Aberration

for Half-Life 2: Episode Two

7th April 2015

Jump to read the 29 comments   /   Leave a comment or review   /   Follow the comments RSS feed

” You play as a Resistance member who finds himself in a mysterious place with no idea how he got there.”

Explore carefully as you never know what might be around the corner.

Keep your wits about you as nothing is as simple as it seems.

Basic Details
  • Title: Aberration
  • File Name: hl2-ep2-sp-aberration-v101.7z
  • Size : 112MB
  • Author: HoliestCow
  • Date Released: 12 July 2012
MapTap Users

Please download to you computer and then install via MapTap.

Download Options

Download to your HDD [112MB]
You can still use it with MapTap once you have downloaded it.

Manual Installation Instructions
  • Copy the aberration folder into your …\Steam\SteamApps\sourcemods\ folder.
  • Restart or start Steam.
  • Aberration should now be listed in your Library tab.

If you require more help, please visit the Technical Help page.

Screenshots

WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

1024 x 576

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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

1366 x 768

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

1600 x 900

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Reader Recommendations
Avoid It!
Think Twice
Maybe
Play It Later
Play It Now!
9 recommendations, average score: 3 (out of 5), standard deviation: 0.22 (what's that?)
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Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 8 comment(s) with meta review data.

Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 7 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 0 Hours, 48 Mins
Shortest: 0 Hours, 17 Mins by
Longest: 1 Hours, 30 Mins by DeadCamper
Total Time Played: 6 Hours, 27 Mins
Categories (?)
Half-Life 2: Ep2 HL2-EP2 Mods Play
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Jump to a review
Phillip says MaybePlay It LaterMaybe?Maybe?Maybe?Maybe?Maybe?Think TwiceMaybe?

29 Comments

  1. PlanetPhillip
    Phillip says Maybe

    This is an excellent example of what I would say as good environment design but not so good game design. The layouts are a little repetitive but each area is well lit and polished. Having easy jump scares and unknown damage is cheap. Children playing and shouting when you walk into a room is just clichéd.

    Two zombies were just waiting around the corner and could be seen before entering the rooms, which completely spoiled the effect.

    I think not have any clear story or objective makes it just a spooky bunch of rooms and I feel horror mods need more than that.

    The level changes were just terrible and the way the combine soldiers fit you lacks planning and thought.

    I would love to see somebody with more game design take this and rework it into something fresh.

    Should you play? MAYBE. That’s the best I can say.

    Installed:
    Using Gauge
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    55 Minutes
    Reply
  2. Hec
    Play It Later

    I think this will be better once is just completed, as gives the impression to be a work in progress mod. It is good so far, but i guess it would be better if the author would’ve explained better the whole context, because the story plot is kind of ambitious, so i think that is essential to improve the whole work as a proper mod.

    The mapping is ok, but maybe the developer could enhance the color issue in order to make it brighter, and less darky, i think at the time i played this the whole mapping were very dark.

    The battles against the CMB were also good especially in the main arena in chapter 2, and probably that’s the most entertaining asset of this mod, the combat.

    Overall this felt really cut-off, and i think the author is working on its sequel which its going to be named “truth”. I hope on that release the author hears about the feedback given on this one and make better game design decisions.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    45 Minutes
    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      I think this will be better once is just completed

      It is completed.

      Reply
      1. Hec

        It is completed.

        But why ends it the same way?? I mean, in to be continued…

        Reply
  3. PlanetPhillip

    I’ve just updated the file to include the latest patch, which I somehow missed first time.

    Reply
    1. Hec

      OH ok, so i think I’ll replay it I first played it from mod DB

      Reply
  4. lj4linux

    “ED_Alloc: no free edicts”

    Can anyone help me about that?

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      deadrawkstar has this solution:

      To fix the mod and make it playable again. to Download GCFScape net and install it You must own Episode 2, look in the game folder for episode 2,
      mine is located D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Half-Life 2\ep2, and find the file “ep2_pak_dir.vpk

      Use GCFscape to OPEN that file, then use the program to Extract the folder Models anywhere.
      just keep track of it. your desktop is a safe place.

      Then copy everything in that “Models” folder you just extracted from that VPK into the models folder from Aberration mine is located here
      …Steam\steamapps\sourcemods\aberration\models

      Restart Steam, start the mod again. Should work.

      Reply
      1. lj4linux

        It works, thank you. What’s weird is that I remember that I played this mod some time ago and it worked. I think it’s all about steampipe…

        Reply
        1. Gangway!

          So was for me when I tryed to launch the mod via SteamLibrary. Now it’s OK but some textures are still missing, for example radiators. When I try to launch the mod via MapTap I get “42/monitor_breencast_jumbotron2-func_monitor: UTIL_SetModel:not precached:*3” . Can anyone help me about that?

          Reply
          1. gabe

            I encountered a similar problem, except in this case, the underground caves were replaced with a beautiful black-pink texture wonderland.

            You can fix the missing textures by extracting the additional folders from ep2_pak_dir.vpk:

            -sound
            -scripts
            -particles
            -materials

            Just copy + paste those into sourcemods/aberration, merge all folders, and you’re good to go.

            Keep in mind however, there’s likely an easier method for resolving this problem that I am not aware of. Regardless, this works.

            This method, interestingly enough can be used for other mods that have had this missing texture problem, i.e., Nightmare House 2, Bunker66 etc,. and has the side effect of replacing the custom menu screen with a generic Episode 2 menu.

            Source

            Reply
          2. lj4linux

            Unfortunately I can’t use MapTap. I’m a little bit paranoid about security and I use an account with limited privileges. MapTap refuses to run if other but admin (in the matter of fact it starts but that’s all).
            And YES, some textures are indeed missing. Dont’ know if we can do something about.

            Reply
            1. PlanetPhillip

              Do you have an Source SDKs installed?

              Reply
          3. PlanetPhillip

            Just rename the background map to “xbackground01.bsp”. In fact, any name would do.

            Reply
            1. Gangway!

              Thank you. Both methods work, but the mod folder became a little bit bigger (2,44 Gb)

              Reply
              1. PlanetPhillip

                My method was just to remove the message at the beginning. Do you have an Source SDKs installed?

                Reply
  5. ZebC

    Hello,

    … is there a problem with downloading file (not very nice error number 404 I get) or it is just me?

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      Fixed, sorry about that.

      Reply
  6. JG
    Maybe?

    Aberration lives up to its name. It’s the rare example of a mod that looks really polished and pretty at first glance, but plays terribly.

    I played this mod a long time ago. I’m not sure how I found out about it, but I know it’s one of the few HL2 mods that had the distinction of making the rounds with YouTube celebrities, including Markiplier, who screamed his head off as if he had never seen a HL2 Zombie before. I mean, I like Mark, but come on. Exaggerate, much? 😉

    The word that comes to mind is the same one that Phillip used: cliche. Right from the start, you get a locked door and key “puzzle,” which is arguably the fastest way to make me dislike your mod. And worse, it’s a pretty obscure one. The author had to put a giant glowing effect on the key because you totally wouldn’t see it otherwise. You also come across some ghost children and doors that lead to brick walls, which in turn open other doors. It’s all meant to be very disorienting. But then, from out of nowhere, here come the Combine and a Hunter who gets stuck in the doorway. Suddenly, we have a surprisingly difficult combat scenario. As a result, I spent most of this mod with under 50 health.

    From here, any cohesion the mod had really falls apart. It doesn’t know what it wants to be. We’re ushered from one set piece to the next without any rhyme or reason. A sewer with a hardcore combat challenge and a distinct lack of health. A spooky hospital with wheelchairs that move on their own (and a glitchy “ghost” NPC). A really tedious prison segment. A section where we have to look up at the scary monster in the ceiling and a “screamer.” And then, the mod ends unceremoniously.

    The only thing this mod does well is the decals and overlays. If you ever wanted a good example of how to clutter up a room by putting posters, signs and debris everywhere, this is it. It’s similar to a Miigga map, but taken to the extreme. But that said, the visual design is perhaps overdone. It’s too consistent, if that makes any sense, to the point where it just becomes noise.

    I’d also echo what Phillip and Hec said about the total lack of a story or any kind of context for why you’re here. It’s hard for me to be engaged by a “horror mod” when it’s simply one contrived set piece after the next, with no attempt to link them together. You need some kind of framework for this.

    So, my conclusion… if you’re looking for something fun to play, this mod isn’t it. However, if you want to see a good example of detailing… maybe it’s worth your time? Or you can just look at screenshots. That works too.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    1 Hour
    Reply
  7. vancanucksfan
    Maybe?

    The technical issues kind of ruined this mod for me. I had to use the helpful comment about the Models folder above to get the mod to even run. Once it was running, I was missing textures in many places. It started off with just a few (radiators mostly) but by the end I was making my way through screens of pink with very little of the intended texture showing. Even the Hunters were showing up in pink. The level transitions were also really rough.

    The author attempted to place some spookiness in this mod with sound effects and closing doors, but it kind of pales in comparison to a mod like Nightmare House 2 in that regard. I can’t recommend playing this due to the issues above.

    Side Note: I was happy to learn that NMH2 will have an update coming that fixes the Steam Pipe issue and other things. So the best spooky mod ever for HL2 will be playable again!

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    45 Minutes
    Reply
  8. asterixer

    after changing the gameinfo.txt ,doing some renaming to lower case and renaming the background.bsp the mod runs under linux. No Problems so far. Its not that bad but nothing new so far.

    Reply
  9. Zekiran

    I have to say that with the extreme amount of hoops to leap through to even get this to play I probably won’t be attempting it. I did download it but encountered the issues shown above, so I’m kind of meh about having do force it to do things it doesn’t already.

    Reply
  10. DeadCamper
    Maybe?

    There’s very little I can add to the comments above, as they seem to hit the nail on the head with what’s wrong with the mod. I don’t want to do a full step-by-step analysis, but I feel like after playing this a couple times, I can my incoherent thoughts on it:

    Immediately on booting up the mod, it presents itself well at the menu, making it somewhat clear by the dreary color scheme and creepy look that it’s going to be some form of horror mod. The environment design is very good in places, though I think this mostly comes from the school of “cover the whole thing with as many decals as possible”. This attempt to detail the level as much as possible seems to be its saving grace, alongside some new sounds that give it a ‘new’ feel to it.

    The horror in this falls flat, however. Horror in games is difficult to do right, and this unfortunately proves the rule. I’m not sure how it could have been fixed here, though I feel like the major issues are timing and placement. There are moments in this that managed to at least tense me up, but failed to follow-up afterward. Subtle things like opening doors in places where the player wasn’t, footsteps in the distance and the initial ‘ghosts’ in the elevator cab with the player’s flashlight flickering uncontrollably were good touches, but there was something inconsistent in the way these things were presented.

    The biggest scare (the one that was ripped right out of Nightmare House 2) also fails here because I already saw it before and yet it still seemed to fail to present. Most of the scares left me more confused, trying to figure out what was supposed to happen.

    I really have no idea where I am as the player. The game seems to start inside a dilapidated apartment building of some sort, goes into some form of factory-like setting, and ends in an underground cave. There’s no explanation of why these things happen and there are some weird moments where the level just transitions to places that don’t make coherent sense.

    The combat here (gunplay, etc) is mildly fun, if a little too easy for the most part. It’s not very action packed and seems to lack a lot of fanfare (no music, no tension, just shoot and find health). I don’t have much to say on it, other than ask why it was even there if this mod was trying to be scary.

    I was left very confused by this mod, and the “To Be Continued” at the end makes me believe that the mod, despite being publicly made available, was abandoned because of its flaws.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    1 Hour, 30 Minutes
    Reply
  11. Peter_Brev
    Maybe?

    Besides the missing textures, problems with cubemaps… I really cannot feel like I was playing with an objective.

    While the level design is good (detailed, very nice atmosphere), it seemed to me it was really based on Nightmare House 2. It confirmed my thoughts when I was in that metal hallway and walls appear out of nowhere.

    So here you have it, the mod has potential, but it needs some revision.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Medium
    Playtime:
    45 Minutes
    Reply
  12. TolisXTRM
    Maybe?

    I really, REALLY wanted to give this mod a PIN, but after beating it, I just couldn’t.

    First of all, let’s start with what this mod does best; visuals. This is by far one of the best looking Source mods I’ve ever played. The only problem though is that some textures were corrupted, but I managed to fix it. Now, onto the biggest problem; the gameplay. My God, this has to be one of the most boring mods I’ve ever played in my life. Every section is repetitive as hell and I swear to God every area looks the same. This mod can be considered as a horror game, so this is basically how I feel about every modern horror game. If you look back at games like Resident Evil 1-Nemesis, you can see that even though there are some recycled areas, most of them were very creative. Here, it’s bland as all hell.

    Overall, I say play it at your own risk. This mod looks and sounds great, but unfortunately the gameplay is very disappointing.

    Reply
  13. hl-csd

    While I’m not sure if it was all worth it, I decided to offer a collective fix for this so-so mod. it is not the best, but it does provide some interesting gameplay…that is if you can get it to start and be free of all the pink/black graphical errors that afflicted many a player.

    You can fix both the mod and the missing textures by following this guide, compiled by yours truly and deadrawkstar and gabe from the RTSL comments section.

    1. Shut down Steam.
    2. Download the mod and extract it to :\Steam\steamapps\sourcemods.
    3. Download the Aberration_Fix_11_01_15.
    4. Download the Aberration_v1.0.1.rar for the map fix.
    5. Using 7Zip, do an Extract here to the folders where you saved them. We’ll get back to these later.
    6. Copy & paste the following GameInfo.txt, replacing the original file, save a copy if you want to.

    “GameInfo”
    {
    game “Aberration”
    title “”
    title2 ” Aberration ”
    developer “Jordan(HoliestCow)Gentry”
    icon “resource/icon”
    supportsvr 1
    type singleplayer_only

    FileSystem
    {
    SteamAppId 243730 // App ID=HL2/vpk

    SearchPaths
    {
    game+mod ep2/custom/*
    game+mod episodic/custom/*
    game+mod hl2/custom/*
    game+mod+mod_write+default_write_path |gameinfo_path|.
    gamebin |gameinfo_path|bin
    game_lv hl2/hl2_lv.vpk
    game+mod ep2/ep2_english.vpk
    game+mod ep2/ep2_pak.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic/ep1_english.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic/ep1_pak.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_english.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_pak.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk
    game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk
    platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk
    game+game_write ep2
    gamebin episodic/bin
    game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic
    game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2
    platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform
    }
    }
    }

    7. Now, go to the Common folder, above the sourcemods folder.
    8. Go down to the Half-Life 2\ep2 folder.
    9. Run GCFscape and extract the following folders to aberration.
    • Materials
    • Models
    • Particles
    • Scripts
    • Sound

    10. Go to the folder where you have Extract here the files from # 3 and # 4. Copy and paste those to their folder positions in Aberration. When it asks if you want to replace, or whatever, click Yes.

    We’re almost done, folks.

    Start up Steam and go into the Tools section and go to SourceSDKBase Singleplayer 2013, Right click and select Betas and select Upcoming and Check Codes. Click Close.

    Now, if all is aligned in the Steam universe, double click on the Aberration title and voila!

    I have, painstakingly, gone through this procedure and do testify that it, indeed, works.

    With all that said, it would have been a whole lot smoother if the author had simply re-released the damned thing, eh?

    Reply
    1. Steve

      Thank you, this enabled me to play the mod on my Mac. Cheers 🙂

      Reply
  14. Steve
    Think Twice

    I didn’t really know what to make of this. It seems like there are some good ideas but I wasn’t sure – and not so much after playing but all the way through. Every step of the way, I was left feeling quite cold by Aberration and rarely did it grab my attention or become fascinating to explore.

    I also found myself getting a little sick and tired by the darkness which made things very samey and predictable in ways. With a little more illumination for those ridiculously black areas, I think it would be superb because the visual design and attention to detail is superb.

    Hmm I dunno about this. Overall, I can see why many might like Aberration but it just doesn’t do much for me personally.

    Reply
  15. Daken50
    Maybe?

    Looks good. Not fun to play. Wake me when it’s over.

    Installed:
    Manually
    Difficulty Played At:
    Easy
    Playtime:
    30 Minutes
    Reply

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