Alien Breed Evolution: Episode One Review
Space doubt.
Version tested: Xbox 360
Retro revamps can be a harrowing business. For every Pac-Man Championship Edition there's an Alien Syndrome, and a Golden Axe: Beast Rider, and a Final Fight: Streetwise, usually in those distressing proportions.
The problem is down to the approach. Developers often find themselves caught between two stools, on the one hand trying to retain the essence of what made the original so appealing, while also trying to update it to appeal to modern gamers. They routinely end up failing at both.
Team 17's long-overdue Alien Breed reboot initially takes a no-nonsense approach, avoiding the temptation to tinker too much with the old top-down shooter formula. This 'Evolution' lives up to its title, with most of its central gameplay principles retained, and a suitably lavish, atmospheric setting provided for the alien carnage.
As tends to be the case with any Alien-inspired sci-fi romp, you spend the entirety of the adventure aboard a stricken vessel, wandering its darkened corridors by torchlight with only the omnipresent threat of face-huggers and insectoid Maulers bursting forth at any moment for company. Introduced via a series of stylish comic frames, the game reveals that your spacecraft collided with a much larger ghost ship during hyperspace, and now half the structure is either on fire or in bits.

Mmm, flame-grilled alien.
Much like the classic Amiga original (itself heavily inspired by top-down eighties arcade games like Alien Syndrome, Robotron and Smash TV), you spend most of your time fending off a relentless assault of aggressive aliens while also trying to hunt down keycards, and rebooting generators and mainframe terminals.
Team 17 has done a fantastic job of delivering the requisite moody atmosphere, the crumbling remnants of the ship awash with delightful incidental detail like gigantic throbbing generators visible beneath the metal gantries. Built with Unreal Engine 3, excellent lighting and particle effects add conviction to an already highly impressive spectacle, and few will have complaints about the overall artistic direction.
The multidirectional combat system is slick and intuitive from the off, too, easily allowing you to move and fire independently. With basic movement (and flashlight direction) mapped to the left stick and shot direction on the right, you're afforded a satisfying degree of precision - aided in part by the red laser sight that points the way.

Play alien pinball with this bouncy laser rifle.
Enemies often erupt in waves from all sides, so the ability to whip around instantly and take care of new targets is a life-saver. In this sense, the new two-stick controls are a vast improvement on the original, and ensure that the gunplay remains enjoyable throughout the four-hour, five-chapter single-player campaign.
The campaign has been expanded far beyond the scope of the original Alien Breeds, and you'll soon spot a few modern concessions, such as save stations where you can store your progress, and a noticeably more forgiving difficulty curve which ensures that progressing right through the game shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
That said, the decision to leave saving progress up to the player means that you have to be mindful to take advantage whenever save stations appear - lest you get caught off-guard by a sudden ambush and lose 20 minutes of painstaking progress. It does at least ensure a much-needed degree of tension at all times, but the potential for frustration is obvious.
Rather than go for a direct rehash of the original top-down viewpoint, Alien Breed Evolution also opts for an isometric-style approach, with the useful ability to rotate the viewpoint in eight increments via LB and RB. But despite the game occasionally zooming into the action at predefined sections, you can't fiddle with the perspective yourself.
Presumably a stylistic choice, this means the camera sometimes gets a bit too close for its own good, with enemies liable to launch attacks off-screen. The issue is especially relevant in co-op, where the limited freedom of movement often forces you to stay in very close proximity to avoid getting trapped against scenery while your partner wanders off.
One of the more curious decisions is to separate single-player and from that co-op mode. At first this feels like a great idea, but the single-player game would also have benefitted from an optional co-op partner - even if meant breaking the narrative arc. Breed veterans would probably agree that the game was always best played with a buddy, so to force players into riding solo for the bulk of it runs counter to what many players - myself included - would have preferred.
This perhaps wouldn't have been such an issue were the co-op mode itself not such a throwaway exercise. There's rarely enough loot to go around, as it's shared between you, and the gameplay balance is thrown out of whack the moment you realise that death means respawning a few seconds later complete with the default weapons loadout and ammo. It's often beneficial to die so you can resume better equipped than before. With no real need to tread carefully, co-op play quickly descends into a monotonous trudge.

Why didn't they just use the doors?
Unfortunately, some of the same issues apply to the single-player campaign as well, with a singular lack of variety apparent throughout. The game punctuates the combat with a series of fetch quests, and removes the explorational element by getting you to follow waypoints on the mini-map. But as faithful to the originals as this probably sounds (apart from the waypoints), it doesn't scale particularly well over the course or four or five hours.
Played over any kind of extended period, the repetition starts to numb, and minor failures via careless save-game management make you angry. On that basis, Alien Breed Evolution is one of the few Xbox Live Arcade games best savoured one chapter at a time over a week or two, rather than consumed with fervour all at once, and indeed when I started playing it that way I had a lot more fun.
Alien Breed Evolution really could have benefitted from a more progressive design, too. Having nailed the controls and delivered a lavish audio-visual makeover, it then proceeds to give you little more to do than chase waypoints, activate panels and shoot half a dozen types of aliens with the usual array of sci-fi weaponry. Apart from a memorable chase sequence in the early stages, the game waits right until the very end before unleashing another surprise. In between, you're essentially just killing a truckload of aliens and rebooting machines.

Placing sentry guns on power points lets the ship take the strain.
Had the game perhaps taken a leaf out of Dead Space's book and made the weapons and upgrades integral to the combat, then the issue of repetition would be less of a problem. As it is, there's no real sense that the gameplay moves on from the basic blasting and keycard-hunting that you see in the first 20 minutes, and that initial relief that Team 17 hasn't meddled with the formula eventually gives way to the realisation that, in 2009, this back-to-basics approach isn't enough to carry you for the length of time it demands.
On the face of it, Alien Breed Evolution offers everything that fans of the 16-bit incarnations could wish for, with strong production values and focused design contributing to a sympathetic update that stays true to the source material. But sadly, a flawed approach to co-op play and an inherent lack of variety ultimately count against it. With two more instalments to come, we can only hope there's time for Team 17 to build on the many positive elements in this first episode.
7 / 10
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Comments (125) Latest comment 2 years ago
Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!
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Don't know anyone on my friends list thoguh that will get this game.
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Given the huge torrent of awesome games coming out soon I don't know if I really fancy it for the SP alone...
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Given the huge torrent of awesome games coming out soon I don't know if I really fancy it for the single player alone...
Shame.
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Expecting negative feedback for Mario-bashing here, obviously.
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It has been announced as 800 for this episode.
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Was hoping for more of an RPG slant too
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At the core of Alien Breed, is the 90's 16 bit game, which was as advanced and varied as a game could be at that time. All they've done is expand the original game as much as they could, without changing it into something else.
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edit: I'd somehow missed the part about co-op being separate, who the hell thought that was a good idea?! If we can have two Master Chiefs in Halo (which does crap on the narrative in that game, but it doesn't matter) then I can't see a reason (other than technical, which I find a little hard to believe) why they're taken the route they have with it in this.
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@ Darkmorgado - "A relentless top-down shooter sounds like it could get a bit samey after a while, especially if, as the review implies, there are only half a dozen enemy types during the whole campaign."
Um, thats pretty much how the original Alien Breeds were. The fun came in the relentless combat, exploration, and atmospheric level design.
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Must get still perhaps.
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Happens pretty much every Wed morning on XBLA - the content goes up on time (9 am I think) but the links in New Releases etc appear later. Usually fixed by the end of the day.
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Hurry up T17!
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Will be buying on the Marketplace website later today...!
Edit 1: how on Earth is a 7 a scathing review?
Edit 2: if it is 1200 points, it'll have to wait till after Xmas
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[link url= http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/a/alienbreedevoxbla/
]http://ww w.xbox.com/en-US/games/a/alienb...[/link]
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Um, you don't need a Gold sub to buy XBLA games.
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Well, basically because it's a 5/10 review with a 7 on the end to keep the publishers happy.
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What do we lose by playing co-op? Is it the same levels minus the story sections, or is it a different game altogether?
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Two quick questions!
1) Any chance of main campaign co-op (local at least if not Live) in DLC or future episodes?
2) Are the achievements easy?
Cheers!
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Put your glasses on old fella and read the rest of the very sentence you quoted
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I just downloaded and played the demo direct from my xbox and its definetly listed as 1200 points. I live in netherlands. I can't see it on xbox.com yet.
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I'll wait till they sort that out before buying, but it is a defo purchase!
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As for the review, the great thing about XBLA is that the trial is there and people can happily judge for themselves. I'm too old and battle-hardened to get embroiled in review arguments any more. Worms got 6 on here and is one of the best selling XBLA titles, as an example, so I don't feel they're terribly important on our digital titles, its user rating and download to purchase conversions that matter for us.
We're just a bit miffed that the price has been cocked up and it's unfortunately not something we can fix ourselves, so you can imagine the phone/mail fervor that's going on right now.
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Title incorrectly priced on launch.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Team17 have received early reports that the pricing of ALIEN BREED EVOLUTION (Episode 1) released today for Xbox Live Arcade is at 1200 Microsoft Points. This is an error outside our immediate control.
Team17 would like to state that the correct price is just 800 Microsoft Points and this will be rectified as soon as possible.
The listing on Xbox.com stipulates the correct price:
http://ww w.xbox.com/en-US/games/a/alienb...
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You've lost me. I quoted the entire sentence, there is no "rest of" it.
I believe what people were pointing out is that the REVIEW is scathing, while the mark isn't. Hence, "scathing review", not "scathing score". If you took the number off the end are guessed at the score just by reading the words, my bet is most people would read it as a 5.
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It hasn't shown up on Live =(
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I don't think the review is scathing though - the first page seems pretty gushing, the second page criticises repetition and the co-op mode. Reads like a 6 or 7, which it got - which is a good score IMO.
Anyway, never mind. Still gonna be buying it when MS sorts out the price
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]http://ma rketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/...[/link]
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However, we've been told that the price issue is being resolved as I type.
@Hobo, I checked that earlier and it was 800pts... it should be all sorted within the hour. FFS
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<a href="http://twitter.com/Acey Bongos">
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eh? what about the "....so I need to wait for the PC to play co-op." bit at the end? Read this chart for me please Rev..
SHOULD
HAVE
GONE
TO
SPECSAVERS
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Whoops, confused your post with BriteSparc's. I do need to go to Specsavers.
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If so then that's much better value IMO and makes the game a more attractive purchase. I may even buy it myself if I like the demo.
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This is exactly the reason why I hate the points system. I only have 1000 points and wanted to play the full episode TODAY.
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Our apologies, but it was a mistake at Microsoft's dashboard team.
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Suggest you read the other posts first matey, the problem is explained ^^
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Give the person who made the decision on co-op a slap for us, please!
As for Worms, that was great on XBLA. Loved it, and have completed all-but-one Challenge levels.
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I'd suggest the Alien Shooter games then (fairly cheap on Steam IIRC).
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All right, played ther trial...and calmed down a bit. Blasting some nasty aliens definitely helped
Haven't read the review yet but I enjoyed the trial A LOT. Alien Breed is back and it plays and looks just marvelous. I'll buy it as soon as they fix the price.
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Narrative... Halo's co-op was much praised in the day, no-one cared that there were two Spartans running around when it was said several times that MC was the last one
Co-op through the campaign *is* a selling point for me with games, I'm sure it is for many people here.
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Leave now...
Where are these fucktards coming from ? N4G ? Christ...
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You could argue that the original Alien Breed had a lack of variety too. It didn't stop me playing the game to death. This has the exact same feeling, so 9/10 and 50 bananas from me.
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Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.
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C'mon , all this speculation is getting out of hand , we're talking about a company here , not an indy shop owned by some random hack.
PSN has cocked-up on the price thing a couple of times too ,it was no biggie though , you just had to wait a couple of hours until everything got fixed
Still , i do agree that this kind of shit shouldn't happen , so...
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Oh please shut up. They'll refund the early purchasers like they have every other pricing error there's been.
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Well, speculations or not you have to admit that it's kinda funny that after telling everybody and their dog "Look! It's just 800 points!" they suddenly forget about it themselves. Especially because such "mistakes" always happen to the most popular releases...
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as per the original Alien breed, or are they insect like thingys the whole way through?
I'm guessing maybe Fox don't take kindly to the H R Geiger type baddie....but it'd be a shame if they're not there as that was one of the cool things about the original...aliens without the liscence!
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Guess, they're more like the ones in Starship Troopers now...though the big things in the trial reminded me of the "potato-creatures" from the Invasion from Mars remake
Besides, why going for Giger-type aliens when there's another AVP game around the corner?
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It was Team 17 that promised the 800msp price, not Microsoft. And it was Microsoft that made the pricing cockup, not Team 17.
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just wondering really....i like the trial, very much, so it's not the end of the world if it doesn't feature some things that just so happen to look like face huggers and aliens...but i do find em scary, so it'd be cool if they do turn up (perhaps they could be known as 'leg huggers' and 'zenomorphs' or something, to get round the legal shite)...the insects, all well and good, but they don't make my spine a shiver
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Re: Worms fixes, there was a major update for XBLA recently, if you have issues, please report them - [link url=http://www.fac ebook.com/team17software
]http://www.fac ebook.com/team17software
[/link]
We'd be happy to read comments, feedback and stuff if people wish to post on the facebook page. We can't promise to fix/add things but we'll certainly read them.
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Oh please shut up. They'll refund the early purchasers like they have every other pricing error there's been.
But then there's no big conspiracy theory and that's no fun.
Unless... wait I got one, Microsoft - sorry, I mean Micro$oft - will take those extra points and play the money markets with them. They'll make billions then refund shoddily made second-rate Microsoft - dammit, Micro$oft, ok... I got it, Micro$oft - Points onto your accounts!
These Micro$oft (hah! in your face 's' key!) Points don't work properly, they don't come with a proper guarantee and violate European laws against the importing of non-EU electrons into Europe without a Class 4 Electron Importer Licence!
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This alone puts me off completely. I'm so tired of following waypoints in minimaps. Let me be lost in my game already.
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Good coop would have sold me.
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I'm going to put it down to me having a bad day and try it again tomorrow.
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They'd have to have taken advantage of coop over Xbox Live, and offered drop in drop out coop that meant something, to make it a definite purchase. Playing with friends online is what it's all about - and that's why the original game was so good. For me that's why I'll be rebuying Serious Sam for the nth time, that's why I already bought Team 17's Worms XBLA games, and I'm disappointed that I won't be buying Alien Breed XBLA.
Sidepoint: who goes through these comments pages downvoting anyone who says they're not buying it? Too much time on their hands, much?
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Also I never played the original but this seems worlds different, the people with their rose tinted specs on may get a surprise when they actually play it.
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Spadge, probably.
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Well then don't purchase, and wait however long it will be for Microsoft to offer it as a deal of the week. Same principal.
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Says on Live when you're buying that refunds aren't available. So as eloquently as possible...fuck off.
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However, like Retroid, I do wish that your team reconsiders the whole co-op scenario and introduces it (even in a less shiny way) to the campaign...
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After reading this I would have preferred a straight port of AB 1, 2 and Tower Assault
-edit- Okay maybe not a straight port as I still own all of the above. But it does seem a step back when the Amiga could do it
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When was the last time you saw MS discount within 3 months of release?
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Yeah, I can't figure out why I got negative votes just because I said I was going to wait for a price drop.
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will carry on though
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[facepalm]
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I suppose I could hold onto the insane hope that these problems are remedied in the PC or PS3 releases and perhaps in a patch or later instalment for the 360 guys but this is very, very unlikely so I think I'll just get something else when they finally get round to releasing it on the platforms I use.
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Not my problem. With sales in the shops, you live in hope that the game you might want will be featured. Same here.
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I applaud Team 17 for remaking the classic, I just wish it was closer to a carbon copy, because that to me would be worth more than the new one they've made.
Either way, it's still better than plenty of other nonsense that you could buy for 800 points and ambitious remakes of legendary games like this do deserve support.
Now spadge, about that Project X remake.. can you leave it just the same please + another 50 levels of insane carnage?
Thank you and everyone else at Team 17 (mostly for the Amiga times and a little bit for remaking Alien Breed)
Edit: oh yes and waypoints = suckage, let us get pissed off at walking around in circles trying to find our way around, getting frustrated by the endless spawn noises of our alien foes and alarmed by the rapid depreciation of our limited ammunition supply.
Not everything has to be remade into easymode for todays retarded gaming community.
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/sad I know, but all the talk of the originals makes me want to play them again; and then lament at how bad I am and how hard Tower Assualt is.
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From what I've played, you do get punished for the co-op! Dying affects your score for the level, the more you die the less you score, plus you're not re-equiped with ammo when you do die. I've found the co-op to be fun, still I am sure you've tried it to make an informed opinion on it
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I haven't tried it yet, I was referring to the review. Thanks for your opinion though, I guess I will check it out during the holidays. Alien Breed used to be one of my favorite games back in the 90s, together with speedball2 and chaos engine. Damn, I hope they bring chaos engine to xbla, too.
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The campaign is single player only. There is 2 player co-op on different, specially designed maps.
I have just completed the first SP level on medium difficulty, picked up 3 achievements, and I must say I enjoyed it a lot.
For those who complain about waypoints making it too easy, I should say that exploration is essential anyway otherwise you will soon run out of ammo, health packs etc. The waypoints simply stop you getting lost. Ditto the automap.
Also, thank goodness the aliens don't spawn continually any more. Occasional , limited spawns are much better for pacing, and survivability. I loved Tower Assault but it was just impossible to get very far in single player. Difficulty in ABE is much more forgiving, and so you can play more of the game.
I didn't find the save point system a problem, once I realised you can find the savepoints on the map.
I'm looking forward to trying the co-op later on.
All in all, 800 points well spent. If you think it's overpriced I suggest you see what other games you can get for the price. Feeding Frenzy anyone?
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