Previews// Canis Canem Edit (PS2)

There are Bullies, Nerds, 60’s rocker style Greasers and snobby rich kid Preppys to associate with, and you’ll be dealing with all of them at some point or another in the game. A later mission sees you vying for the attention of a Greaser chick (who, naturally, has been playing the field and actually revels in the competition) by way of a button-mashing bike race, with the winner getting a snog from the girl. Another has you fulfilling the objectives of a disgruntled science teacher as he asks you to sneak into the Preppy’s dorm and kill a magnificent plant that is in direct competition with his. One mission we played even involved sneaking into the girls’ dorm to steal their knickers for a pervy sports teacher, in a tongue in cheek and not-quite-so innocent moment.

Each clique has a different look, as already mentioned, but the differences also extend to their fighting styles and the way they approach a situation. Bullies will have no problem running in and beating the mess out of someone, while Preppy’s will believe in a clean sporting fight (they were trained by their daddy’s boxing trainer, don’t you know, and observe the Marquis of Queensbury rules). Although as we were legging it outside the Prep’s dorm (while sliding down the banisters – brilliant!) we found their approach less than sporting as one of them launched at us from behind. Foul play, old sport!

Richard then proceeded to demonstrate one of the main functions of Canis Canem Edit – and of course, school in general. Lessons. These form an integral part of the game, as you would imagine, and there are six different subjects that are placed within your timetable, including Gym, Science, Art and English. Each subject has five stages to complete and when you fulfil each stage you will advance to the next when you next have that lesson.

The classes themselves are built up of mini-games, and differ depending on what subject you’re learning – in English you get a set of letters and you must try to build as many words as you can (a bit like Countdown but without Des Lynam’s ‘tache), while Art will see you uncovering a picture while avoiding obstacles. “Each class gives you a new ability or opportunity when you complete it, so although you can skip classes, there’s another incentive to turn up”, Hugh explains.

Darn tootin’, yaw. After completing some classes we got to snog a bird (granted, she wasn’t great shakes but you gotta work your way up the chain haven’t you?) and apologise to a huge bully called Russell, both of which raised a certain skill or ability of ours. We’re told that when you pass a certain level of Science classes Jimmy will also be able to make his own stinkbombs and potions! Why would anyone want to skip class with that prospect in line?

But because it’s an open game, you can skip class if you really want to. Just be sure not to get caught. As you avoid learning there’ll be a ‘Truancy’ warning on the screen, and any prefect walking the halls will hunt you down if they spot you. You have the chance to escape their grasp by mashing Triangle if they catch you, but they’re very strong and sometimes you can end up right in the poop. To the right of your map, there’s a ‘Trouble Meter’, and whatever you do that’s against school rules will raise that meter depending on the severity of the offence.

Pinching girls’ bums will raise the meter a little bit, and will get you a bit of a scream and not much else. You can break into other kid’s lockers to nick whatever’s inside, and for every second you delay, your meter will continue to rise until someone spots you. Once we spotted a younger kid and decided to bully him by shoving him around and hitting him, we knew we were really in the mess – the Trouble Meter not only shot up to full alert, but a prefect materialised from out of nowhere (figuratively, not like he's been beamed down by Mr Scott) dived towards us, tackled us to the floor and started giving us ten ounces of pain. That was, of course, before they decided to send us to the Principal’s office.