| Reviewer's comments |
"This is a fast-paced shooter and one of those levels preceded by their notoriety, so you may approach it with apprehension. This is only reinforced if you look at the readme and find yourself informed that there are no extra medipacks to be found in this level (actually there is one, but you won’t be able to take it with you). Obviously, this kind of thing predisposes players to preserve their health as much as possible from the outset, which may lead to terribly repetitive and thus terminally boring gameplay (as Dimpf’s review vividly illustrates). I wasn’t going to have any of this, so I approached the level as I would any other—watching my health, sure, but reloading only when I got killed. Much to my surprise, this happened but once as far as I recall (due to a sentry gun placed around a corner in a narrow corridor; you need to sprint past it in order to avoid being fried). I’ll frankly admit that I also saved and reloaded in order to erase the locusts on the two occasions when they were triggered, because I don’t deal in that kind of nonsense.
Some health loss is unavoidable anyway, which shouldn’t come as a surprise in a level like this. You’re immediately under fire when the level starts, and you don’t know from where; later, there are several occasions on which you can’t avoid drawing fire from sentry guns. The SAS can occasionally be killed from a distance, but more often you have to engage them in close combat, so you need to be quick on your toes. A few are triggered unfairly in your back, but that’s made up for to some extent by those who launch (harmless) grenades at you. In addition to combat, the level presents you with an underwater maze, but you get to see a map of it before you have to take the plunge. An Examine item would have worked better than a texture on a wall, but that was not an option in a level as early as this. (At the end of the maze, I pulled up through a closed trapdoor. Was I supposed to open it? This buggy trapdoor was used on one other occasion.) Otherwise, it’s pretty much exclusively lever–door action. One lever triggers not a door, but a dynamite flipmap (because there’s one in TR1, 2 and 3, I guess), but it fails to impress—it’s too random, there’s no build-up, and it goes ‘poof’.
I used the revolver only once (on the only sentry gun that the builder allows you to blow up), with the intention of saving its ammo for the all-out, last-man-standing final battle that I was sure the level was leading up to. This, however, never happened. What happens instead is that you get to run over a gang of four SAS with the motorbike, which was nice in its way; but the ending is abrupt and ultimately unsatisfying. The motorbike is underused, as it’s only required to get through a nearby Smashable Bike Wall, and I got to run over only one of the two SAS behind it before I hit the finish trigger. Otherwise I used only pistols and at the end, still had my big medipack. I never acquired the shotgun or the Uzis, nor did I find any of the apparently three secrets, so I suppose they’re well hidden—quite a feat, seeing how the map is constructed rather simplistically, consisting mostly of bare and boxy rooms (sometimes connected by wafer-thin walls) which on the face of it don’t offer all that many opportunities to hide things. The custom textures don’t do much to enhance the looks of the level, in fact they make it look blander than the regular City TGA would have. As it is, we get an unconvincing hybrid of Old Cairo (wad, some textures) and some nondescript modern city (most of the TGA). The awnings in the initial area work fine, though." - Mulf (28-Feb-2022) |
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| "This level is a refreshing difference to the other TRLE levels that were released in the
same year. A step away from Egypt and welcome to the first TRLE release to be in a city.
This is a shoot-em-up type of level with a few main areas and literally no medipacks.
Survive a torrent of enemy's and automatic guns that eat away at your health bar and hope
you can make it to the end! at one point in the latter stages of the level I nearly gave up
when seeing 4 automatic guns in the area and no medipacks left! Luckily soon after we are
greeted with a nice bike in which to run down all of the last enemy's and let Lara escape
the city. Textures, lighting and atmosphere could be a bit better but overall a fun level!" - ColeMoles (19-Feb-2022) |
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| "OH MY GOSH! A very fast pace level with tons of enemies to
shoot. I must admit I don't like shooting genres, but I do
like this level! The gameplay was fun, Enemies were WHOA!
No need to say anything actually. Atmosphere was perfectly
setup for a deathtrap city, but no cameras got involved
with the gameplay. Lighting and textures were proper, they
completely suited a city level. Recommended! Thank you." - Mehrbod (07-Aug-2018) |
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| "A considerably difficult level for those seeking extra thrills. Those bits,however,come almost exclusively from shooting guards or avoiding sentries. Lara must keep track of health meter as medpacks are non-existent. Exploration is hugely limited and becomes a chore rather quickly. Visually, level seems bland and lacks details, yet the author deserves some praise for creating a sense of loneliness and lingering threat. Another drawback for me was the placement of secrets. One is almost not reachable and bugged, while the other one takes needless effort and exposure to enemy fire. Raid it and be grateful that you're not the resident of that place;)" - PolishRaider (19-Apr-2018) |
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| "For an earlier level, this can be quite challenging yet
still entertaining at the same time. The secrets were well
hidden, especially the Uzis, and I thought the setting was
well done even though everything in this level is from the
City WAD. To get through and finish you have to make sure
to save regularly in regular slots and to conserve your
medipacks until you really need them. Overall I would
definitely recommend this if you want something a bit
harder than the average level." - Ejecta (04-Nov-2017) |
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| "I'm glad that I completed the challenge of survive in this
level full of sentry guns and guards with only 3 small
medipacks and a big one. I finished it using them all and with
a very little amount of health remaining. I thought I would
have to cheat somehow, but I was relieved to see the motorbike
and hear the track that accompained it. The city is nice and
textures are used well, others are repetitive though. The
underwater maze was easy to get through (thanks to the map).
If you're looking for a challenge then this is for you. 26
minutes." - alan (01-Jun-2017) |
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| "Another level where playing in god mode can make a huge difference. As others have noted, there's nary a spare medipack in sight, and with all the SAS (not to mention sentry guns) posted around virtually every corner, playing by the rules is a hazardous adventure. Moonpooka has provided a detailed walkthrough that documents all three secrets (although the second one is a bit unfair but can be easily managed via the flycheat). The most fun part is at the end, where you get on the motorbike and mow down a host of SAS on your way to a finish trigger that crashes the game to the desktop. A moderately pleasant diversion that lasts about 45 minutes." - Phil (23-Sep-2016) |
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| "It may be a little city, but it sure managed to
pack in a hell of a lot of guards. Lara is
pretty much under fire from the off, so the
best course of action is to seek shelter
immediately. Not many medipacks are provided,
so unless you are extremely cautious with your
health, you may not make it through.
Regrettably, I had to add extra medipacks,
weapons and ammo in order to survive the
onslaught. As you may have guessed from my
ranting, this is a shooter and a tough one at
that. The textures weren't well placed and
there were no puzzles. I can't recommend this
because of the imbalanced enemy/pickup ratio." - Ryan (01-Aug-2016) |
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| "Little city, many guards, no medipacks, or at least none that I found. This really is a bit of a shooter so managing to survive without additional medipacks is the challenge. Otherwise, the gameplay is very simple and straightforward. The atmosphere isn't bad, with the haunting City of the Dead audio in place, but it's not particularly solid vis a vis the building side of things, with sloppy textures and wafer thin walls all over the place. Not bad for an old level, but not great either. On the plus side, blowing up sentry guns and running over guards with the motorbike is always acceptable." - Jay (25-Mar-2014) |
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| "No much fun in this city level. Going from place to place pulling floor levers to open doors was what I found here. The rooms are very empty, with no objects or furniture, simple architecture, monotonous texturization, some paper walls... If you don't find the secrets all the ammo you pick up from the dead enemies is unuseful. The best were the help of the cameras to make your ride easier and the correct placement of the CD tracks." - Jose (10-Feb-2014) |
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| "Level with really nice textures and built and with awesome atmosphere but personally I didn't like gameplay much - there were too many enemies and no medipack around. It's good level for those who like shooter aspect of TR and like being challenged with keeping maximum health up without outside help like medipacks. Overall it's really good level but not my type of gameplay." - Casual Raider (17-Jul-2013) |
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| "Level based here on the old Tomb Raider 4 City Wad. It's mainly made up of outdoor spaces. The lighting and texturing is pretty good, but gets a little repetitive in places. There were a few wafer in thin walls as well which is the trade-mark of someone setting out for the first time with the editor.
The SAS soilders got a bit wearing towards then end I as kept a tight eye on my medic pack count, so it's not a walk in the park either, and there's one or two jumps that may require you to use your head.
Pretty good for such an early level release. Completed in 50 minutes" - TheStig (17-Dec-2009) |
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| "This level could have easily been made more enjoyable since it already has many good features. Texturing for example is pretty faultless and it's enhanced with some custom textures making the level more original than many other early levels which include only textures that came with the editor. Lighting isn't bad either despite it looks slightly bland at times and the atmosphere is good accompanied by well fitting audio tracks. However, gameplay is the category which in my opinion detracts from the quality because it's rather monotonous containing mainly opening doors by activating switches and jumping in between. Author included also a bike ride, underwater maze and some sentry guns to bring some variety to the gameplay but unfortunately it didn't help much to make gaming experience more interesting for me. The other downside which is already mentioned by most of other reviewers is the huge amount of enemies and lack of medipacks. This made me a bit nervous near the end of the game since I was out of medipacks and SAS enemies kept appearing regularly making the completion of the game quite tough. Excluding the few downsides this is not as bad level as it may sound especially when considering that it's one of the first levels ever released. Play it if you are in the mood for some challenging battles in a nice looking city environment." - Samu (21-Jul-2009) |
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| "Who stands on shooting levels in which one must shoot an army of SAS-Soldiers, thereby no single Medipack finds and can get by only with the pistols and later still with the revolver, is exactly right here. I was here out of place. Such shooting levels are not necessarily my thing. Now this should not be called which the level would be bad. Definitely not. But I do not like to get by almost without weapons. And so completely without additional Medipacks it is also dull because one must check constantly whether also no soldier is nearby. But anyway this is a respectable built shooting level. Playing time was about 30 minutes." - Scottie (22-Jun-2009) |
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| "A shooter level with a twist, namely no additional medipacks provided. But since the level can be completed without using a single one, it's not much of a problem, those you start with must be enough if you are careful and always keep your distance from the SAS soldiers to shoot them with minimum injury. The setting is very simplistic, lot of empty rooms with almost no decorative elements. Textures were okay but lighting is quite poor, too uniformly lit. There were some errors, you can go through the trapdoors without opening them, the three blue balls in a room didn't do anything, and the way to swim into the 2nd secret was plain unfair. Otherwise gameplay suites it's purpose, so if you like shoot'em up levels don't hesitate to give it a go." - Akcy (06-Oct-2007) |
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| "Though this level is over 6 years old, and apparently has received a lot of criticism from the day it was released, I actually found that I liked the experience quite a lot. Maybe partially, because I liked the TR4 Cairo levels, so this clicked with me immediately, but also because this presents such great quality already in the very early days of level building! Yes, so there are some bare areas, a texture problem here and there, over reliance on SAS battles and levers as means of progression, but it all worked well together, and even though there are no medipacks provided as far as I know (didn't find any of the secrets), it's not actually too hard to get through here if you watch your health. The custom textures give it a special charm, and the dynamite room's a definite highlight in this 20 to 30 minute level of the early days of level building. Well worth to play, especially, if just like me, you like Cairo inspired levels!" - eTux (07-Sep-2007) |
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| "This level was quite a challenge, especially since there aren't any safe medipacks to pick up. Fortunately, the ammunition pickups (including two secrets) make the skirmishes a little easier. Either Lara has been declared an outlaw or the city is under martial law and Lara violated the curfew. In any case, this little city is clearly inhospitable with its machine guns and its groups of SAS soldiers. There are also hordes of locusts that are out to get Lara. Aside from fighting SAS soldiers, gameplay consists of pulling levers, shooting blue balls and going through an underwater maze. The dynamite sequence/flipmap was interesting. I detected two paper-thin walls, but they don't mar the atmosphere of this level. Lara is rewarded with a motorcycle at the end." - Sakusha (04-Jun-2006) |
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| "Little city, big trouble! I was stuck for about half an hour in the first room alone lol. This was a hard one though, health is scarce and I mean scarce, I'm sure the only med pack to collect is actually the one in the trap room, how mean! And with tons of guards about, plus some sentry guns and locusts, you will, like me, have a hard time finishing without applying a cheat. Saying all that though, it was superb. I loved the rooms, areas, tricks and traps. I also think a lot of imagination went into this level. Of course it's a city environment where you'll explore the inner rooms of the buildings finding levers and opening doors, and behind most doors there's normally a nasty surprise. But the difficulty of saving health is the real challenge here, and one I very much enjoyed." - Moonpooka (20-Aug-2005) |
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| "Little city I think is catered to a minority of people who like city levels with a lot of hard gameplay. All that this level has going for it that it is a great deal harder than most levels. This is due to the fact that the only medipacks you get are the ones you start with. There are also a lot of men and turrets to keep the player on their feet. When I was playing I only used one and a half of the 2 and half alotted medipacks. Mainly because I took a short cut to bypass a few enemies. This can be found by thinking out of the square. Anyway apart for the difficulty level the rest of the level is about average. I only recommend this to the die hard city fan or anyone who wants a challenge. If I had to give this level a grade I would give it a C- a low pass mark." - The Aussie Adventurer (28-Jan-2005) |
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| "This is only the second level to have completely beaten me. Last time it was a timed puzzle that I could not complete this time; I just kept getting killed. As I recall this is exactly the same outcome as my previous four attempts at this level over the last year or two. Sorry there are just too many SAS and not enough health packs for an eternal beginner to complete this level. It's a shame as it looks quite good." - Staticon (16-Aug-2004) |
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| "I have a lot of affection for this level it's one of the first custom levels that I started to play. City level with many soldiers and machine guns; underwater maze to pass also Lara needs the motorbike to break some wall to continue and to find the end. Very good adventure." - Yoav (16-Feb-2004) |
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| "After having read the other reviews I was prepared to play a level where every hit could be fatal. Instead the level wasn't hard at all and it can probably be finished without using a single Medipack (if you know how to get rid of the locusts that is). Other than the fact that you don't get to pick up any Medipacks (except for that one Medipack that I advise you to leave where it is - okay you'll probably pick it up just to see what happens that's what I did) the level isn't any different from other city-based levels. A motorcycle a lot of SAS-men Sentry Guns - it's all there but what else did you expect? The texturing is quite nice but the lighting isn't too good. I finished the level after fifteen minutes and I liked it a lot more than 'Surouth's Five Skulls'. Not that that says much." - Magnus (29-Jan-2004) |
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| "A good little city level. Immediately Lara is fired on from somewhere and has to find cover. I don't know why but it took me forever to figure out I had to climb on the awnings. A LOT of soldiers to deal with an underwater course but you get a map showing the way to go opening buildings levers great fun dealing with the machine guns and blowing up one part of a building. I used the bike to kill a lot of soldiers. It's not the most awe-inspiring level but it's never dull. Just mind those medpacks." - CC (12-Jun-2003) |
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| "Take the author's word you will need to preserve the medipacks you have. The level is poorly textured and everything is stretched plus there isn't enough ammo for so many SAS guards. All you do is shoot push a lever swim and go through a small underwater maze luckily I played this for the second time and knew what to do. You need to find the right door that opened shoot some blue balls get the bike after a small earthquake and the level ended in twenty minutes. Not much to see or do here." - Kristina (10-Apr-2003) |
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| "Well the gameplay is remorselessly inevitable; get shot at shoot run get shot at shoot run get shot at etc but the setting is effective and well made (especially when you consider that this is another of those very early levels). Should I give 10 for enemies? No because I don't believe it's the quantity but the quality (after a while you can predict where they'll appear). Level progression is quite well-thought out (getting on to that Canopy at the start had me stumped for far too long) and for a 'shoot-em up'level this is certainly pretty good. But only if you're in the mood." - Orbit Dream (27-Nov-2002) |
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| "I'm not usually a big fan of the city levels but I must admit it was fun to try to get through the level with no extra health packs using only the pistols then the few pickups scattered around and at least two secrets. Nothing new to look at but there is a really cool explosion near the end an underwater maze with its very own map and you get to use the bike to ride over a bunch of soldiers (and what a satisfying crunching sound that makes)." - RaiderGirl (26-Nov-2002) |
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| "This 30 minutes adventure was quite fun. A lot of custom textures make this level worth a look but the challenge is better. There are a lot of SAS guards and no medipack to collect. There was one actually but it was a trap - well thought. I finished the level with a small medipack though so I wouldn't say it's THAT hard but it's a bit - not due to the SAS that are easily dispatched using either the Revolver or the Pistols but due to the turret guns that are in some corners. There was an underwater maze and happily there was a map on the wall. Worth the download." - Treeble (26-Jul-2002) |
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| "Okay get your guns out but be careful not to take too much damage as this city level full of SAS men automatic guns and wasps sadly lacked the one essential....medipack pick ups! Luckily when I finished this level after a little over 30 minutes I had just the bare minimum of health left and one more man might have just been enough to take me out. As you can guess this is another 'guns ablazing with not much more to do but pull levers and open gates' level which was nicely executed with a few secrets to find but unlike the rest of the reviewers I didn't find much about the setting that I liked as it was a very empty looking environment with barely no objects placed though the gloomy atmosphere was perfect." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Alright this is a typical old days City level with 30 SAS to battle and no medipacks so there is the challenging bit. Also a few gun turrets and locusts thrown in for good measure. The City is rather bland and with the gloomy city WAD atmosphere not a place I enjoyed being in but it is quite nicely textured. There are many doors and levers and a short bike ride involved and the two highlights for me where the map for the underwater area and the nice dynamite explosion near the end of this 30 minutes adventure." - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "I guess I have a little different perspective on this level. Firstly it is VERY hard and the author designed it that way as a challenge to the players. There's really no point in playing the level with DOZY as it just renders the whole idea of the level meaningless. This is one of the very first custom levels I played and after a lot of trying I barely made it through with Lara clinging to her last shred of health but with quite a feeling of satisfaction. Aside from that element the level is designed in an interesting way using some good jumps underwater tunnels and mazes and some hard to get secrets (one particularly so). The atmosphere is very dark and sinister - perfect in this context. Textures and lighting are nicely done too. And finally there is that dynamite explosion/flip map short ride on the motorbike to freedom and a BIG sigh of relief! The really extraordinary thing is this level was released less than two weeks after the LE was available. It really was ahead of its time and I must say I rated it accordingly; the same level released today would not score as high. Too bad Andreas was hounded out of level building by thoughtless and rude comments on Theresa's old forum (over a bug in his following level). Who knows what kind of levels this obviously talented author would be making now a year and half later?" - Tombaholic (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "A dark dark level with many SAS and crazy machine guns! If I remember well this was an early released level. Well this is really good for a beginning! I had a hard time finishing the level without health packages but I certainly got more than one adrenalin rush running from large open spaces to interior rooms and through swimming pools...A must see." - Jbc21 (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Superb textures and some wonderfully created areas but some strange things as well. Why you....when you...I won't spoil it but it is VERY weird! There are too many enemies and not enough medipacks but a sound achievement at that." - TrueRaider (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This level was also one of the first to appear on the net. And I was warned. Only could finish after playing it for the third time and had barely any health left. Not enough medi-packs. Not my cup of tea as I fell in love with Tomb Raider although there was shooting it was not overdone as it is in this level. And no real adventure. But after playing some other shoot-them this one was a bit more than only that." - Gerty (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Original textures tough enemies and traps and that annoying little room with the much needed medipack (see it for yourself). This level had me pulling my hair out. Why? Because it is damned hard that's why. I still liked the level though because it was challenging and (dare I say it) took me 2.5 hours to complete. Well I had always thought of myself as a level creator and not a player so there!" - dhama (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Cosmetically incredible but there are way too many baddies. Either way this is still one of my very favorite TR levels!" - Elpasodude (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This level is so hard to play! I was playing for 2 hours! There are just way too many baddies for my liking. However the textures lighting and cameras used are excellent and you really feel like you are in a Little City... getting your **** kicked! :)" - Lara (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Hmm. I can play this level only with cheat. In this level you don't find one medipack. More than 30 soldiers and a lot of firing-guns are too hard for 2 and a half Health. The textures and the atmosphere were good and the lightning is too dark. A typical city-level with not so much fun." - Andi Croft (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "After I read the reviews I made sure that I arrived in Little City with more than one large medipack. Good thing cause although I was extremely careful with my health and started with a lot of fancy ammo as well I used up almost all I would have had had I set out from scratch. The author informs us that he finished the original TR games with far too many medi packs and was going to add a bit of suspense to his own level by placing none. (Do you hear me? I said none; so if you find one you better think twice before picking it up). Although he has a point it doesn't work here cause what you inevitably do is reload after each fight with the countless SAS guards as you think you might manage to kill them quicker and lose a little less health once you know where they are coming from. This makes the whole process incredibly boring and isn't really the way a game is supposed to be played. And there is nothing you can do about the swarm of locusts. The health issue aside you have the old lever here/door there scenario with an underwater maze thrown in for good measure. I liked the setting the course over the balconies and getting rid of that sentry gun was exiting as always. There are no puzzles or jumps to speak of as the gameplay really revolves around making it to the motorbike with the medi packs you have. A concept that although unusual fails to entertain." - Dimpfelmoser (21-Jun-2002) |
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