System: Sony PlayStation
Also available for: Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, Windows PC
Publisher: EA Sports
Reviewer’s rating: C+
ESRB rating: Everyone
Game type: Sports
Kind of like: “NHL 2003”
Best feature: The new dynasty mode offers the unique experience of seeing your team through the eyes of an NHL general manager.
Worst feature: The only way to control players on the ice is with the left analog stick, a radical change for players accustomed to the more traditional directional-pad use.
The bottom line: Loyal EA “NHL” players might be disappointed in the latest version of hockey’s best-selling video game.
The new general manager dynasty mode, which recreates a day-by-day season with scheduled practices, contract negotiations as well as a five-round draft, is a nice touch. So is the addition of three European leagues — Finland, Sweden and Germany. But it’s not enough to make up for the actual gameplay, which is what EA has been so successful with in the past. The new “bruise control,” which allows you to power up before a hit, sounds more impressive than it plays.
Clunky controls don’t help: Since the analog stick (on PS2) is now the only way to move your players, you have to relinquish control momentarily in order to complete a line change, which is now done with the directional pad.
Other software developers have been chasing EA Sports for years. “NHL 2004” should make it easier for them to catch up — if they haven’t already.
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Also available for: Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Windows PC, Game Boy Advance
Publisher: EA Sports
Reviewer’s rating: B+
ESRB rating: Everyone
Game type: Sports
Kind of like: “Madden NFL Football 2003”
Best feature: If you have a PS2, “Madden” is online. There’s nothing quite like getting your butt kicked by some 12-year-old stranger who goes by the nom de guerre Whosyerdaddy.
Worst feature: If you’re not a hardcore gamer or a fanatical NFL fan, it’s hard to justify spending $50 on what is essentially last year’s game with updated rosters.
The bottom line: Competition tends to produce great results, and “Madden” finally has some in Sega’s “ESPN NFL Football” (the game formerly known as “NFL 2K3”). It seems obvious in retrospect that ” Madden” had grown smug and complacent before Sega’s upstart franchise emerged a few years ago and started pressuring the old man like Simeon Rice on third-and-long.
But EA Sports is up for the challenge, and this year’s version of “Madden” bursts at the seams with additions and improvements.
Most important are the game-play tweaks, including upgraded play-action fakery and a new “Playmaker” feature that lets you make key adjustments to defensive coverage, receiver routes and blocking assignments both before and after the snap.
Other new extras put a sort of “Sim City” spin on the game’s big-picture modes. In “Owner Mode,” you operate your franchise with an eye on the bottom line. You can relocate to a new city, design a new home in “Stadium Builder” mode, make personnel changes and even set prices on everything from hot dogs to parking to big foam number-one fingers.
Last year’s “mini-camp” feature has been expanded into a “training camp” mode, which allows you to improve players’ attributes by executing various drills.
Another neat feature: Owners of EA’s excellent “NCAA” title can export each year’s graduating class into “Madden” for the NFL draft.
System: Nintendo GameCube
Also available for: Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Namco
Reviewer’s rating: A+
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Fighting
Kind of like: “Tekken” or “Virtua Fighter”
Best feature: You can earn scores of new weapons for the characters.
Worst feature: If you don’t select the Japanese voices in the options, prepare to suffer some awful English voice acting.
The bottom line: We feel a little guilty. It was just recently that we were telling fighting game fans that they need to run out and get “Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution.” And here we are again, singing the praises of another fighting game.
We can’t help it. If “Evolution” is Pepsi, then “Soul Calibur II” is Coca-Cola.
Which you’ll prefer is a matter of personal taste.
Between the two, “Soul Calibur II” is the one with the weapons. And fighting with weapons doesn’t get any better than this.
“Soul Calibur II” has magnificent weapons, great characters and terrific fighting. Obviously, the objective is to take your katana, battle-ax, bladed chain or other such deadly implement and bash the opponent. As you do this, try to stay within the bounds of the platform or else you’ll fall to your doom.
As the characters in any modern fighting game should, the personalities in “Soul Calibur II” have a ton of moves. The variation between fighters is amazing and was one of the things that made the first game great. “Soul Calibur II” doesn’t have the statistical detail of “Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution,” but it makes up for it with the sheer “coolness factor” of exotic weaponry.
One rather unusual innovation in the sequel is that each version of the game has a character not included in the others. The GameCube version has Link from the “Zelda” series. The Xbox version has Spawn, the comic book character, while the PlayStation 2 version has Heihachi of “Tekken.”
The game’s weapon master mode is much like the mission mode of the first game, in which you roam a landscape and complete a number of missions with unusual twists. But the stakes are more interesting in the sequel: Completing missions earns money you can use to buy new weapons for the characters.
System: Microsoft Xbox
Also available for: Windows PC
Publisher: LucasArts
Reviewer’s rating: A+
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Role-playing
Kind of like: “Baldur’s Gate”
Best feature: The combat engine is a revelation for the genre. It takes a turn-based system utilizing the latest “Dungeons & Dragons” rules and pushes it to the background to give the feel of real-time combat without losing the strategic elements of turn-based games.
Worst feature: The frame rate is a bit choppy in places and the frequent loading can get annoying.
The bottom line: If you’ve forgotten why you love “Star Wars” over the last few years, this game will jog the memory. By comparison, the story and scope of “Knights” makes the prequels look like scruffy nerf herders. This tale takes place 5,000 years before the original story. The faces are different but it still feels like a galaxy far, far away. Especially when you start cauterizing sand people with a lightsaber.
The game has all the normal RPG features that fans have grown to expect, such as item management and statistics building, but the character interaction takes center stage.
The dialogue choices that you make affect whether your character will lean toward the light or dark side. The outcome of the game is different depending on the various paths you take. This type of interaction allows you to play through the game numerous times without it becoming stale.
In our opinion, embracing the power of the dark side is a laugh riot. But as a testament to the rich story, you may feel guilty after robbing that honest storekeeper blind.
That’s just scratching the surface. There is a card game called Pazakk invented just for the game. It plays a bit like blackjack and can be a good source of extra credits. Also, you get to race swoop bikes and blast enemy ships like an arcade shooter.
System: Sony PlayStation
Publisher: Konami
Reviewer’s rating: A-
ESRB rating: Everyone
Game type: Soccer
Kind of like: “FIFA 2003”
Best feature: In Master League mode you take over a third-division team and try to get promoted to the premier division, earning points along the way that can be used to sign star players.
Worst feature: The game’s poorly designed front-end menus are utterly bewildering.
The bottom line: Soccer-based video games have come a long way over the years. Recent efforts have seemed impossibly evolved from the early, pathetic attempts of developers who clearly knew nothing about the sport. Still, that progress notwithstanding, we never knew it could be like this.
“Winning Eleven 6” is the U.S. version of “Pro Evolution Soccer 2,” Europe’s best-selling video-game take on what they call football over there. (We have no idea what the numeral 6 in the title is supposed to refer to.) Considering how soccer-mad they are across the pond, this game’s popularity there should tell you something about its quality.
The excellence of “Winning Eleven,” however, is not immediately apparent when you start the game. Its menus are complex, confusing, inefficient and barely navigable. Just getting from the main menu to the playing field is a supreme challenge. If you were thinking about doing anything in between (and there are loads of options, if you can figure them out), you’re talking about a serious time commitment.
After kickoff, though, all the frustration fades away and gameplay is nothing short of sublime. You may struggle at first, but only because the limitations of other soccer video games are ingrained in your approach.
The artificial intelligence (of both your teammates and your opponents) is exceptional, the ball physics are flawless and the depth of moves available is nearly overwhelming. Your players can bend shots and passes, dribble at a variety of speeds, fake shots, passes and moves, execute through-passes, lobs and give-and-gos or just push the ball into open space (a basic soccer gambit largely ignored in other video game versions) for a teammate to run onto — all with the touch of a button.
There are 54 national teams and 40 fictional club teams, most of which feature made-up players. But everything is editable (including names, uniforms, player appearance and skill attributes) so you can re-create your favorite squad. The U.S. national team is made up of real players such as Kasey Keller, Claudio Reyna and Landon Donovan.
And, finally, we have a soccer title that keeps track of assists. What took so long?
System: PlayStation 2
Publisher: Capcom
Reviewer’s rating: C-
ESRB rating: Mature
Game type: Action
Kind of like: “Soul Reaver 2”
Best feature: Double-jumping and hovering in the air can be fun.
Worst feature: The atmosphere and story are weak.
The bottom line: The original “Devil May Cry” had an interesting story, cool characters and moves, and plenty of challenges.
“Devil May Cry 2” has the main character, Dante. And that’s about the only thing carried over.
In “Cry 2,” you control one of two sword-wielding demon hunters, each of whom can transform into a diabolical monster. The second character, Lucia, isn’t different enough to improve the game.
The story revolves around slaying other demons who are troubling the earth. But unlike the first game, which spun a tale of Dante’s self-discovery in the midst of deadly challenges — and presented that tale compellingly — the second game tells what little story it has with uninspired cut scenes and dull menus.
Often, you’ll find yourself wandering an empty street, wishing for some sort of tension. The game is often too easy. Many enemies can be defeated simply by keeping away from them and using ranged weapons. The first game was much more challenging.
Both games give a “style rating” based on what moves the player uses while fighting. It’s less clear in the sequel, however, what to do to get a good rating, and it often feels random. And when the levels themselves have no style, “playing for style” can feel like you’re giving more than you’re getting.
System: Microsoft Xbox
Publisher: Ubi Soft
Reviewer’s rating: A+
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Action
Kind of like: “Metal Gear Solid”
Best feature: Environmental effects serve the game design. For example, you can be standing in front of an enemy but he can’t see you if you’re in the shadows.
Worst feature: The realization that the game will end at some point. Oh wait, in a couple of months you’ll be able to download new missions through Xbox Live. Nevermind.
The bottom line: A few years ago Konami released “Metal Gear Solid” on the original PlayStation. The stealth-based action game was a huge hit and spawned a sequel. Ubi Soft’s “Splinter Cell” takes some of the concepts of that series and makes them better.
For one, the gameplay is more open-ended. There are many ways to advance through a level, the coolest of which don’t involve killing anyone.
Also, this Tom Clancy game has a more realistic story. You play NSA operative Sam Fisher. He has a license to kill and acts as a one-man crew in his attempt to stop World War III. We won’t ruin it for you.
The game interface is very clever. Through the use of Sam’s Palm Pilot you can keep track of objectives and notes such as the passcode for that electronic lock.
But the little details make this game one of the greats. Want to distract a guard? Grab an old bottle from that rubble pile and roll it where you want the guard to go.
We could go on and on about the game’s graphics. That wouldn’t do justice to some of the photo-realistic textures and lighting effects. They truly must be seen to be believed. If you own an Xbox, this game should be in your collection.
System: Nintendo GameCube
Publisher: Capcom
Reviewer’s rating: B
Game type: Survival Horror
Kind of like: “Resident Evil”
Best feature: Awe-inspiring audiovisuals, some series innovations.
Worst feature: Control pales in comparison to almost any GameCube game.
The bottom line: Capcom continues their exclusive support of the GameCube platform with the newest installment in the “Resident Evil” mythos. This prequel takes place before the events of “RE1,” and explains many of its unanswered questions. Fans of the zombie-infested series will appreciate the addition of some disgusting new monsters, some new principal characters and a new location (in and around a creepy train). Innovations include a much fairer inventory system and two-character-at-once gameplay.
“RE0” doesn’t stray far from its roots, though. In- game descriptions and cutscenes range from horrifying to hilarious. Puzzles remain as unlikely as ever. Unfortunately, the unimproved late-‘90s control scheme seems downright antiquated — GameCube’s “Eternal Darkness” and “Metroid Prime” have proven that tense games can be intuitive without sacrificing thrills. Controlling “RE0’s” characters could almost be termed a chore. My primary enticements to continue were the excellent graphics and sound effects. A lesser game with “RE0’s” control scheme would have been abandoned in frustration.
For those not bothered by the control, “RE0” is a fine game in its own right, offering a generous two discs’ worth of dread.
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Sony
Reviewer’s rating: A-
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Platform adventure
Kind of like: “Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy”
Best feature: Countless inventive weapons keep gameplay from getting stale.
Worst feature: It’s not exactly a novel concept, but that’s nitpicking.
The bottom line: Other game developers could learn a lesson or two from Insomniac. They do games right.
With a little imagination and a lot of attention to detail, they breathe new life into a tired, old genre (the platform game) with ” Ratchet & Clank.”
We’re not surprised. They did the same thing with their charming “Spyro the Dragon” series.
This time, they just did it a little better.
Ratchet is a furry, mechanically inclined, intergalactic critter with a robot sidekick (Clank) and an unlikely interest in saving the galaxy from the evil Chairman Drek.
Controlling Ratchet (and, occasionally, Clank), players explore a series of vast, lush planets rendered in colorful 3-D. Levels are expertly designed, as if the Insomniac gang has actually played — and learned from the mistakes of — previous platformers. The balance of combat, puzzles and pure exploration is just right; there’s plenty of variety from one planet to the next; the controls are as surprising for their ease-of-use as they are for their depth; and there’s rarely if ever any backtracking.
As with all platformers, you’ll spend plenty of time gathering items. Where Mario had coins and Spyro had gems, Ratchet collects nuts and bolts. But instead of simply boosting your score, they can be exchanged at any Gadgetron kiosk for new weapons (our favorite is the Suck Cannon), ammunition and other upgrades.
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Reviewer’s rating: A-
ESRB rating: Mature
Game type: Action/adventure
Kind of like: ” Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)
Best feature: You can listen to nine different radio stations while driving, each featuring hours upon hours of ‘80s favorites (everything from hair metal to new wave).
Worst feature: The game’s mature theme (violent crime) isn’t for everyone.
The bottom line: “GTA III” was a revolutionary title, an impossibly seamless integration of nearly every game genre in existence (racing, fighting, shooting, role-playing and strategy) balanced perfectly between linear exposition and open-ended exploration. Despite its unrivaled depth, the game oozed effortless style, dropping the jaws of hard-core and casual gamers alike.
So if its sequel is just more of the same ... so what?
“Vice City” plays like a heavily tricked-out version of its predecessor. You still take the role of a small-time crook looking to make a name for yourself in a sprawling, corrupt metropolis. This one’s set in the 1980s in a glamorous South Florida beach city (think “Miami Vice”). Gameplay is primarily mission-based: You do dirty work for the city’s major players (mostly drug barons and mob bosses) to build up your finances. Missions range in difficulty from simply playing chauffeur to blowing up a construction site by dropping bombs from a hijacked helicopter.
Vice City is less populated than Liberty City (from “GTA III”), but there are at least as many cops and they’re more tenacious than ever. The police swarm after you and constantly shoot out the tires on your vehicle.
The “GTA” series, of course, takes its name from the driving aspect of the game. There are countless car models to steal and speed around in. Each vehicle has its own unique physics, and they’ve added motorbikes, boats, seaplanes and helicopters.
Side missions are still included if you steal a cab, ambulance, fire truck, police cruiser or (this one’s new) pizza delivery moped.
Unlike previous installments, you eventually get powerful enough to start running your own missions instead of doing odd jobs for other kingpins. Key to this is the ability to purchase property around town. You’ll buy a cab company, film studio, strip club and car dealership, all of which keep the cash flowing for your more illicit projects.
System: Nintendo GameCube
Publisher: Nintendo
Reviewer’s rating: A+
Game type: Solo exploration/adventure
Kind of like: “Super Metroid,” but in 3-D
Best feature: Masterful continuance of the “Metroid” series’ gameplay, design and spirit.
Worst feature: Occasional low-res textures.
The bottom line: “Metroid” games have enjoyed a rabid following since the NES launch title, the Game Boy sequel and the peerless 1993 Super Nintendo epic. Die-hard fans doubted the wisdom of reviving the long-dormant series in 3-D, but Nintendo and Retro Studios knew what they were doing.
All of the claustrophobic tunnels and expansive vistas of a new planet are yours to explore, this time in jaw-dropping first-person point-of-view from behind bounty hunter Samus Aran’s faceplate. This new perspective could have ruined Metroid’s trademark feel, but completely preserves the balance of isolation, awe and terror.
The artistic and technical quality of “Metroid Prime” makes other games look rushed, choppy and feeble. So varied are the tunnels, canyons, grottoes and ruins of planet Tallon IV, and so branched are its pathways, that the illusion of “being there” is total.
The player can either blaze ahead toward glory or investigate every element of the meticulously crafted environments. There are no load times, speeches or expository cut-scenes to interrupt the action — the story is almost optional, largely learned when inspecting objects with Samus’ scan visor. She can lock onto threats with the combat visor, or perceive the invisible with the thermal or X-ray visors.
Though searching for items and infiltrating an alien planet rife with enemies might seem straightforward, Tallon IV’s layout is anything but, and you’ll look forward to revisiting areas after acquiring tools that will allow you to explore fully. The scope of the game is enormous, and there are so many secrets (all benefiting Samus’ power suit) that replay value is exceptional almost to the point of inevitable.
“Metroid Prime” takes a beloved series to new levels of immersion. This is a system-showcasing, must-have GameCube title and arguably the finest video gaming experience available to date.
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Also available for: Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, Windows PC
Publisher: EA Sports
Reviewer’s rating: B+
ESRB rating: Everyone
Game type: Hockey
Kind of like: ” NHL 2002,” of course.
Best feature: After scaling its steep learning curve, the new “dynamic dekes” feature lets you perform signature moves such as Fredrik Modin’s toe-drag and recreate plays such as the sweet backhand move Vinny Lecavalier used to undress St. Louis goalie Fred Brathwaite last year.
Worst feature: Online support (for the PS2 version) would’ve been nice. And how many years is it going to be before we can ice a team of NHL legends?
The bottom line: Tired of watching the Lightning flounder through season after season with one of the league’s lowest payrolls? EA Sports feels your pain.
“NHL 2003” gives you the chance to take control of the Bolts (or the Red Wings, for you front-runners) and help them make a run at Lord Stanley’s Cup.
It won’t be easy, of course. But it won’t hurt your chances to use the game’s excellent create-a-player feature to add rookie pivot Alexander Svitov to the Lightning roster. And you might consider dipping into the free agent market or pulling the trigger on a trade to bring in an impact player.
(Or, in the interest of realism, you could just pretend you’re Lightning GM Jay Feaster and give players away for nothing. What fun!)
Of course, what happens on the ice is all that really matters and ” NHL 2003’s” gameplay rocks harder than a Jassen Cullimore hip-check into the boards.
The game’s puck physics seem to get better every year, and in this year’s version it reacts just as you’d expect in real life, whether it’s bouncing off the boards, ringing off the goal-post or skidding across the ice after a saucer pass.
Everything from the speed of the clock to the elasticity of the puck is customizable, so players can perform surgery on ” NHL 2003” until its gameplay suits their fancy.
Goaltenders are better than ever, with improved artificial intelligence (they always know when to play the puck and — more importantly — when not to) and individual styles of play. For example, Colorado’s Patrick Roy plays a textbook butterfly style while New York’s Mike Richter plays a classic stand-up style.
There’s also a “game breaker” meter you can fill up by performing “dynamic dekes.” Once it’s full, you’re “in the zone,” and your surroundings (including opposing players) temporarily move in slow motion giving you a clear advantage.
It’s a dramatic effect that works in conjunction with nice visual touches (ice spray, glass-shattering checks) and exceptional audio (on-ice sounds, PA announcers, roaring crowds) to make you feel like you’re right there at the Ice Palace.
Or, uhhh, whatever they’re calling it these days.
System: Nintendo GameCube
Also available for: Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Acclaim
Reviewer’s rating: C-
ESRB rating: Mature
Game type: First-person shooter
Kind of like: Earlier “Turok” games
Best feature: The usual over-the-top “Turok” weaponry.
Worst feature: Not-really-customizable controls; horrid load times.
The bottom line: “Turok: Evolution” showed great promise in early screen shots, but to this reviewer, the final disc plays more like a late-level test version.
From the very first level, frame-rate issues and foliage pixelation threaten “Turok’s” claim as a next-generation game, and what looks like an expansive jungle area is quickly revealed as a narrow path that funnels the player forward. From that realization on, continual disappointments threaten enjoyment of the experience. The load times for each level are almost comical in their excess.
Intended improvements to the “Turok” legacy are uneven. What could have been an entertaining air mission on a pterodactyl (with machine guns, no doubt!) proves somewhat unforgiving and arbitrary, with poor control and none of the majestic feeling one would expect from such a ride.
The on-foot levels combine jungle, mountain and stronghold locales, and enemies display some (inconsistent) AI, but it all feels a little tired and under-finessed compared to the exceptional control, story lines and graphics of some other new GameCube titles.
There are enough fine moments, though, to justify “Turok: Evolution” as an extended rental for those in the mood for dino-warfare.
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Sony
Reviewer’s rating: A-
ESRB rating: Mature
Game type: Action/adventure
Kind of like: “Counter-Strike” (online multiplayer), “Medal of Honor: Allied Assault” (offline single-player)
Best feature: Players scattered around the globe can go online and issue in-game commands, warnings and/or verbal abuse using the microphone headset (included).
Worst feature: The PS2 controller is functional though hardly ideal for a shooter of this type. And the artificial intelligence of enemies and teammates in single-player mode ranges from sack-of-hammers all the way up to box-of-rocks.
The bottom line: See that ESRB rating up there? The one that says “Mature”? Do you know what that means? Simply put, it means you shouldn’t purchase “SOCOM” for your kids. It’s bloody, it’s violent and when you take it online, you’re exposed to language that would make George Carlin blush. (Adults say the darnedest things.)
That said, “SOCOM” is also surprisingly deep, beautifully detailed and insanely addictive.
“Deathmatch” has been a long time coming to the world of video game consoles. (“Quake III” and “Unreal Tournament” on the Dreamcast notwithstanding.) The last-man-standing dynamic so popular with PC gamers takes center stage here, despite a worthy single-player offline mode. Using a PS2 equipped with the recently released network adapter ($39.99), players can get on the ‘Net and join up to 15 others in a frenzied kill-or-be-killed bloodbath.
Other online modes include extraction (rescue hostages from the enemy) and demolition (bomb the enemy’s base). The game’s 10 varied battlegrounds, impressive arsenal of weapons (knives, handguns, rifles, explosives) and an ever-evolving cast of teammates (to say nothing of personal grudges against particular enemies) all conspire to keep you from getting to bed at a reasonable hour.
Single-player missions are challenging without being impossible. They rely heavily on stealth and generally involve things like “securing” a building or area (killing all the enemies), rescuing hostages, defusing bombs and retrieving intelligence. You’re joined by three computer-controlled teammates who alternate between saving your butt and seeming like a ball-and-chain.
Fortunately, using voice-recognition technology, you can always order them to go hide in the shadows and stay put until you need ‘em.
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PSOne, Game Boy Advance, Windows PC
ESRB rating: Everyone
No. of players: 1-8 (1-4 on Windows, Xbox, GameCube and Game Boy Advance)
Cost: $29.95-$49.95
Online?: PlayStation 2 and Windows only
The good: Everyone knows by now that Madden don’t make no junk. Now in its 13th year, “Madden” keeps upping the ante even as its competitors (most notably, “NFL 2K3”) gain ground.
Its franchise mode is arguably the best around. Its play editor makes others seem pedestrian by comparison. Its new minicamp mode (a series of minigames designed to teach you the finer points of “Madden”) is like the video game equivalent of crack cocaine — you simply cannot stop.
“Madden’s” online component is as good as you’d expect, and the addition of Al Michaels “in the booth” makes you realize how preposterously bad Pat Summerall was. Who knew?
Oh, and Lesley Visser’s gone, too. Hello, Melissa Stark!
The bad: Our only gripe about “Madden” is that it’s too damn hard to run the ball effectively against the computer. Well, that and the soundtrack, which plays that annoying Andrew W.K. song (he’s only got the one, right?) over and over ad infinitum.
The bottom line: “Madden’s” incredible depth, variety of gameplay modes and attention to detail make it a great choice for anyone (particularly solo gamers) looking for a realistic simulation of NFL football.
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