25 Best Video Games Of The 2000s

3. Bully

We can all look back on GTA III as a pinnacle of game design meeting innovation, but as with almost all trailblazing franchises, game mechanics or mission designs, it's what comes after that can cherrypick the best traits of what's on offer, forming that into something even greater.

With Rockstar having perfected their open-world game engine by the time Bully came around, it let them focus on the presentation of everything instead. That meant even more dialogue for our protagonist - this time the wondrously pugnacious Jimmy Hopkins - a score that connoted the most whimsical and mischievous parts of Harry Potter, and a fully-interactive school packed full of cliques warring with each other, teachers to annoy, lessons to be learnt - and a schoolyard heirarchy to overcome.

Bully's appeal as a high school escapist fantasy gave us all a context we were immediately familiar with, something the GTA series could never truly do. All the same it meant we could reapply Rockstar's now-iconic formula to an entirely new and unique setup, one that was positively dripping in charm, character moments and hilarious dialogue.

There's just something about Bully's entire presentation that speaks effortlessly to every generation of gamer; a point exemplified by a musical backing that as a score (not a selection of songs), is easily Rockstar's finest work to date.