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Canis Canem Edit
The kids are alright
The GTA engine can be
taken anywhere – whether
it’s to personify serial
killers, revive a Seventies cult
movie or to explore the idea of
a cowboy seeking vengeance,
Rockstar has shown that free
roaming is the most meaningful
way to stage an action game.
When we first encountered Jimmy
Hopkins and Bullworth Academy
last year, we were more than just
taken with it, we were utterly
immersed, without distraction,
and devoted ourselves to the
experience until the very end.
Bullworth Town is easily the
equivalent of the mighty San
Andreas in terms of atmosphere
and importance, but it won’t take
100 hours to overcome. The 17-
hour length is perfect, the story
is utterly intelligent and (who’d
have thought it?) the lessons are
incredibly entertaining.
There are dozens of reasons
why
Canis Canem Edit was our
Game Of 2006. Whether you’re
spray-painting the town hall,
breaking a student out of a mental
asylum, kissing another bloke,
shooting potatoes at prefects
or strolling through the funfair
with Jimmy’s girlfriend, Rockstar
treated us to a triumphantly witty
take on the young ’uns. The class
divide between the greasers,
nerds, jocks and dropouts
created a nice tension as you
cycled through town, performing
fun tasks to raise extra cash.
Meanwhile, the school itself
would transform with the time
of year– some missions were
themed around Halloween, then
Christmas, right up until Endless
Summer, the game’s relaxing
denouement.
All the celebrated San Andreas
time-wasters were there, along
with some more to increase the
gamer’s interest. Jimmy could
work paper rounds, Bullworth
had its own clothes shop and
barber’s, and there was even a set
of inspired arcade games in the
basement of a comic shop. We
could go on but we’ll be describing
the intricate brilliance of CCE for
20 pages if we get too far into it.
Instead, we’ll just go pop Canis
Canem Edit on again, and live the
life of Jimmy Hopkins for another
hour or two. It may have been
GTA-lite in terms of length, but
your empathy for the protagonist
and his crazy, twisted school life
goes beyond the importance
of any rags-to-riches gangster
tale. No matter what the theme,
Rockstar always manages to hit
the nail on the head.
Canis Canem Edit can be found
for around £10 brand new,
although it’s slightly cheaper if
you eBay it. It works beautifully
on the 60GB PS3, and we
recommend upscaling it. |
