game developer and YouTuber TeaserPlay is working to recreate Bully within Unreal Engine 5. The amazing remake brings Bullworth Academy and its inhabitants into the modern day with realistic textures and lighting. While the facial animations and lip-syncing are still a bit rough, TeaserPlay's UE5 Bully project is still a work in progress. A side-by-side comparison between the original Bully and the remake, also posted to YouTube by TeaserPlay, demonstrates how much care and attention has gone into the UE5 project.
Unreal Engine 5 Turns Bully Into A Modern Open-World Game
While Unreal Engine 5 remakes can reinvigorate old games, the platform was also recently used to create an extremely authentic Assassin's Creed Japan game trailer. A talented creator was able to use UE5 to take Ubisoft's open-world historical fiction franchise into Japanese history, which fans have wanted to see for years now. The gorgeous fan-made trailer makes masterful use of the software's lighting system and animations to create a photorealistic version of Feudal Japan, giving a glimpse at what the next Assassin's Creed game might look like.
Rockstar Games fans have wanted to see a new Bully project for years, and now TeaserPlay has made these dreams a reality in Unreal Engine 5. The remake project is still a work in progress, particularly in its facial animations, but UE5 has already rendered Bullworth Academy in stunning and beautiful detail. If Rockstar ever makes a new Bully game, the developer would be wise to follow TeaserPlay's example when crafting its open world.