Looking Back: Bullworth Academy is a pretty awful place for a teen!

Because that school seems to relish Bullying as a form of education.

I'm gonna do a review on the PS2 version of Canis Canem Edit (I prefer the alternate title over the Official US Title: Bully)
This is a game from Rockstar North... The same folks that brought us games as the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption among others. (yeah, I mentioned GTA and another GTA clone... cause THIS game IS a GTA Clone)
If I wanted to do a SUPERD SHORT review, I'd say the game is GTA Junior.

Here's the Story: You are Jimmy Hopkins, a troubled 15 year old boy stuck in a "Prestigious Academy" while your mom goes on a trip for her Honeymoon... The Academy is your sandbox, where you must win respect among the various cliques that "rule the School". At the same time you must go to school and attend classes (several mini-games to "stall" you between missions). As you climb up the Social Ladder, the town opens up for you to explore.

 There are no hookers, no murder, or any other horrors that certain disbarred lawyers tried to claim that the game had. Columbine Simulator this ain't. In fact, the "Police-types" (Prefects and teachers in-school, actual Policemen outside the School) are very eager to enforce the law. Hit an adult or a little kid and The Authorities go ballistic and hunt you down with a vengeance. You harass a person (Wediges for the guys, butt-pinching for the girls) and the Authorities will hunt you down. While you can do some "bullying", it's counter-productive due to the Nearly-all-seeing-eye of the Authorities. Now, it's not all peaches and cream, super duper peacful game... Sure, it's a LOT Less violent than GTA, but there IS some violence. You can do some melee combat and you have access to some projectile weapons like a slingshot, water balloons, potato cannons, firecrackers, etc. (No guns or knives here) Most of the alluring stuff comes from the world itself. The way NPC characters interact with each other. Some of the chatter from them can be amazingly funny, or it can have references to various genres that the game is poking fun/making a tribute to.

The writing is pretty good, as I said it does poke fun to a lot of stuff, especially about stereotypes from the different cliques. The music is generic, but at the same time it feels familiar. In a John Hughes movie kind of way... Also the voice acting is pretty decent.

The Graphics are better than the PS2 GTA Games, most likely because the world is relatively small compared to the GTA games. There is a limited number of characters that "teleport" often, but not two civilians are the same (unlike GTA and their clone armies.) One thing that looks a bit weird is that the character models can looks a bit deformed from some angles when speaking. Not sure if Graphical Limitation or Artistic Decision.

Controls are pretty much the same as in GTA. Of course there are a few differences, but like in GTA, the first few missions are a tutorial of sorts. I have to say that the Lock On can be a bit of a pain and the "Action wheel" when locking on CAN be a bit troublesome. Especially when trying to put a kick me sign on  a Little Kid's back. If the kid moves you might punch him instead and then the Prefects or the Po-Po can be on your tail.

There is something about this game that makes me come back to it more often than say, GTA 4... I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something soothing about this game. While I tend to favor the game, it's time to do an objective analysis of it: Games I use a 1-10 scale. 1 bad, 10 good!

Graphics:
While not THE BEST PS2 graphics, they are way better than the ones on other Popular rockstar games *cough* GTA! *cough*
 I'd say a 7.0

Voice and Music:
Like I said before, there are no known tracks here like in GTA games where their soundtrack is borrowing a bunch of songs from the period. Here we get a soundtrack with songs that kinda feel familiar, but are not.
I'd say about a 7.5 
Controls:They are pretty responsive, but with slight lock-on problems and the "Distance problems" with the "action wheel" CAN be annoying at times!
I'd say a 7.0
Fun Factor:
The game has some flaws, I'll give you that, but it has some fun stuff. Then again in most of these sandbox games I spend most of my time fooling around with the world. The only thing I find a bit annoying is the whole "Mandatory Bedtime" even when you beat the game and enter "endless summer mode"... Nothing sucks more than passing out while pranking an entire town...
I'd give it an 8.5

Overall, Canis Canem Edit gets a 7.5
I have not played the Scholarship Edition with extra classes and missions (I think it was for either Xbox or Wii... and obviously PC)




and extra classes too!