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Canis Canem Edit (Bully)
Welcome to Bullworth
Academy, Jimmy Hopkins! Don’t let education get in the way of having a
good time!
This title by Rockstar games continues the legacy of
the Grand Theft Auto series, but this takes us to the mean streets of… a
school! Yes, that’s right, you are Jimmy Hopkins, expelled from multiple
schools for being a bad ass and this is essentially your last chance, at
Bullworth where discipline reigns supreme and around every corner is
another group ready to whup you into submission.
Since receiving the game to review I have played it
constantly, every damn day in fact and once again Rockstar have provided
a game that has so many random things you can do, it is easy to get lost
in the gameworld and not even do the missions that are set out for you.
Of course though the missions are what open the world to you and make
you think about travelling further than the gates of the school.
Now somewhere in development, the game got a name
change from its working title “Bully” to Canis Canem Edit which
is dog eat dog. I think that this game is going to throw many players
for a hook once you dig what the game is about as whilst you can act the
way that it was portrayed that you would be playing it, the title has
worked out to be another ball game altogether. I was tempted to write a
bit of a spoiler here but I think that it’s worth it to have the game
smack you with it when you play.
Needless to say, Jimmy is a tough kid and we get to see what he is made
of in the game and the missions that you have to undertake will test you
to the limits. For those of you expecting the violence of a GTA game,
forget it. There is no blood that I saw playing the game and no deaths
when Jimmy is fighting. If you can time it right though you can execute
a “bully” move like spitting on your enemy or insulting them to the
point that they run away. This is right when their health level is
almost gone.
Jimmy
learns skills throughout the game that can be used to help him out, like
advanced apologizing to get out of trouble for misdemeanors and the
like. He also has to attend classes in the beginning, the successful
completion of which will enhance shooting skills with his slingshot and
other bits and pieces. Once you have completed 5 sessions of each class
though, that eliminates the need to attend the lesson and you can just
choose not to show up.
With
other classes though, if you don’t show up, the truant officers will be
on the lookout for you so make sure you keep an eye on the map/radar
provided which shows where they are looking. A fantastic thing about
this game is that there is the most wonderful ambient soundtrack that
reacts to what is going on in the game around you. If you are about to
be attacked from behind, the music picks up to let you know it’s coming
so you can turn around and fight or if the music changes tune, then it’s
the cops so get running.
Being
caught by authority will result in being sent back to the school or
dropped off at the police station. As you go through the game, depending
on the circumstances you will eventually be able to get away from the
cops some of the time, but certainly don’t rely on it.
As
with other Rockstar games you will meet a host of interesting
characters, both around the school and town. Even the generic characters
that you run into every two seconds around the traps are pretty neat and
hold onto their own idiosyncrasies. You have to win the trust of people
and entire groups through your actions, and if I go too far in that
direction then I’ll start spoiling the plot for you.
Canis
Canem Edit is totally a must buy game. By that I mean go and get it now,
this instant. It’s clever, looks great, sounds great and will provide a
bulk load of hours of game time. Even when you finish the game which
should take forever, you are still going to be able to get around and
just cause trouble as you feel like it. Open gaming worlds like this
rock the house.
Get
it, Get it, Get it now. Did I say get it?
Get
it! You won’t be disappointed. |
