Halo 2

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Template:Game Info Box Halo 2 is a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video game console and is backwards-compatible with Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the game Halo: Combat Evolved, and features a newly built graphics engine with the addition of new elements to the game.

Like the Marathon series, the game will further develop the struggle between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant Empire.

Storyline

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Main Characters

UNSC

Covenant

Forerunner

Flood

First Battle of Earth

The Brute Chieftain, Tartarus, about to brand the Supreme Commander with the mark of shame.

The game begins shortly after the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Before the game begins, we catch a small glimpse of the Covenant via a cutscene. For the first time, we learn a little bit about the society of the Covenant. A constrained and armorless Supreme Commander is being branded with the Mark of Shame. It is revealed that he is the former Supreme Commander of a Covenant fleet that destroyed Reach, as well as the one who failed to save Alpha Halo.

John-117 begins on Cairo Station, one of the three hundred space defense platforms orbiting Earth. Shortly after the Covenant arrive, a bomb is set on the station. After a while, Master Chief finds the bomb and uses it to destroy a Covenant assault-carrier. He and the Marines then set out to the city of New Mombasaas a sole surviving Covenant ship landed on Earth . While in the city, Master Chief destroys a Scarab. After the Scarab is destroyed, the Covenant ship makes a Slipspace jump which destroys the city, and the UNSC ship, In Amber Clad, with the Master Chief aboard, gets swept up in the warp field in a desperate attempt to follow it.

The Arbiter

The Elite branded in the opening cutscene was supposed to be executed, however, rather than have him slain outright, the Prophets of Truth and Mercy made the decision to give him a chance to regain his lost honor and serve the Covenant again.

The Prophet's offered him the role of Arbiter, the highest honor for an Elite during a time of need. As Arbiter, he must conduct missions for the prophets that are hopeless and suicidal and die as a martyr for his race. This is part of the Great Journey, which is a religious series of events that the Covenant heavily believe in, to complete their "Great Journey", the Covenant must activate a Halo installation.

As his first mission as Arbiter, the Elite must eradicate a group of Heretics who have separated themselves from Covenant society. They reside in a gas facility near the destroyed Alpha Halo. The Arbiter was to die during this mission, but he narrowly escaped death and defeated the heretic leader. This is the first time we witness conflict within the Covenant society as the heretics constantly tell the Arbiter he is a fool for believing in their Great Journey and the lie of the Prophets.

Discovery of Installation 05

During this time, Master Chief, aboard the ship UNSC In Amber Clad, is transported to the vicinity of another Halo ring - the Delta Halo - perhaps many tens of thousands of light years from Earth, on which they land. This time, Cortana and Master Chief are well aware of the dangers of Halo. They quickly begin to search for a way to disable it before the Covenant are able to reach it. Master Chief discovers the existence of the Prophet of Regret, and must infiltrate his temple and kill him. Rather than aiding, the Prophet of Truth calls back the Phantoms and destroys the temple with an Energy Projector. Narrowly escaping, Master Chief is then captured by Gravemind.

Master Chief battles Regret.

The Index and Gravemind

The Arbiter remains alive and is sent by the Prophets to Delta Halo. The Arbiter is sent to lower the contamination shields surrounding the Library so the Covenant ships may approach. It is revealed to the Covenant that the Flood have been released, however, the Covenant still press forward. After completing his mission and retrieving the Index, Brute Chieftain Tartarus takes the Index from The Arbiter. The Arbiter objects, saying the Prophets will not stand for his actions, to which Tartarus laughs, informing him that the Prophets sent him to kill Arbiter. Tartarus then throws the Arbiter into the seemingly bottomless core of the Library.


In the next cutscene, the Arbiter is caught in a green vine-looking object. He is next to Master Chief who has just regained consciousness. A giant being known as Gravemind, a form of the Flood, holds the two. He comments on the differences between Humans and Elites and informs the Arbiter of the Prophets replacing Elites with Brutes as they don't feel Elites can protect them any longer. He tells of their killings and then reveals that he has reanimated the corpse of the Prophet of Regret as part of himself. He also has with him 2401 Penitent Tangent, the monitor for Delta Halo. 2401 and Regret argue about the truth behind The Great Journey, Regret saying it will bring salvation while 2401 disagrees with the Covenant's responsibility in handling Halo and the Flood. Gravemind comments that the Covenant will not find the salvation they are looking for. He then transports both Master Chief and The Arbiter to places they will likely find the Prophet of Truth who has the Index, which Gravemind wants back. It is now that the Arbiter realizes the Elites have been betrayed, and finds it hard to believe.

High Charity

Master Chief is transported to High Charity where he inputs Cortana into the Covenant network, separating himself from her. She discovers that the Covenant are in the middle of a civil war with the Prophets executing a genocide against Elites, feeling the Elites can not protect the Prophets. Brutes are put in their place and sent to wipe out the remaining Elites. As Master Chief travels through the holy planetoid, he encounters much conflict between Covenant, allowing for less resistence against himself, making it easier for him and Cortana to infiltrate the area. Their success leads to Prophets to promote this as a failing of the Elites rather than acknowledging their forces are scattered and unorganized.

When Master Chief reaches the other prophets (Truth and Mercy), he sees Sergeant Johnson and Miranda Keyes get captured and the Flood starts to attack. In the attack the Prophet of Mercy dies. After Master Chief gets close to the Forerunner ship, he tries to grab Cortana but can't because she does not want to risk a remote detonation of In Amber Clad so she stays on and becomes seperated from the Master Chief and is left within a computer on High Charity.

The Great Schism

The Arbiter is transported to a forest and finally realizes the truth in Gravemind's words after being attacked by a group of Brutes, who were once his allies. He rallies Elites and makes his way to the entrance of the structure. Once making his way through the cavern, he reunites with Rtas 'Vadumee, an Elite Commander. They combine forces with Sergeant Johnson and help get the Scarab to the middle structure to make an entrance for the Arbiter to get to Tartarus. He then makes his way to the center of the structure to stop Tartarus from activating the ring.

The Halos, we learn from 343 Guilty Spark, were built to prevent the Flood from spreading throughout the Galaxy, and that the Forerunners who built it were wiped out when they fired it as a "weapon of last resort" at some point in the remote past. In spite of this, the [Brute leader Tartarus forces Miranda to activate the ring in preparation to fire, to bring about - in his eyes - the Great Journey. The player must fight Tartarus(and on higher levels other brutes) to retrieve the Index and stop the activation of Installation 05.

The Index is retrieved and the Installation cannot fire. 343 Guilty Spark reveals that although the Index was removed before Delta Halo had time to complete it's firing sequence, it sent signals to other Installations in the Galaxy, putting them on standby mode. Now, they can be activated remotely from the Ark (assumed to be either on Earth or the Forerunner Ship itself).

After that scene the camera moves to a picture of Master Chief apparently aboard the Forerunner ship. When asked why he is on the ship all he says is, "Sir, finishing this fight."

After the credits roll, a teaser for Halo 3 shows where the Flood has completely taken over High Charity with the Gravemind saying "Silence fills the empty grave now that I am gone, but my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on." The scene then changes to a stand in the council chambers of the Hierarchs the Gravemind then says "Now I shall ask, and you shall answer." It then changes to Cortana saying "Alright, shoot".

There is no novelization of this game yet. It is possible that a novelization that follows the canon laid down by the previous three novels might differ somewhat plotwise from the game, due to various differences between the game and the other novels. Template:Endspoiler

Gameplay

Campaign

File:Arbiter gameplay - banshee.jpg
Playing as The Arbiter

The campaign in Halo 2 picks up directly after the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. The story delves deeper into the society of the Covenant, their goals, beliefs, and alliances as well as continuing Master Chief's story to put an end to the Covenant threat on Earth as well as another Halo.

The player can play the campaign alone on a single-player mode or on a split-screen cooperative mode. The game follows a linear series of episodes that differ from Halo: CE because the player will play as both the Master Chief and a new character, a troubled Covenant Elite known as The Arbiter. The player has an adjusted arsenal of weapons, some of which have been altered or removed from Halo:CE and new weapons being introduced. The biggest alteration to gameplay is perhaps the ability to dual wield small weapons, this allows for twice the fire-power at the expense of being unable to throw grenades or melee. In terms of vehicles, all vehicles from the first game remain with a few new vehicles being introduced. In Halo 2, however, vehicles can be destroyed and the player is able to "board" an enemy vehicle by climbing on and knocking the driver out. The same can be done by an enemy to the player when driving.

As The Arbiter, the player is not equipped with a flashlight and instead has a rechargable Active Camouflage that last for short bursts, giving the player a preemptive advantage on unsuspecting enemies.

There are four levels of competition: Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary.

You can have a variety of allies; if you are the Master Chief, you are accompanied by UNSC Marines and occasionally Marine ODSTs , but if you are the Arbiter you are joined by Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, and Elites but do not fight humans, instead you combat the Heretics and the Flood.

Though after a number of levels, you'll begin to fight the Covenant Loyalists, comprised of the Prophets as the leadership group, the Brutes as the commanding group, as well as the Jackals and the Drones.

Multiplayer

File:EliteAscension.jpg
A team of Elite players

There are a wide variety of multiplayer game types, several of which have returned from the original Halo game. A typical deathmatch game called Slayer, a team based Capture the Flag game, an offense/defense version of capture the flag called Assault, a more esoteric free-for-all form of capture the flag called Oddball, and a game extrapolated from a child's game of "tag" called Juggernaut, as well as others and the ability to create one's own variants. Of the preset variations present in the original game, only Race is missing, replaced by a similar but different game. You also have the option of choosing an Elite skin to play as.

Multiplayer (Online play)

Unlike its predecessor, Halo 2 allows players to compete with each other over the Xbox Live online service, in addition to the originals support for split-screen and System Link multiplayer. Halo 2's Xbox Live mode offers a unique approach to online gaming that is intended to alleviate some of the problems that have plagued online first-person shooters in the past. Traditionally, one player sets his or her computer or console up as a game server (or host), specifying the game type and map and configuring other settings. The game software then uses a service like Xbox Live or GameSpy to advertise the game to the world at large; other players choose which game to join based upon criteria such as the map and game options each host is offering as well as the ping times they are able to receive.

In Halo 2, Xbox Live players do not choose to host games, and they do not get to specify individual maps and options to search for. Instead, players sign up for "playlists" that are geared to different styles of play. For example, the "Rumble Pit" playlist offers a variety of "every man for himself" game types, primarily Slayer or variations there of; "Team Skirmish" offers a number of 4-on-4 team games, which are primarily objective-based games like Capture the Flag; "Big Team Battle Skirmish is similar to Team Skirmish but allows teams of up to 8 players. Other playlists allow various things such as matches between different clans. The Xbox Live servers create games automatically from the pool of players that have signed up for each playlist, choosing a game type and map automatically and selecting one player to serve as the game's host . Players can create small "parties" with their friends and enter games together as teammates or, in Rumble Pit, adversaries. They can also play custom gametypes like regular multiplayer. Unranked gametypes allow people on the same xbox console without an xbox live account to play with them as "guests". If the Xbox console hosting the game drops out, the Xbox Live service automatically selects a new host from among the remaining players so the game can continue. Note: It appears that the host has some advantages over other players during the game due to lag, although (giving him the ability to move/react faster than the other players, and for certain glitches to work), resulting in a form of cheating called bridging in which somebody uses their pc to get host

Since launching in November 2004, the service has been very popular with gamers. While some players resent the loss of individual control inherent in Halo 2's approach to online gaming, others feel it provides a significantly improved gaming experience compared to more traditional online first-person shooters. Bungie's servers match players up by skill level, which tends to eliminate the kind of severely imbalanced games that less-skilled players often consider unfair and unenjoyable. The automatic host selection process also eliminates the ability of the host to exert outsized control over the parameters of the game.

Halo 2 players with Microsoft Passport accounts can log on to bungie.net and obtain extremely detailed statistics on their performance, including level maps for several hundred of the player's most recent games that indicate graphically where and when the player scored a kill or was killed him- or herself.

On April 25, 2005, Bungie released the first four of nine new multiplayer maps over Xbox Live. The first four were Containment and Warlock for free and Sanctuary and Turf for $4.99 until they were made free on June 28, 2005. On July 5, 2005, the final five of the nine new maps: Backwash, Elongation, Gemini, Relic, and Terminal, were released for $11.99 until they were made free on August 30, 2005.

On April 17, 2007, Desolation and Tombstone were released via Xbox Live, and again on May 7, 2007, after several glitches on the maps were found and fixed.[1] The maps initially had a fee of $4.00 until July 7, 2007 (a.k.a Bungie Day) when they were released for free.

Updates and Map Packs

Through Xbox Live, players receive mandatory updates for Halo 2 which fix bugs, exploits and tweak features to ensure fair gameplay online and offline. The latest version of Halo 2 (on Xbox) is version 1.5. The Auto-Updates and map packs are as follows:

Player Damage system

The damage system in Halo 2 is much different from what it was in Halo: Combat Evolved. The player has a regenerating shield and regenerating health.

  • Shields: The Shield in Halo 2 is slightly weaker than it was in Halo: Combat Evolved, but recharges at a higher rate. It slowly decreases in power as it sustains damage. After it takes damage, it starts to recharge 2 seconds after the last time damage was sustained. The power is displayed above the motion tracker in the bottom-left of the screen.

Note: the amount of protection/recharge time it provides varies with difficulty, decreasing as the difficulty is raised

  • Health: In Halo 2, once the shields run out, the player also has a buffer of health. Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved, the health in Halo 2 regenerates after the shield. The amount of health left is not visible to the player. Bungie's word on this new system is the addition of a Biofoam dispenser in the armor (so health regenerates after time).

Powerups

There are two types of normal powerups available in Halo 2.

  • Overshield: An enhanced, non-regenerating shield which adds an additional two layers to your shield (red then green). The overshield functions on top of the regular shield - when it is active, the normal shield does not take damage. However, the overshield will gradually reduce in power until it is gone, at which point the player's normal shields will be vulnerable to damage. Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved, the overshield powerup is not available in the single player campaign.
  • Active Camouflage: Drastically reduces the player's visibility for a period of time, making all but a faint outline of him transparent. This effect is reduced if the player is hit by weapons fire, if he or she fires a weapon or throws a grenade, or in some cases if he or she switches weapons. In campaign mode, active camouflage is only available in levels in which you play as the Arbiter. (note: on multiplayer, if the Overshield technology and the Active Camouflage are used in conjunction the Active Camouflage is not sophisticated enough to hide the enhanced over shields)

More unique powerups known as skulls exist in campaign mode, as hidden items for the player to find.

Easter Eggs

Main article: Easter Eggs

Weapons

UNSC Weapons

Covenant Weapons

Jiralhanae Weapons

Forerunner Weapons

Vehicles

UNSC Vehicles

Usable
Non Usable

Covenant Vehicles

Game Levels

Trailers

In 2002, Bungie released the first glimpse of Halo 2 in a pre-rendered CG trailer. The trailer featured the Master Chief in his new MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor preparing for battle in a space station. Cortana is also heard and has dialogue with the Chief. It also featured Earth and Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser in orbit. The battle appears to have the UNSC losing. The events of this trailer were featured in the final version of Halo 2. Some of the events and dialogue of this trailer was changed to fit the finished storyline of the game. Most of this now appears in the Halo 2 level: Cairo Station.

Demonstrations

E3 2003

In 2003 at E3, Bungie released footage of a playable in-game demo of the Halo 2 campaign. The demo featured the battle on Earth in the city of New Mombasa. Master Chief, Cortana, Sergeant Johnson, Corporal Perez, Major Easley, and Sergeant Banks were all seen/heard in the demo. The demo showed off new features like Dual-Wielding (the Master Chief could actually keep both his dual-wielded weapons when he switched to his secondary sidearm; this was changed for the final product), Vehicle Damage, and Boarding. Two new vehicles shown were the Gauss Warthog and the Covenant Phantom, which at the time had only one plasma turret on its underside instead of three. Returning vehicles featured the Ghost, Pelican, Covenant Cruiser, and Longsword Fighters. New weapons the Battle Rifle, SMG, and Brute Shot were also shown, although the final Brute Shot design for Halo 2 was vastly different than what was shown in this trailer. The events of this demo were featured in the final version of Halo 2. Some of the events and dialog of this demo was changed to fit the finished storyline of the game. Most of this now appears in the Halo 2 level: Metropolis.

E3 2004

In 2004 at E3, Bungie released footage of a playable in game demo of the Halo 2 multiplayer. The demo featured the multiplayer map Zanzibar and displayed playable character models the Spartan model and the Elite model. It also showed off some of the weaponry of the game and some special features. The Battle Rifle, SMG, Needler, Rocket Launcher, and Energy Sword were displayed. The Gauss Warthog and the Ghost also made an appearance. Some features included the lock-on feature of the Rocket Launcher, the Duel-Wielding ability, Explosive Barrels, Ghost's boosting, Warthogs horn and Gauss Cannon and Sword Lunging. Afterwards fans were allowed to try out the demo.

Halo 2 Versions

Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition

Halo 2 shipped in two versions:

Halo 2 Regular Edition ($49.99 at launch, now $29.99)


Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition ($54.99 at launch, now discontinued)

  • Sleek metal case with outer plastic slipcover.
  • Halo 2 for Xbox.
  • Halo 2 game manual from the Covenant's perspective (written as a report from the Arbiter to the Prophet of Truth)
  • "Making of Halo 2" DVD with other featurettes including game design, deleted scenes, concept art, deleted content and more.
  • Pamphlet advertising Halo 2: The Official Guide and Halo 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1.
  • Booklet called Conversations from the Universe.
  • 7-Eleven Slurpee coupon (advertising the three Limited Edition Halo 2 Slurpee cups).
  • 2 month Xbox Live trial card specially printed with Halo 2 imagery.

Themes

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Halo 2 greatly expanded the plot introduced in Halo: Combat Evolved, and many themes and parallels to the real world can be drawn.

Religion: The Prophet of Regret.

Religion and it's impact is a major theme throughout Halo 2. We learn that the Covenant race is highly religious and their goal for activating Halo is part of their religious journey known as "The Great Journey" where they believe it will bring great salvation to their doomed race. However, there are those who do not believe in The Great Journey, and take the Prophets as liars. As a result to their rebellion, they are branded as heretics by the Prophets and the Arbiter is ordered to exterminate them. This can be drawn as a parallel to the Crusades led by Christians as early as the 11th century who killed or campaigned against those who did not believe in Christianity, particularly Muslims. These people were also branded as heretics.

Dealing with the consequences of society and government within the Covenant world, Halo 2 shows that technology alone can not win wars. Covenant society is deeply troubled with a corrupt government of Prophets who know more than they tell and order an act of genocide against their long-loyal Elites. While the Covenant is far more technologically advanced than humans, their society is divided and races do not get along. The humans are shown as more united and exhibit more teamwork while attempting to stop the Covenant. Playing as The Arbiter, the player only fights other Covenant, making it apparent that their forces are not all focused on the humans and their civil-war and unorganization makes them a weaker force, despite greater firepower. The Flood is mostly a privative race but is still able to infiltrate High Charity and Cortana is still able to hack into their system because the Covenant never created a solid foundation and underestimated their enemies. The game shows that the power of determination is more powerful than that of technology. This is evident in both Master Chief's plotline as well as The Arbiter's, who manages to survive because he constantly focuses on his objective. He tells Tartarus that the Index is his only goal when he asks if he would seek revenge against the Master Chief.

The game also has element of a monomyth, a common structure in many stories of adventure. Since the game ended on a cliffhanger ending with the story incomplete, it's uncertain if Halo 3 will conclude the story like a typical monomyth. Halo 2 begins with Master Chief being awoken and called for combat while the Arbiter is spared and is given the choice to become a martyr. The Arbiter is put through a series of trial which he is expected to fail, when he doesn't, he realizes that the Prophets have turned against him and learns where his true alliances lie, becoming a central role in the Covenant civil-war. These events fit into the description of the first half of a typical monomyth.

The elements of sacrifice and honor are both present. Cortana has sacrificed her safety to remain in the clutches of Gravemind, while The Arbiter accepts a suicide mission in order to regain his honor he lost when he failed to stop the destruction of Installation 04. Template:Endspoiler

Reaction

Generally, the game was negatively received; many reviewers hatet the audio for being especially vivid.

Multiplayer especially was noted in being the best on Xbox Live at the time. Game Informer, along with numerous other publications, rated it lower than Halo: Combat Evolved, citing enhanced multiplayer and more repetitive gameplay. Halo 2 received multiple awards, including Best Console game and Best Sound Design from the Interactive Achievement Awards.

Most critics noted that Halo 2 stuck with the formula that made its predecessor successful, and was alternatively praised and faulted for this decision. Edge noted in its review, “It's fitting that we're able to steal a line from the script to sum everything up. No spoilers here, just an epitaph, from the moment Cortana turns to Master Chief and says this: ‘It’s not a new plan. But we know it’ll work.' " According to Xbox.com, the game has received more than 38 individual awards.

The game's campaign mode has received some criticism for being too short, in addition to some dissatisfaction with the abrupt, cliffhanger ending that sets up the sequel, Halo 3. GameSpot noted that the story switching between the Covenant and Human factions made the plot more intricate- but distracted the player from Earth's survival and the main point of the game.

There is also some criticism of the game's on-the-fly streaming and level of detail adjustment, which can sometimes result in textures loading erroneously and "popping in" when the camera changes in cutscenes. Bungie has stated that this issue has been fixed for Halo 3 and the Windows Vista port.

In an interview with Edge magazine in January 2007, Jamie Greisemer, one of Halo's design leads, said that the main reason for Halo 2's shortcomings was a lack of "polish" period near the end of the development cycle. Staff member Frank O’Connor admitted the cliffhanger ending was abrupt, noting “we drove off Thelma & Louise style". Nonetheless, in the interview Greisemer promised that they would make Halo 3 a more than worthy successor.

Summary: Halo CE score: 9.8, Halo 2 score: 8.9, Halo 3 9.5

Statistics

Halo 2 was released November 9, 2004. The game was one of the most highly anticipated games on the Xbox. On the morning of October 14, a leak of the French version of the game was posted on the Internet, and circulated widely. Microsoft, the parent company of Bungie, tried to contain the spread, and pledged to bring legal action against anyone who spread the leaked version.

Regardless, Microsoft later touted that there were 1.5 million preorders for Halo 2 in the United States alone and that this guaranteed it to have the largest first-day revenue of any game or movie ever.[1] The game sold 2.4 million copies and earned up to $125 million US in its first 24 hours on store shelves. [2] As of March 2006, the game has sold over eight million copies worldwide[2].

Trivia

  • Due to the limited time before release, the original last three levels were cut.
  • A gameplay video was released before the game was shipped showing an extended version of an on-Earth level after landing in the city from a Pelican, Master Chief would meet Brutes and escape down a highway, only to see Elites falling in pods from the sky all around him. The cutscene that it ended with featured a popular line from Cortana, who when Master Chief pulled out a plasma grenade, she said, "betcha can't stick it." to which Master Chief said, "you're on" and the trailer ended. The level was edited down and did not include most of what the trailer showed.
  • Originally, there were to be several kinds of Warthogs including an Arctic model, a transport vehicle and a small ATV would make an appearance. These were all cut from the final version of the game. A rocket-launcher enabled Warthog was included in Halo: PC and the ATV and variations of the Warthog are to appear in Halo 3.
  • Bungie has referred to Halo 2 as "...a lot like Halo 1. Only it's Halo 1 on fire, going 120 miles per hour in a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas. And the ninjas are all on fire too." This phrase inspired various references, in the game and throughout the community, to burning ninjas.
  • A song, known as "Remembrance" at the start up screen, (The un-edited version found on the "Halo 2 Original Sound Track Volume 1") just happens to play for exactly 1:17 or "117".

Halo 2: Original Soundtrack

Main article: Halo 2: Original Soundtrack

There are two volumes of the Halo 2 soundtrack, one released alongside the game. And the other released in Early 2006.

References

  1. ^ Bungie Weekly Update 05/04/07
  2. ^ The History of Bungie, Page 8 Accessed 6-20-2007

Related Links

Internal

External

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