Agefield High: Rock the School is a game that was advertised as a spiritual successor to Rockstar's classic Bully. Set within a small town, players step into the shoes of a young man named Sam as he lives out his final months in high school. From there, you are given the freedom to either be a model student or act out and cause chaos, effectively shaping Sam's future—at least, that's what the game wants you to believe.
Ahead of release, we here at Netto's Game Room were given the opportunity to play through the PC version of the game. I personally went in hopeful, especially considering the 2000s setting aligns with my own school days, but it didn't take long to realize I was playing a hollow shell. To be completely blunt, Agefield High has very little going for it, making it difficult to sit through its shorter runtime. Clunky controls, horrible characters, poorly delivered voice acting, and uncanny character models and animations are just a handful of its issues, with more coming to light each time you dive in. Its open world also stands as one of the most underutilized sandboxes in recent memory, and despite the premise of living out Sam's final moments of high school, there is very little "living" to actually be done.
So with that being said, what is this game truly, and is there any actual enjoyment to be had? Well...
Welcome to Agefield High
Agefield High opens with Sam waking up for his first day of school. He, his mom, and his sister have recently moved to town with only a few months left in the school year. According to his mom, this is Sam's chance to finally make something of his life and be a good student. Of course, Sam doesn't like this idea and simply wants to be his rebellious self, but he promises he'll at least behave on the first day—something the game forces you to do.
From here on out, the game follows a strict mission structure, which serves as the sole way to progress the story. Sam meets two "loser" friends who will only allow him to join their group if he goes on a panty raid, and from there, the trio sets off to ruin the class jock's upcoming party. Along the way, they interact with a few other key characters, though the primary focus remains on the two potential love interests. While the game advertises two distinct endings, your path is dictated entirely by the linear story missions, with zero social simulation mechanics at play. The narrative parodies early-2000s tropes, so expect to throw rocks through windows, hide from the school resource officer while swapping out failed tests, and outrun an angry "Mr. Rogers" counterpart after serenade attempts go wrong. It's all material we've seen done dozens of times before, but unfortunately, none of it is handled well here. The writing is extremely generic, and the unlikable cast does the narrative no favors. Even when it comes to the final goal: if you dislike both potential romantic options, why would you want to take either of them to prom? Then again, maybe that's just high school logic...
Sticking to a Schedule, and the Lack of Freedom
One of the main selling points for Agefield High is the ability to do as you choose and enjoy life in the 2000s; however, this is not a life sim. There isn't truly any freedom here outside of roaming the mostly empty town and visiting a handful of shops. The NPCs populating the world are largely copy-and-paste models that repeat the same cynical remarks as you walk past them. Stores allow you to buy new clothing, bikes, and tattoos, but that is about the extent of it.
The vast majority of structures cannot be entered, making the map feel even smaller than it is, while the large amount of empty open space eats up considerable travel time. Running is an option—though a stamina meter prevents Sam from constantly sprinting—so his bike serves as the primary form of transportation. On the plus side, the bike can be summoned from any bike rack across the map, but its physics and controls are extremely clunky. Performing a simple jump turns the vehicle into a slippery ride that spins wildly in the air, making even a tiny bump in the road enough to throw off the controls completely.
As for the daily schedule itself, Sam is "required" to be at school at a set time to sit through classes. These segments throw quizzes at you, and your scores determine how much spending money you receive. Unfortunately, I do not speak German, making that particular class a complete guessing game; even then, figuring out the math and English questions feels like more of a chore than it's worth. Outside of school, story missions are only available during specific time windows, but once accepted, the in-game clock comes to a complete halt. This allows players to explore the map as much as they want without worrying about the time, though there is still precious little to do.
Because the game relies so heavily on a rigid mission structure, true freedom is virtually nonexistent. Again, you can go nearly anywhere on the map and purchase a few cosmetic items, but that's about it. The only path forward is to follow the main story or take on a handful of minor side activities. Collectibles are also scattered around the environment as well, but nothing truly encourages players to seek them out beyond unlocking a few achievements. Technically, players have the option to ignore everything—including the main story—but then the game simply will not progress.
Poor Combat and Forced Stealth
When not riding a bike around town or traveling between mission markers, the gameplay relies on two main mechanics: a clunky combat system and broken, forced stealth sequences.
The combat system in Agefield High allows players to use a few basic inputs: punch, kick, shove, block, and jump. By locking onto enemies, Sam can execute any of these moves, but the animations are slow, awkward, and easy to miss with. The most effective strategy usually boils down to spamming the kick button and watching opponents walk right into it, though there is a tiny amount of strategy involved. Defending enemies should be shoved to break their guard and leave them open to attacks, while blocking protects you from taking damage. However, unlike standard combat systems where a successful block leaves an opponent open for a counter-attack, enemies here will simply keep swinging indefinitely. In these moments, jumping back to create distance is your best option, making the kick move a genuine lifesaver. None of it is particularly enjoyable, but because the game is packed with forced encounters, players have no choice but to get used to it. While combat is the first tutorial the game throws at you, it isn't the first main mission type you'll deal with. That dubious honor goes to the initial stealth missions.
After meeting Sam's new "friends," you are given two main paths to follow. Your first objective is to either acquire a bicycle by visiting the bike shop or meet up with your friends to execute a panty raid. For the bike shop route, players must retrieve a stolen bicycle, which involves sneaking into a neighbor's backyard to grab it. Doing so requires remaining crouched and staying out of the enemy's vision cone displayed on the mini-map. As long as you remain crouched outside of that cone, you are completely safe. Unfortunately, NPCs move without any clear logic or pattern, meaning trial and error is often required to get them to path properly. Alternatively, players can bypass the intended stealth route by approaching the mission area from behind, though this isn't always possible.
This initial mission transitions into a chase scene once you grab the bike, introducing another recurring mechanic. Fortunately, the AI pathfinding cannot handle basic environmental obstacles like fences. Simply running onto a house's front porch and vaulting over the railing is more than enough to lose your pursuers; the NPC will get stuck attempting to path through the house, giving you plenty of time to escape. While you could attempt to ride the bike away, the janky physics often make mounting the bicycle during a chase far more trouble than it's worth.
The second stealth option takes place entirely inside a house, but it relies on the exact same mechanics: crouch and stay out of the line of sight. Getting caught carries little consequence, as you simply respawn right in front of where you were detected, though avoiding detection is fairly easy anyway. Regrettably, a large portion of the game's missions rely on stealth. Still, these sections are arguably better than the underdeveloped minigames, such as lawn mowing or the rhythm minigame, which fails to sync its inputs to the actual chords played in the soundtrack's single repeating song.
A Game That Tries Too Hard to be Edgy
To match Sam's outlook on life, Agefield High attempts to double down on early 2000s teenage angst, but it doesn't quite nail it. Hearing high schoolers vaguely reference specific movies gets old fast, and they frequently cut their sentences off without finishing them, leaving the punchline entirely to the imagination. The English teacher is meant to be a comedic caricature, but the character comes off as disturbing instead. Meanwhile, the worst offender is a local stalker who follows female students after class; while a mission exists to put a stop to him by calling him out, it degrades into an annoying trailing quest that drags on far too long. A content warning appears at the start of the game to alert players to potentially "offensive" moments, but the edge-factor here simply feels forced. Outside of the student body, most of the adults spend their time complaining about how the '80s and '90s were better, though none of their dialogue comes across as authentic or believable.
The overarching narrative is similarly stuffed with tired tropes, doing nothing to make the experience feel special. As mentioned before, bricks smashing through windows remain the primary method for delivering a message, while the students themselves care only about lying, cheating, and chasing girls. One potential love interest is framed as social outcasts, yet the writing fails to flesh out what her life is actually like. While the game obviously isn't meant to be taken seriously, it would have been nice to see early 2000s subcultures handled with genuine care. Instead, most female characters are reduced to target practice for popular kids who simply moo at them as they walk by before going about their day.
Even the user interface tries to push the same try-hard attitude: the game over screen replaces the standard prompt with "You've [F-word]ed up." It's intended as a joke, but when this exact brand of humor is continuously shoved in your face, the gimmick wears thin immediately. In some ways, the it fits a high school setting, but speaking from personal experience, real small-town high schools are capable of much more than relying on crude remarks and calling everyone a pervert.
Ultimately, as someone who grew up in the '90s and 2000s, nothing on display here truly captures the spirit of that era. Aside from the presence of CRT televisions and the absence of smartphones—though by this period, the vast majority of teenagers already owned some form of mobile phone—the game doesn't really scream "2000s." It simply feels like modern day, just with slightly less technology.
Surprisingly, You Really Can't be Bad
With all of the annoyances you have to put up with while playing Agefield High—including the multiple glitches you will likely encounter along the way—it's understandable that you would want to vent your frustration. In a game that advertises itself as allowing you to be a bad student, you would think you could take out your anger on the townspeople, but that isn't really the case.
Throwing punches or kicking someone in the face usually results in them either not reacting at all or simply getting up and stepping away. From there, guards, teachers, or police officers spawn directly behind you, and the game reloads to drop you in front of the principal's office—and that's about it. Outside of having to pay a small fine, there is no real downside to starting these brawls, but they also don't feel like actual fights. It's disappointing that you can't duke it out with most of the characters you encounter outside of story missions, especially since certain NPCs—including the ones you really want to hit—are protected by invisible armor, but at least a few will fight back before the guard steps in. Running into the girls' restroom similarly triggers nearby NPCs to flee while cops and teachers swarm you, but the outcome is identical: you are sent right back to the principal's office, only to return to whatever you were doing before.
None of this has any meaningful impact on the gameplay or narrative; it simply serves as a brief setback you caused on purpose. It feels somewhat similar to another series where harming a civilian results in a "desynchronization" because the main character would have never done such a thing.
Technical Issues and More
Putting aside the game's main content, Agefield High is loaded with technical issues. The settings allow you to tone down the number of NPCs and cars in the world to lessen the load slightly, but this honestly isn't a demanding game—it's simply poorly optimized. For whatever reason, loading cutscenes makes my high-end gaming PC sound like a jet engine while temperatures spike. I've only encountered this with one other PC game I've played, which was another mess we reviewed earlier this year. This problem doesn't even occur when playing modern VR titles on max settings, which require vastly more resources than something like Agefield High. At one point, it got so bad I became too anxious to stay in my office while my PC seemed to melt, opting instead to take the game on the go by using Steam Link to remote-play to my handheld device. It didn't solve the underlying issue, of course, but at least I didn't have to listen to the roar of the fans.
Besides what the game did to my hardware, it is littered with bugs everywhere. Characters clip into the ground; reloading from a save drops you back at your house and can cause you to miss mission timelines, so you shouldn't save and quit in the middle of the day; the bike physics are truly worse than words can describe; and bumping into the smallest obstacle sends Sam flying like a ragdoll. Doors fling open unnaturally fast and are easy to get stuck on, it's rarely clear which rooms can be entered versus those that are locked off yet still visible on the mini-map, if the game thinks you are "stuck," it's response is to send you back home, and every driver in town is a maniac determined to get in your way. It is all terribly rough, and when you're actually paying attention, you can't help but notice that the facial animations and lip movements do not match the spoken dialogue in the slightest. Initially, it felt like the game was intentionally aiming for an early-2000s PS2 aesthetic, but it's clear this is just a case of severe lack of polish.
This is sadly just scratching the surface, as each time I dove back in—after giving my PC a rest—I found something new that was broken. Even when returning for a few additional screenshots for this review, I got flung across the map into the school because my bike got stuck, somehow triggered a class I had missed, and got arrested all at the same time. How did I manage? That's a good question.
Should you play it?
To be completely honest, Agefield High: Rock the School isn't the worst game I've ever played, and reaching the end is manageable. The entire time, though, I was constantly reminded that I could be playing something better, but as a reviewer, I was obligated to keep going. That isn't a feeling you want while playing a game, and it certainly isn't enjoyable having to share that honest opinion with developers—especially small indie teams who have poured their hearts and souls into a project. Sadly, this is a game I simply cannot recommend, which is a real shame.
Putting aside its obvious inspirations from Bully, there was a solid foundation here that could have been turned into a fun title. I do like its core concepts in theory, but the lack of polish, repetitive and generic missions, weak stealth and combat systems, and unlikable characters make the entire experience feel unrewarding. The game reads more like a proof of concept than a finished release, yet it has been launched to the public as a complete product.
Overall, Agefield High: Rock the School is a poorly executed title that set out to be a spiritual successor to a classic. Those looking for 2000s nostalgia surprisingly won't find it here, and fundamental issues plague the entire experience.
In its current state, I cannot recommend it.
VERDICT: Avoid
Reviewed on PC
Review Copy was Provided
Available On: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series Version to be released at a later date.)
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