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Bully: Scholarship Edition (2008)

Certificate 15

Bully: Scholarship Edition

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Rated 3.5 stars
Average rating
(67%)
 
Developers: ROCKSTAR TORONTO
Genres: Fighting
Number of players: 1-2
Released: March 07, 2008

Bully's finally made it to the Wii, and its 'proper' name has been returned to it after misguided parents got upset and Rockstar changed it to Canis Canem Edit.

Relive your school days with Rockstar's latest adventure game. Starring Jimmy Hopkins, a tough but righteous kid who's been shoved into a boarding school by his uncaring parents, your task is to get through Bullworth Academy's first year unscathed. Many obstacles and opportunities await you, and just like your younger years, there are bullies aplenty.

The vast amount of freedom you get in Canis Canem Edit allows you to do whatever you like, as long as you're not breaking school rules. Any attempt to bully other kids, break curfew or sneak into the girls' dorm will get you reprimanded and sent to the Principal's office. Far from being vicious, the large number of missions you get to play are light-hearted and humourous, ranging from protecting innocent pupils to collecting items for the chef and stealing girls' underwear.

There's plenty to learn, love and hate in this game, as school lessons will earn you rewards, making bullies look stupid will help you get lucky with the girls, and prefects walk the halls to make sure you don't skip class or do anything out of line. And with several cliques (from dropouts to boffins and even posh preppies) to make friends with or play pranks on, you're spoilt for choice as to who to align yourself with. For the Grange Hill generation and beyond, Canis Canem Edit is what you're after if you're looking to ignite the mischievous schoolkid within you.

Highest rated reviews

9 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 0.0 stars
hmmm, was the daily express right?

A Customer from UK, 23rd April, 2008

Ok, so not one to join in the 'are games too violent these days' rant that rockstar games seem to attract in the press these days - afterall I have been playing games since I can remember and back in the day, PIt Fighter was horrendously violent, and I have a very open mind when it comes to games and peoples right to play what ever they want. Now, armed with that piece of info, can I just say that this game is just terrible. You play a school kid whos parents dump him at boarding school while they go on a cruise. Now, the title would suggest you are the bully (at least to many daily express reading parents) - but heres the twist, you arn't! What you are however is a very easily manipulated pawn in the 'worst school in the country'. Some randoms take you under their wing and give you practice missions to get you to be very naughy and just plain mean to other school kids - both deserving and not. First few levels find you having to kick hell out of some guy who picks a fight with you, then for no real reason picking on some girl who looks funny. The otherall plot seems to be one of survival and selfish jollies in equal measure. At around an hour in I decided that this was twaddle - for several reasons - 1st, whacking bullys was ok I guess, the bullying didn't float my boat though. 2nd, there just wasn't anything else to do...oh, except 'drinking pop makes you healthier' messages popping up now and again. Advice is avoid - not on the politically correct machinasions of the media, just because its rubbish!!! If you want to whack virtual thugs and have something to do in between times, take a glance at Godfather blackhand - plots much better and the violence element is more justified...kill an arms dealer and not a fat girl with spots kids

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7 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
Great!

Luke Morgan from England, 14th June, 2008

Theres all this talk thats its just Grand Theft auto. but i think there completely different for starters, your a 15 year old boy. its set in and around school. and there are no guns. you have flares and sink bombs and things like that, the game its self is great, i have bought this one. try the game out, you'll like it.

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8 out of 12 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4.0 stars
Is this good?

A Customer from Manchester, 18th March, 2008

i have played this game on the playstation and i found this game really fun and i couldnt stop playing it. however i have recently purchased a Wii and was wondering was this just as good as on the playstation??

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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
Rockstar passes academia

opark77 from from Bristol, 2nd August, 2008

Bully scholarship edition was my first ever game rental. There’s an opening that evokes nostalgia and expectations of childhood anecdotes. Unfortunately, having not been a console owner until last year means that my first game rental experience actually came just two short weeks ago, sorry to mislead. Bully is the only rockstar port available on the wii and while I often felt that I’d rather be playing Grand Theft Auto IV it is actually a great game on its own terms. Bully takes the GTA formula and applies it to a boarding school. Its not the cavalcade of death and destruction that you might expect and the violence is toned down accordingly for the setting. The weapons range from ever-reliable fisticuffs to a surprisingly powerful spud gun but the most harm you’ll inflict with any of them is to knock someone out. Vehicles are limited to bikes for the most part with a go-kart and a scooter appearing later in the game. It remains a slightly more adult title for the wii platform but is hardly the high school blood bath that the media backlash suggested. I think the title is slightly misleading, the game is named primarily for the institution (Bullworth Academy) and you are often battling against bullies to unite the school rather than picking on individuals. As anyone who has played a GTA title would predict the voice acting is great and the soundtrack is good too. That said the music is completely instrumental and not drawn from pop music like the GTA series. The storyline is involving but its reliance on all the American high school clique clichés makes the progression somewhat predictable. For a game that came out a few years ago I think the graphics hold up pretty well. The controls on the wii are straightforward but fun, particularly the fighting. I think the adaptation from PS2 gamepad to Wii-mote was well handled and that the port is very successful. All in all a great game that I almost wish I had bought rather than rented.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 1.0 stars
Not really worth it

ID386081 from , 23rd January, 2010

When I received this title, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the graphics etc on the Wii. Having owned and rented a fair few Wii titles over the years, this game does score high on the graphics front. Once I started playing however, it was all downhill... The control method uses nunchuks and after a couple of seconds I got the hang of it but then suddenly people attack and chase you for no reason (they started it, Miss!) The first couple of missions are lack lustre at best and soon found me wanting me to play something else. In addition, the character appears to move extremely slowly, even when running. Although I have not played this game all the way through I cannot recommend buying it and would only recommend renting it if you are at a loss as what to rent next.

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Rated 1.0 stars
the game is underscan, defeats the purpose of big t.v!

ikey from , 13th December, 2009

i believe any game is underscan, it not worth playing. i put the game in let load did first task in the game, i must say its good fun game, in the mean time i was hoping the black vertical bars on right and left side would disappear, didnt happen. totally disappointed for the resolution underscanned. i think we should boycott the games that cant keep up with this genertion t.v. 1star because it a good fun sort of real life bullying exprience through a game it would of been 4 star from me, but the bars really irritate me.

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Rated 5.0 stars
brilliant

A Customer from Spennymoor, 24th July, 2009

my son who has been a victim of bullying loves this and it has really helped his confidence. we have had to go and buy it.

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Rated 1.0 stars
Don't bother renting..

JakeJ88 from , 24th July, 2009

I use to enjoy the rand theft auto games however i used to find them tame after a while and i got easily bored by them. I was hoping it would be different with this game but that wasnt the case. Played it for about a day and a half and then got bored, so im lad i onli rented it and didnt purchase it

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