Canis Canem Edit (Bully)

for those of you who grew up with the old 8bit home computer will probly remember an old classic called Skool Daze. the game cast you as a young school kid who had to get through the day buy playing pranks going to class and avoiding the teachers. Rockstar has done a fantastic job of bringing that classic bang upto date. think GTA mixed with Skool Daze and you will have an idea of what this game is all about.

One of the reasons that brought me to look into 'Canis Canem Edit', or 'Bully' as I prefer to call it, was my everlasting passion for the ground-breaking gameplays and storylines I had seen in the most acclaimed Rockstar video game, Grand Theft Auto. Labelled by many as 'GTA in high school' and almost eternally wide open to parental and mass-media criticism over its alleged encouragement of felony, this digital work-of-the-art is one of the few video games that have kept me playing my Playstation 2 to this day, regardless of my having owned the newer Playstation 3 for nearly two years.

Set in a prestigious New England boarding school, the fictitious Bullworth Academy, the video game revolves around the vicissitudes of the newly arrived James Hopkins, an unruly, hot-headed youngster who has been forced to join the aforementioned institution by a careless foster family. Once the imposing, and somewhat macabre gates of the academy shuts behind Jimmy's back and he is offered a tour of the school and finally assigned a room in the dormitory, it will be up to you whether to transform Jimmy into a model student and keep his nose out of trouble or accompany him into a world that will change your scholastic conception forever. Whatever your intentions, you will soon become acquainted with the grim reality of the academy: a place where the Darwinian life maxim 'survival of the fittest' reigns supreme and students are divided into factions, making the school resemble the coveted patch of a gang warfare rather than an educational environment, and you will soon realise that helping Jimmy pass his semester is synonymous with helping him stay alive. As you make acquaintance with duplicitous, library-dwelling nerds or stand up to incredibly haughty jocks or even bring yourself to attending a few classes, you will discover countless ways to interact with the game. And you will find so many that it would be better to make a list of what you 'cannot' do rather than what you can.

Throughout each of the eight chapters you will enjoy a 360-degree interaction with the environment that can only be matched by the Grand Theft Auto series. However, if the across-the-board freedom of interaction is a nod to 'Grand Theft Auto', and might somewhat render the two titles closely connected between each other, the very scope of this game and the inner message that the publisher has intended to send differ, and surely make 'Bully' unique. In terms of the range of activities that Jimmy can do, he can pretty much do everything that an adolescent of his age would do - bicycle riding into town, earning money as he takes up part-time jobs, pulling pranks during school terms, carrying out ill-conceived side missions assigned to him by plate-spitting cooks and even going on a date!

As far as the inner message is concerned, the element that separates the two games is the sheer absence of blood in 'Canis Canem Edit', as well as the ingenious addition of mandatory classes as side missions that serve the purpose of updating Jimmy's skills through what he has learnt in classes and unlock new abilities; for instance, if Jimmy passes his chemistry class, it will be possible to update his accuracy or if he shows up at Physical Education his stamina and fighting skills will be honed and so much more. Such decision is a clearly a subtle idea of the publisher to champion the importance of education by showing its beneficial effects.

In conclusion, I unconditionally agree with the reviewer whose sole disappointment lies in the fact that we have not been presented with any follow-up to this game. Therefore, I can only recommend to every Playstation 2 owner to spare a mere £ 4.15 and obtain a true gem.

Canis Canem Edit is a game based on an American school, where you have to face up to the bullies and make your mark on the school.

First of all, ignore everything that you have heard in the media. It's all a load of rubbish. The game did not make me want to bully people at all. Agreed, it is a rather violent game, but there are worse films and games out there.

In the game, you are able to wander around the school/town freely, completing missions as they are made available and attending lessons according to the on screen clock. There is a lot of variety in missions, and the divides between gangs in the school are clearly shown.

The lessons can become quite annoying, but once you complete them you don't have to attend anymore.

A great buy!

This game had all sorts of rumors in the beginning about it's gameplay, how far the story goes etc. First of all, don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but it suffers on quality of long-lasting entertainment. It occurred to me as on the 2nd day from buying it I had already revived half of the game, I was predicting the other half from there already. Other than that the gameplay is satisfying, how they worked, probably the best school-related game was original. But the music that was reinvented in the game was immensely annoying. It drove me round the bend as when on a bike riding to a hide-out or school, it would just go into this rip-off theme of harry potter, it was so appalling I actually turned it on mute. Although this game is a bit petty in the little things, the big things are worth it. I'd say, if buying this game, play it slow.

This is a great game if you have an hour or two to spare and want to lose your self in an imaginary world of school, violence and vandalism.... The gameplay is well thought out and easy to get to know.... the lessons are sufficiently challenging and the map is big enough to get lost in....

i would recommend it...