Canis Canem Edit - Bully (PS2)

Canis Canem Edit, or Bully, is a fantastic game. Although the missions are relatively easy, the amount of missions, their scope and variety still make it a lot of fun. I was engrossed in this game, and played all the main missions, side missions, extras etc, of which there are plenty.
The world of Bullworth and the surrounding area is well thought out, and the attention to detail is stunning; you enjoy just walking around...
The game also does a good job of fleshing out the characters, unusual for most games, and you know the personalities of them; it also has excellent voice work and a great soundtrack.
Pretty near to game perfection in my eyes, and for the price its at now, are you nuts!! go buy...NOW!

My son loves this game and can be quite engaging to play. similiar in style to Gta's, with a few good puzzles throwed in. Dont belive all the bullying rubbish reports you read about this game.

At first look, we can see that Canis Canem Edit has a School theme. The certification says `15'. The cover clearly hints at a game involving School kids, and at School kids' violence. The Latin pretensions of the title heavily hint at a Public School setting. The title of the game at its transatlantic release was 'Bully', although this was changed to the less inflammatory `Canis Canem Edit', or Dog Eat Dog. So why the 15 certification if this is a kids game? Is it really an adult game with a kid's theme? My opinion is noted further below, but first, more about the game.
A summary of the main story; Jimmy is a trouble-maker arriving in a new residential school. In his effort to establish himself, all his actions and choices will have an effect on one of the groups of protagonists which exist in and around the school, namely, the Bullies, the Preppies, the Nerds, the Jocks, the Greasers and the Townies. Doing favours for individuals, teachers, pupils and others will increase Jimmy's status. But where he gains respect within a particular gang, he can at the same time lose respect with rival groups. The missions begin in Bullworth Academy and its grounds and expand to the surrounding town, suburbs, residential and industrial areas as the storyline progresses, and the tasks Jimmy completes will allow him to progress in social stature through the making and breaking of friendships and alliances.
What we have here is a game containing sufficient knockabout violence of a playground rumble type to get the blood temperature up a little, but with no death, or maiming, or noticeable injury. None. And this is what separates it from other comedy/gore games of the GTA genre. If you wanted to classify Canis Canem Edit as `GTA Lite', then you would be close to the mark.
And this is perhaps the important bit: the missions, the blood-free violence, the bike races (no proper cars to drive fast here), the squirmingly embarrassing kissing games, (actually, rather useful health boosts) are all parallels of the type of missions and games found in abundance in, say, San Andreas; the game play is equally as good, the graphics arguably better in their simplicity, and the collecting tasks are equally as frustrating if you choose to attempt them without a map or guide.
The stories and plot, however, are not puerile, certainly not any more than any plot thread in Vice City or other game of the GTA canon, and the vibe of the game as a whole is just the right side of tongue-in-cheek without being poorly thought-out, or badly executed. The point is, Champs, it is FUN.
With regard to the expected level of violence in a 15 rated game, as I have suggested, there are no M4s or shotguns here. Weapons of choice for Jimmy, our schoolboy Hero, are catapult, stink bomb, spud guns and the like. With these weapons of mass distraction, you have all the ingredients of a Shoot-em-up (or Beat-em-up) frenzy which we have come to expect from Rockstar, and by reason of these low-calorie armaments, the characters don't die; they live to appear later in the plot or the background again and again. Simples.
A handful of the missions are quite challenging, and most will require either a degree of thought, or possibly one or two tries to complete. Some of them are very easy, but in the main not a million miles away from the traditional Rockstar goodies we have learned to love.
Some features are:
a free-roaming format, with an environment that expands into new areas as the game progresses,
auto-targeting makes fight sequences easier,
Easy-rotate weapon select,
Easy to read Heads-Up Display, and on-screen mini-map,
A nice clear map with mission markers on the pause menu,
A range of dropdown menus for stats, collectibles, status etc.
Random character side tasks you can do in 2 minutes.

In fact, the short nature of the missions mean you can happily dip into this game, do a task, and save it, all in 10 minutes.
However, you could easily make this game go on for dozens of hours, without a trace of boredom. Perfect if you are the sort who enjoys just knocking about a game world looking at stuff, equally if you are one of the completists actively seeking 100%.
If you have enjoyed any GTA game, or were partial to a wee bit of Gun, you will have a hoot with Canis Canem Edit. You will forget to be bothered that it's about a School, and that Schoolboys are the protagonists and you will begin to enjoy it for what it is; namely a well produced and involving game.

Worthy of a mention - the 15 rating is a little enthusiastic, perhaps. I would have no problem letting a well-rounded and socially-aware 12 year old play about 98% of it. If you are the kind of parent who is likely to agonise over the 15 rating before handing it to your offspring, you are possibly going to have a problem with some bits of the humour, even if your offspring don't. Luckily the humour is nearly always spot-on from most perspectives, and any slightly dodgy bits are not glaringly obvious.
Canis Canem Edit has been released for quite some time, so copies are available reasonably cheaply. You could scour the pre-owned shelves for a copy in the three-for-a-tenner deals, or you could buy a nice clean new one for around £10-£15, and be grateful there are any sealed ones left. You will play it again and again, and extract value from your purchase over many happy hours.
Or you may not get near it for your kids.