You play as a boy who has lost his dog, Tomy, I want to at this point inform both spell check and my editor - it is just Tomy with one ‘m’ (noted, maybe they named him after a much-loved Japanese toy company? – ed). You find out he has been taken by a company called Umbral. It is not really a spoiler to say this, as they are a company in a video game which means they are as evil as… well companies in real life, I suppose - so very quickly you realise that you need to get your dog and leave. In most horror games you have a weapon to defend yourself, such as a handgun or perhaps shotgun, heck - in Resident Evil you even fire a rocket launcher!
Well, in Canine… you get a tennis ball, Yep, that's all you get - a simple tennis ball to defend yourself, I don’t think Jill Valentine would have taken down Nemesis with just a tennis ball, I think it would have been a rather quick and decisive fight if she tried. Speaking of Nemesis, this game also has something that chases you, called Ruben which doesn't sound quite as scary, but he is just as persistent. Most of the time you will spend hiding from Ruben and hoping that he leaves, luckily, he can be distracted by a tennis ball, which is awfully lucky as that happens to be all that you have. I was impressed with the design of the areas you run around in as it was easy to find some way of escaping, I’ve found with some games in which you’re being chased, there are a lot of dead-ends so you get cornered and end up being killed easily.
In Canine, if Ruben catches you he will kill you instantly, there is a place to get more tennis balls, although you can only carry one at a time. The lighting is suitably dark and moody, and everything looks creepy enough, it has the aesthetics of a PS1 game. It has a nice atmosphere, and the music does the job of making you feel unsettled or tense whilst being chased. The enemy shows up at random times and feels less like a series of set pieces, your goal is to find several keys whilst it stalks you. 
You are ranked and awarded a star rating as well as a global ranking, so people who enjoy a challenge and proving they are the best will have fun replaying and seeing just how far up the leader board they can get, it took me nearly two hours to complete, although that might be because twenty minutes in I forgot which button was to throw the ball and spent far too long finding out - that cost me two of my six deaths - but if you’re not thick like me that shouldn’t be a problem, once you have it all down I’m sure you could do it in under an hour - possibly even quicker.
The charm comes in several forms, the light, humorous touches to the documents that you read, the throwing of the tennis ball - you find a shotgun in a locker but as you’re young you don’t know how to use it and even question why you would need it in the first place. The notice board has pictures of what I’m assuming are the developers’ dogs, it is all charming and really enriches this title. The message the comes through is also both heart-warming and important, the ending is a great thing and hats off to the developers for choosing to end the game with what they did.
Though not the longest or scariest game you can play, I think there is more than enough here to enjoy, it has a lot of heart and charm to go along with the tense cat and mouse hunt you will find yourself in. It is one of those titles that make you keen to see what the developers do next.
7/10
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