*******************************************************************************
* *
* Tomb Raider *
* Completing the Game Without Using ANY Medi Packs *
* With Occasional References to Bugs and Glitches *
* *
*******************************************************************************
Version Completed Change(s)
1.00 17 July 2007
1.50 17 Sept 2008 Fixed several typos (I can't BELIEVE that no one
pointed these out to me); corrected some flawed
information, specifically about the traps in the
Great Pyramid; gave greater detail to some battle
descriptions; enhanced information about the final
battle with Natla.
1.60 12 July 2009 Added improved method of getting Secret 2 in St.
Francis Folly level. I'm sure I changed some
other things, but the specifics elude me at
present.
Written by Bill Russell
The Tomb Raider series is (c) Eidos Interactive and
The Playstation version is (c) Sony Computer Entertainment of America.
This FAQ is copyright 2007 -- Bill Russell
This publication is protected by United States copyright law.
It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly
without advance written permission of the author. Use of this guide on any
other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright. If you wish to post this FAQ or any portion of it to
any other site, please write to me.
Questions or comments can be sent to me at the email address that appears at
the end of this FAQ PROVIDED that they conform to the guidelines stated in
Section VII below. PLEASE read those guidelines before sending me anything.
Thank you!
===============================================================================
Table of Contents
I. Have You Lost Your Freaking Mind?
II. Why Should I Read This Thing?
III. Who Is This "Colin" Guy Anyway?
IV. How Am I Supposed to Survive Without Medi Packs? (READ THIS!)
V. Index
VI. I'm Tired of Reading -- Can I Just Play the Game Now?
VII. Final Notes and Credits
===============================================================================
I. Have You Lost Your Freaking Mind?
Probably. I'll elaborate on this answer in a moment, but first a bit of
background.
When the original Tomb Raider game arrived in 1996, it became an instant
classic. Its unique combination of action/adventure, puzzle solving, and an
attractive heroine generated immediate interest which remains intact over ten
years later. As time has passed, gamers worldwide have learned to look past
the prodigious proportions of the main character and have focused more on the
richness and replay value of the game itself.
This is not to suggest that the game is perfect, for the flaws of the game are
many and widely acknowledged. Jittery cameras? You bet! Blocky graphics?
They are something of a joke by modern standards. Glitches and bugs? Got 'em
in spades. In fact, we will be examining many of these bugs as a means of
accomplishing our ends. Still, despite these imperfections, interest in Tomb
Raider remains amazingly high a decade after its release. Ultimately, it is
not dazzling graphics or other high-tech considerations that bring long-lasting
value to a game but rather the content of the game itself. Tomb Raider is
always fun to play, and one can learn more about the game with each playing.
However, after ten years, even the best of games can become monotonous, causing
aficionados to seek ways to add challenge and freshness to the game. In the
case of Tomb Raider, the most obvious (and fun!) choice is to try to survive
the game without using any Medi Packs. I have previously written a No Medi
Packs walkthrough for Tomb Raider 2, and many of the strategies that I
described in that FAQ are applicable here as well. In the Playstation version
of the original Tomb Raider, though, we have the complication of Save Crystals,
which only appear in distinct locations and in very limited numbers. Thus, in
our journey we will try to optimize use of these precious commodities to
minimize repetition of long passages of the game. We will discuss more
particulars in a moment, but first let's address my initial question.
The question I had to ask myself before embarking on this project was, "Why go
to the trouble to write a FAQ in which there will be very little interest?"
Realistically, at this point in time, interest in the game has dwindled
significantly and is limited to a very small group of hard-core devotees, most
of whom probably know much more about the game than I do. Ultimately, I
decided that this lack of interest was a minor consideration. I have completed
Tomb Raider many times over the past 10 years, yet there are still some areas
where I cannot remember how to proceed. There is no better way to learn a game
inside and out than by writing about it, so I decided to undertake this project
in the interest of enhancing my own knowledge of the game. If, in so doing, I
can enlighten any other members of the gaming community, then so much the
better. Am I crazy for doing so? I'll let you be the judge.
===============================================================================
II. Why Should I Read This Thing?
Admittedly, this challenge is not all that difficult for someone who is
familiar with the game. That is, many of you could probably figure most of the
content of this FAQ out for yourself. Still, it is my hope that there will be
times that you read my suggestions and ask yourself, "Why didn't I think of
that?" When we share information, we all learn.
You will notice that I said, "for someone who is familiar with the game." I
definitely would NOT recommend that you try this your first time through the
game. This challenge is for the experienced player only. I am therefore
assuming that the reader has completed the game at least once and is familiar
with the controls, enemies, weapons, puzzles, etc. Likewise, I will not attempt
to describe every detail of the game. For this, there are several other good
FAQ's posted and I suggest you refer to those for particulars on how to proceed
if you get stuck. Likewise, I will not always remind you to pick up items (you
may not need the ammo and you definitely don't need the Medi Packs unless you
just want to see how many you can collect). I will assume that you want all of
the Secrets, and I will remind you to get them when appropriate without
necessarily detailing how. Rather, the focus of my writings will be how to
minimize damage to Lara so that she can survive each level without using any
Medi Packs.
I will assume that you are playing the Playstation version of the game and
therefore have to contend with the aforementioned Save Crystals. If you are
using the PC version and can save anywhere, then do so. I will also assume
that you are playing a "fresh" game and are not loading a completed game that
gives you all weapons and unlimited ammunition from the beginning. Similarly,
I assume that you are NOT using the "All Weapons" cheat. My logic is that it
is better for me to describe the worst-case scenario and have you adjust to
easier circumstances than to describe an easier approach and leave you to
figure out how to adjust for more difficult circumstances. The choice of how
to play the game is yours, but I would like to remind you that this is supposed
to be a challenge. You get nothing for completing the game without Medi Packs
except the satisfaction of having done so. The magnitude of that satisfaction
is directly proportional to the difficulty level that you set for yourself.
===============================================================================
III. Who Is This "Colin" Guy Anyway?
A couple of years ago when I first published my Tomb Raider II FAQ, I got a
very nice email from a gamer named Colin Chalmers. Colin very tactfully
pointed out that there was a much easier way to get through the Barkhang
Monastery level of that game, information that I incorporated into subsequent
versions of my FAQ. He also mentioned in passing that he had completed Tomb
Raider I without using Medi Packs, thus throwing down the gauntlet for me.
I let his challenge simmer in the back of my mind for a couple of years until
just recently. Like many gamers, I bought Tomb Raider Anniversary in the hopes
that it would breathe new life into the series and give me some quality gaming.
However, a few hours into the game I began to yearn for the simplicity, the
control, and the purity of the first two games. It was then that I remembered
Colin's challenge, so I undertook it and, soon afterwards, decided to write a
FAQ about it.
I then discovered that Colin had not been idle all those many months, but
rather had been busy writing a FAQ about the glitches in the first TR game.
Exploring these, I began to visualize how they would mesh nicely with the
content of my own FAQ. I discussed with Colin the possibility of referencing
his findings in my walkthrough, and, with his consent, this FAQ was born.
When I feel that a glitch is of universal interest to readers, I will quote
verbatim from Colin's FAQ. Otherwise, I will probably just say something like,
"Look in Colin's FAQ for a different way to do this." His well-written and
very well organized observations can be found at:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/file/199040/36533
I would encourage you to not only follow my references but also to read his FAQ
in its entirety. I can pretty much guarantee that you will learn something new
from the experience. For the record, I am not going to reference all of his
findings in this document, so feel free to explore the others on your own.
Sometimes these glitches and bugs save you time, sometimes they conserve life,
and sometimes they do neither but are merely curiosities. We are mostly
concerned with those that conserve life, since we are trying to avoid using
Medi Packs. If you feel that using these bugs is cheating (and would therefore
diminish that sense of accomplishment described earlier), then by all means do
not use them. In the walkthrough, I will describe how to proceed both with and
without using bugs, leaving that decision to you.
Finally, Colin points out that although the titles of his glitches stay the
same, the numbers in updated versions of his FAQ may change. Factor this into
your thinking before writing me to challenge my abilities with numbers.
===============================================================================
IV. How Am I Supposed to Survive Without Medi Packs? (READ THIS!)
* You begin each level with full life. Therefore, it is only necessary to
reach the end of each level alive.
* In my "Overview" of each section, I will tell you approximately how much
life I had remaining at the end of the level. Factor this into your
thinking as you read along. For example, if I indicate that I survived the
level with 50% of my life remaining and tell you in the walkthrough to
strive for losing no more than 10% of your life in a certain encounter,
figure anywhere from 10% - 20% is OK. The reason I give these low numbers
and finish easy levels with lots of life remaining is that it is good
practice for the more difficult levels where we will have to conserve every
minute fraction of life we can. Take personal pride in every encounter you
can survive without taking any damage at all--it will pay off later on.
* Each time that I recommend saving your game, I will give a "Health Target"
expressed as a range of values. For example, I might say "60 - 90%. The
high number represents a very good run. Anything at or above that upper
limit is excellent. The low number represents a recommended minimum. If
your health is less than that number, I would advise going back to your last
save and trying again or you may have difficulty surviving the level.
Again, this is a ballpark number, but with a little practice these lower
limits are easily achieved. We have some variables here depending on
whether or not you allow yourself to exploit glitches in the game to
conserve health, but I will try to give you a worst case scenario for that
lower limit. That is, I will assume that you are NOT using glitches.
* Always keep in mind our overall goal, which is to minimize damage. This is
going to require repeating certain segments of the game multiple times.
Do not save until you are sure that you've done your best and have met the
guidelines that I set for you.
* Since the game only allows you to keep ONE saved file at a time, you should
keep an extra memory card or two handy. If you are uncertain about whether
or not to save, you can save onto an alternate memory card. If you complete
the level, then play on. If you run out of life and need to go back to an
earlier save, you can just insert your original memory card.
* Remember that eliminating enemies and triggering traps take priority over
collecting items. The loot isn't going anywhere -- clear the area first,
then pick up the items.
* This may seem really obvious, but proper use of the "Look" button can be
very helpful. It allows you to see around corners (and sometimes, due to
glitches, through walls), thus telling you exactly where your enemies are
and when they are going to be within your sights. It can also be used to
line up jumps, showing the true direction in which Lara is pointed.
* Know where enemies will appear and, just as important, what triggers their
appearances. You will sustain much less damage when you can fight one enemy
at a time and are prepared for their arrival.
* Likewise, know the movements of your enemies, especially those with
firearms. Generally, Lara is much more agile than these guys, so use this
to your advantage. When confronted by an enemy with a gun, I will often
run directly towards him, firing as I approach, then run past him, execute a
roll, and continue firing. Most enemies are VERY slow to turn and will
continue firing in the direction from which Lara came, giving you adequate
time to take them out. If necessary, you can run past the enemy and roll
again. Henceforth, I will refer to this technique as the "Run and Roll"
technique. This is also effective on enemies without guns who are
encountered in confined spaces.
* If you are confronting an enemy that can "fire" at you (such as the
fireball-throwing mutants in Atlantis), try side-jumping left and then right
while firing. Lara is an excellent shot while jumping about, and her
enemies are much less accurate. In this game, this technique is actually
much more useful than the "Run and Roll" technique, which is used more in
Tomb Raider 2.
* Unarmed enemies who come towards you can be efficiently dispatched by
hopping backwards while firing. This delays their approach and often kills
them before they have a chance to reach you. Henceforth, I will refer to
this method as the "Backhop" technique. If you run out of room when
backhopping, you can run and roll past them or, if you are near water, dive
in and wait for them to pass before trying again.
* When an enemy is on a higher level than you, it is often possible to hide
behind some kind of shield -- a trench or pit, for example -- then leap up
vertically and fire as soon as Lara targets the enemy, then drop back down
behind the shield. Henceforth, I will refer to this method as the "Vertical
Leap" technique. It will be seldom used, but be aware that you have this
technique as a tool at your disposal.
* The most basic way to avoid damage from most enemies is simply to shoot at
them from a safe (usually elevated) position. Most enemies cannot reach you
if you stand on a block, giving you plenty of time to take them out at your
leisure using only your pistols, thus conserving ammunition.
* The most annoying enemies in the game are Natla's thugs -- Larson, Pierre,
et al. They will appear multiple times, often in the worst possible places,
and, most irritating of all, you generally cannot kill them but merely have
to blast them until they go away. There are bugs that you can exploit to
minimize your encounters with these lowlifes, but for you purists I will
include some tips on how to fight every one of these battles and still avoid
using Medi Packs. I have played the game both ways and assure you that
you can complete this challenge either way.
* This may seem really obvious, but always play with the sound on. Many
enemies will give some kind of auditory signal alerting you to their
presence (thus warning you to draw your guns and be prepared) or their
demise (alerting you that the coast is clear.) I have a bad habit of
playing with the sound off, and I often miss these cues -- don't let that
happen to you.
* Early in the game you are forced to use your pistols because that's all that
you have. Once I get the Magnums, I tend to use them, mostly because they
seem to do more damage than your regular pistols. Later on, the Uzis tend
to be my default weapon. Happily, the supply of ammunition seems to follow
this philosophy. Once you get the Magnums, an abundance of ammunition for
them appears, and once you get the Uzis, there seems to be a profusion of
Uzi clips to be had. I tend to save the shotgun for close encounters where
maximum firepower is needed. However, feel free to experiment and see what
weapons you prefer in each situation.
* Finally and perhaps above all, if you try something repeatedly and it just
isn't working for you, your best option usually is to take a break and come
back and try again later. You'd be amazed how often you will be successful
on one of your first couple of tries after taking a break. We are trying to
accomplish something that is pretty difficult, so it is natural to become
frustrated. Be patient, get away from the game for a while, come back
refreshed, and things will often go much more smoothly.
===============================================================================
V. Index
To jump to the walkthrough for a specific level, click on "Edit" then "Find",
type in the level number (e.g., "L01" without the quotation marks), and either
click "Find Next" or hit the "Enter" key.
Level 01 -- Caves L01
Level 02 -- City of Vilcabama L02
Level 03 -- Lost Valley L03
Level 04 -- Tomb of Qualopec L04
Level 05 -- St. Francis' Folly L05
Level 06 -- Colosseum L06
Level 07 -- Palace Midas L07
Level 08 -- The Cistern L08
Level 09 -- Tomb of Tihocan L09
Level 10 -- City of Khamoon L10
Level 11 -- Obelisk of Khamoon L11
Level 12 -- Sanctuary of the Scion L12
Level 13 -- Natla's Mines L13
Level 14 -- Atlantis L14
Level 15 -- The Great Pyramid L15
===============================================================================
VI. I'm Tired of Reading -- Can I Just Play the Game Now?
Absolutely. Let's get started.
Level 1 -- Caves (L01)
Overview:
This is a really easy level, and it's very possible to survive with no loss of
life at all. In fact, the only serious threats to your well being come from
dart-shooting pipes which, with a little practice, can be effectively dodged.
However, your focus should be on avoiding damage from the animals, since this
is a skill that will become increasingly necessary as the game proceeds.
Otherwise, just get accustomed to the controls and enjoy this level.
Particulars:
As mentioned in the Overview, the darts just past the entrance are completely
avoidable. Either time your runs or just jump over them. If you get hit by a
couple of them, it's no big deal -- they won't cause much damage. Go all the
way to the end and pick up the first Secret, then double back to the passage
that you bypassed along the way. Climb up, pull out your pistols, and take out
the 2 or 3 bats that come directly towards you. Secret #2 is just on your left
as you proceed down this passage, but beware of the bat that comes to life when
you pull up into the cave. Take it out before it can damage you. Drop back
down, hang a left past the dead bats, drop into the pit, and open the door to
the next area.
Draw your pistols and shoot the bat, then head to the area with the bridges.
There are two wolves below, and you can easily shoot them from above. If you
want to have a little fun, climb onto the rocks just below the first bridge and
do a running jump parallel to the bridge. You will magically pass through the
bridge and land on top of it. There is really no advantage to doing this --
it's just one of the game's glitches. (Credit to Colin C for this.) Wind your
way across the bridges to the next room, jump to the platform with the Save
Crystal, but don't use it just yet. With some patience you can target the bear
down below you and kill it from up here.
Safety drop into the pit, cautiously head to the left where two bats await you,
and when they are dead pick up the small Medi Pack. Now return to the room
with the bridges, and retrace your steps to the Save Crystal (which you should
now use.) At this point, your life bar should be very nearly 100% full.
As you descend the white stairs, there is some point where you will trigger two
wolves. I'm guessing that it is just past the green portal. Move forward far
enough to trigger the wolves, then backhop to a spot just before the portal.
The wolves will come up the stairs after you. As soon as Lara targets them,
start shooting and backhopping. When the first wolf yips (indicating that it
has died), release and re-press the X button (to target the surviving wolf),
and continue shooting and backhopping. If you do this correctly, you can kill
both of the wolves without suffering any damage. In this particular level, you
can afford to lose some life, but this is really good practice for when
conserving life is more important. Since you just saved your game anyway,
practice this sequence until you take no damage. Then retreat to pick up the
small Medi Pack and proceed into the open area from which the wolves came.
Jump over to pick up Secret #3, then drop down and get the small Medi Pack.
Now go pull the switch and race through the open door to the next area. Run
and/or jump past the two dart-shooting pipes (these again are completely
avoidable), and quickly shoot the wolf in the next room. Drop through the
breakaway tile, run to the end of the area and leap the gap, and turn left.
You will see a large MediPack, but before you can get to it a wolf will attack
from the far right corner. You know what to do. Throw the switch to open the
doors, drop down to the lower level, avoid a couple more dart-shooting pipes,
and exit this rather easy level with your life bar either nearly full or
completely full. One down and 14 to go.
===============================================================================
Level 2 -- City of Vilcabama (L02)
Overview:
This is another really easy level. The only challenges come at the very
beginning of the level, so you can really keep trying these battles until they
go correctly for you. I suppose that it is possible to complete this level
with 100% of your life intact -- and you are welcome to aim for that if you
like -- but for our purposes, 90% is just as good (it's not like you get an
extra merit badge or anything for a perfect level.)
Particulars:
Four wolves await you in this first room, one coming from each corner. They
are triggered when you advance beyond the opened doors. Run into the room and
aim first for the wolf to your far left. When he dies, aim for the one to your
far right. As soon as the second wolf goes down, roll and backhop into the
area he came from, and take out the other two. Now roll again and head deeper
into this area and kill one more wolf ahead of you. You can do this without
taking any damage whatsoever, and since you just saved your game, you should
practice this one also until you get it right. Feel free to modify my
suggestions if some other strategy works better for you.
We have one other rather "grizzly" battle to fight, so let's get that out of
the way now. From the room with the fifth wolf, take a left to the room with a
small pool. You will see a building to your left with two entries. There is a
bear inside, and he can come out of either entry. Unfortunately, this time
(unlike the last level), we can't take him out from the safety of an elevated
position. He is triggered when you step on any of the squares in the row in
front of the entries. Take a wide path around the structure (like near the
pool) and approach the far square (the one that is not next to the steps) from
the side. Step on the square (with guns drawn), and as soon as the bear
appears, start backhopping (to put some distance between you and the bear) and
open fire. If you are lucky enough that he comes out of the far entry, you
should have "bearly" enough time to terminate him before he can get close
enough to maul you. If you take significant damage, just reload the level and
try again, since we haven't really done much yet. Once you are satisfied with
your performance on this level so far, it might be wise to make a quick run
around the perimeter of this area killing bats (there are several) and perhaps
one more wolf. If you have the sound on and your eyes open, they shouldn't
give you any trouble.
You can now retrieve the small Medi Pack from the bear's abode and dive into
the pool to grab a pair of Secrets. Return to the room with the pool and look
for the switch (conveniently outlined in white for you). Throw it and follow
the path that it opens. The large Medi Pack in the alcove ahead can be grabbed
either by moving quickly across the breakaway tiles or by using the block to
climb up and get it. Either way, push the block into the next room, kill a
bat, and grab the Silver Key and the Gold Idol. Use the block to get up by the
Save Crystal, kill 2 more bats, and use the Save Crystal. At this point your
life bar should be at least 80% full, and 100% full is certainly possible.
Pick up the large Medi Pack, climb up into the window, and quickly kill two
bats (if you didn't get them earlier.) Drop to the ground, use the Silver Key
to open a door, and make your way past three dart-shooting pipes. There are
two wolves in the near area of the next room, but because of the darts you
don't want to retreat or backhop. Run into the room and kill the wolf on your
left, then roll and take out the other one. You may take some damage, but
we've done pretty well so far so consider a small amount of damage to be
acceptable. Advancing toward the building ahead will trigger 3 more wolves,
but you should have plenty of time and room to eliminate them without taking
any damage. Enter the door on the left.
Make your way up the room. The second time that you emerge into the pool room,
a bat will attack, so be prepared. A second bat appears in the switch room.
Throw the switch, grab the loot, and safety drop to the ground. Enter the
right door and again make your way to the top. Jumping onto the last platform
in the pool room triggers a bat in the stairway ahead, so when you land have
your guns out and blast away. Throw the switch and use the Save Crystal, then
safety drop to the ground once again.
Proceed cautiously through the center door, as this passageway is guarded by
three swinging blades. It is pretty easy to time your runs past them if you
just remember that they are there. Throw the switch, take a swim, head through
the narrow passage, and climb the stairs. Throw a switch and then walk out
onto the balcony. With a little patience, you can kill the bear below you from
up here -- MUCH better than trying to pull out of the water, draw you guns, and
battle it in a fair fight. When the bear is down, drop to the level he was on.
(Side note -- if you are interested, read Colin's "Safety Drop Bug". You can
use it to reach a ledge directly below you. In this case, you can drop from
the balcony to the ground without going into the pool -- nifty!) You can throw
the switch if you really want to stop the swinging blades that you already ran
past, and don't forget to pick up the third Secret. After this, you need only
use the Gold Idol and proceed to the next area. Easy!
===============================================================================
Level 3 -- Lost Valley (L03)
Overview:
This is a particularly easy level to complete without sustaining any damage at
all. There are few battles to fight, and most can be fought from the safety of
a sheltered location. This level demonstrates the advantage of knowing where
and when your enemies appear. On your first time through, you probably died
many times. Now, it is a breeze. Enjoy!
Particulars:
If you want to have some fun, check out Colin's FAQ for two easy glitches at
the very beginning of this level The "Repeating Waterfall" glitch is
especially entertaining. When you are ready to move on, take a right at the
river and go down the stone steps, killing the two wolves below on your way
down. Climb over the rock, then backflip back onto it so that when the wolf
that you just triggered comes after you, you can take it out from the safety of
your elevated position. Take a right at the tall rocks, and you will see a
short ramp. Sliding down that ramp will trigger three more wolves. In fact,
you can just ignore this area completely, but if you want the kills, slide down
the ramp backwards, then immediately jump back up to safety and shoot the
wolves from above. Having satisfied your bloodlust, return to the tall rock
cliffs. Climb to the top and claim the large MediPack (its previous owner
clearly won't be needing it any more.) Make your way down the rocks, but don't
drop to the ground just yet.
Touching the ground will trigger two raptors. They can't touch you when you
are up on this ledge, but getting back up here is tricky. As you are facing
the clearing, go to your far right and turn around. Slide down the ramp, walk
forward a step or two, and jump back up. You can now go back to the other side
and shoot the raptors at will. If they are uncooperative and won't come near
you, you can drop to the ground and backhop, but they are relatively fast so be
careful. When they are dead, follow the left wall until you see a small
waterfall.
You probably remember that you now have to face a T-Rex. In fact, as I learned
from Colin, if you stand with your face against the waterfall and use the
"Look" button, you can look "through" the waterfall and see the T-Rex (and a
Save Crystal) waiting for you on the other side. The recess that you are
currently in is not really safe because the T-Rex can actually get into this
narrow space. However, if you look across the valley just to the left of the
other waterfall, you will see a small cave opening that IS safe. Run over to
that opening, triggering the T-Rex, and when you are safely inside, roll and
fire. Avoid the temptation of getting too close to the opening, as the T-Rex
CAN get his head partway into the cave and put a major hurt on you. Be patient
and you can survive this battle with 100% of your life remaining.
While we're on a killing spree, let's eliminate the other major headaches in
the area. Proceed cautiously through the cave that you are now in and kill
another raptor. Exit the cave from the other end, move cautiously to the
right, and kill two more raptors by simple backhopping. There is only one more
enemy to kill in this level but several items to collect. Before we do any of
this, though, let's save our game. Go to the far end of the area, enter the
building, dive into the pool and get the first machine cog, and use the Save
Crystal. Health target: 50 - 100%. Although you can certainly survive the
level if your life is below 50%, you should be aiming for a higher number than
that.
Exit the building and climb the rocks to your left to access the roof and score
a Secret. You can descend safely by going to the far side of the roof,
jumping to the sloping rock below, and sliding to the ground. Now climb the
rocks near your current location, jump across the missing section of the
bridge, and pick up the second machine cog on the other side. Now you can jump
back across and use the Save Crystal you passed on the way up. Safety drop
from the bridge and head over to the double-wide waterfall. Grab the two
Secrets near the waterfall, then run past the waterfall (towards where you
entered this area) and enter the cave on the left. Proceed cautiously -- the
last raptor in this level awaits you on the lower level, but you can easily
take it out before dropping down if you just remember that it's there. Follow
the path and do some serious rock climbing to claim the third machine cog. You
can now jump into the pool and swim through the passage, exiting at the double
wide waterfall. There are no more enemies in this level, and if you have done
everything carefully, you should still have your life bar at 100%.
You have now collected all the items in this area, so it is time to head back
to where you entered this level. Once you get there, jump back and forth
across the water and follow the convoluted path until you get to the bridge and
Save Crystal. Cross the bridge, install the three machine cogs, and throw the
switch (observing that ironically the cogs that you just installed are the only
ones that are not turning.) Go ahead and save your game one last time before
completing the level. You can now collect a Secret upstream of your current
(ha ha!) location, take a short swim before pulling out to get the shotgun,
take a much longer swim, and surface to collect the final Secret of the level.
Finally, exit through the door, drop down into the pool, and swim to the
entrance that is behind where the waterfall used to be. Congratulations -- you
just finished Level 3 without taking any damage whatsoever!
===============================================================================
Level 4 -- Tomb of Qualopec (L04)
Overview:
This level is a bit more of a challenge in that you cannot avoid taking some
damage. You will probably lose about half of your life, and most of this is
going to come in the final gunfight with Larson. Therefore, we are going to
conserve all the life that we can for that final battle. The key to this is
going to be undertaking potentially damaging tasks right after saving so that
you can try them multiple times if necessary. With a little practice, I
finished the level with about 75% health remaining. Stick with me, and I'll
show you how to breeze through this level.
Particulars:
Before beginning this level, I suggest that you refer to Colin's FAQ. In it,
he details a way to collect more than three (up to 6!) pieces of the Scion.
However, collecting more than 4 pieces requires that you bypass Save Crystals
as you proceed, and you may want to decide whether or not you think that
exploiting the glitch is worth the risk. I leave this decision to you, but I
thought that you should be aware of it before proceeding.
Enter the room and look for the switch to your right. When you throw the
switch, you will release two raptors from behind the (currently closed) door
closest to the switch. Space is limited and the raptors are quick, so this is
a good time to break out your new shotgun. Throw the switch, roll, and move a
little closer to the doorway and a little to your left. One close-range
shotgun blast each will level these guys, and you will take NO damage. Once
you have done this successfully, go to the ramp counterclockwise from where the
raptors were and trigger the boulder to clear this passage for later. You DO
know how to do this, don't you? Just run a ways up the ramp, roll, run back
down, and jog to the side out of the boulder's path.
Through the door that you just opened, you will find a Save Crystal and three
hallways. Each hallway leads to a switch that you must throw. When you have
thrown all three, another Save Crystal will be available. We have a choice
about how to proceed, but I'm going to suggest we go ahead and undertake a
longer but relatively safe mission, then save, then go after a shorter but more
dangerous mission. Sound good? Let's go.
Go through the door to your left. I should point out that if you are really
good at lining up and executing difficult jumps, Colin's FAQ outlines a less
complicated way to complete this area. However, I would guess that for most
people his method will actually take longer because of the learning curve
involved with making these jumps successfully. The decision is yours, but I'm
going to outline the "normal" procedure.
Ignore the first switch for now and drop to the ground. Enter the ground-level
door to your left and follow the path until you are atop a pillar. Turn right,
jump into the alcove, climb up, and follow the path. When you have to make a
choice, drop in the direction of the red pillar. Once you are on top of that
red pillar, jump into the adjacent alcove and throw a switch. Safety drop to
the ground, climb back up to where the first switch was, and throw it. Enter
the now-open door to the right of the switch and follow the path to the alcove.
You should now see a (relatively) straight path to the alcove directly across
from you, so jump over there and throw the switch. You will see a gate open
but will also hear an ominous roar. That is because you just released another
raptor who will be looking for you to return to the area with the Save Crystal.
Hey, I didn't say that this mission was completely safe -- I said that it was
relatively safe. A simple jump from the alcove should clear the spikes and
cause you no damage. Pull back up into the alcove with the first switch and
have your shotgun ready. Take out the raptor with a single shot and suffer no
damage. Now go to the Save Crystal and use it -- you've earned it!
The mission behind the next opening clockwise is the more dangerous of the two,
so let's do that now. Follow the path until you see a switch. You aren't
fooled because you see that collapsing floor in front of the switch. In the
area below are three very frisky wolves you will need to eliminate quickly.
Your best option here is Colin's "Collapsing Floor Glitch 2", so I will
describe that first. Stand with your back to the switch (with guns drawn and
ready!) about one or two walking steps in front of the breakaway tile. Hop
backwards, and when you hear the rumbling of the tiles, take one walking step
backwards. You will be magically transported to the ground below, you will be
on your feet facing the wolves, and you will suffer NO damage from the fall.
Shoot and run like crazy until all three wolves are down. I tried this with
pistols and with the shotgun, and my success with the pistols was just as good
as with the shotgun, so I'd recommend those. In all, I lost maybe 10% of my
life, although if you get lucky you can probably do better.
If you are a purist and don't want to use the glitch, you can trigger the tile,
hop off it before it collapses, and then safety drop down to do battle.
Unfortunately, this method tends to cause the wolves to cluster right below the
hole, thus causing you more damage. Ultimately, you can probably tolerate some
damage here. Try both methods and see which you prefer. If you survive this
battle with at least 75% of your life intact, you are probably OK. (BTW, this
is why we saved right before trying this.) Either way, you can now go up the
ramp, move the block, and climb up to throw the real switch, collecting along
the way a couple of small Medi Packs that you will never use. A safety
drop will return you to the hall and then to the junction where the Save
Crystal used to be.
The last switch is a breeze. Go down the hall, move a couple of blocks, watch
out for the collapsing floor, and throw the switch. On the way back, you will
have to do a jump-grab to get over the spiked pit. You can now return to the
main room (with the boulder and the dead raptors) and enter the now-open door
directly across from you (which contains the Save Crystal that I promised you.)
Yes, go ahead and use it now. Health target: 70 - 90%.
Jump over the first three dart-shooting pipes, but stop at the bottom of the
stairs on the left just by the fourth one. Pull up to get a Secret and drop
down into the spikes to get another Secret. Yes, you WILL take some damage
(about 10%) getting back up past the spikes, but that's why we've been
conserving life. Now run up the stairs and pick up the piece of the Scion,
exit the room, go past the boulder, and save. If you want a 4th piece of the
Scion, quit and reload your game and return to the room where you got the last
piece. Miraculously there will be another one there! When you've had your
fun, go back to where the Save Crystal was, dive into the water and swim deep
and directly to the cave on your right for the level's final Secret. Keep in
mind that Larson is at the water's edge shooting at you, and he can cause
damage if you are not really deep. Get the Secret, then swim back out, take a
right, and surface as quickly as possible. Pull out your pistols and use the
"Run and Roll" technique described in Section IV to stop him. He'll land a few
shots, but you should easily survive the battle with about half of your life
remaining. (Reminder: If you have to try the battle with Larson more than
once and want that 4th piece of Scion, remember to go back and get it each time
you reload the game.) Congratulations -- you suffered some damage but still
survived without using any Medi Packs.
===============================================================================
Level 5 -- St. Francis' Folly (L05)
Overview:
This level is somewhat longer than the first four, and there are at least 3 or
4 situations that will almost surely cause you to lose some life. All that
this really means is that you need to be sure that you don't take any damage
that you can avoid. I finished with a little over half of my life intact, and
you can probably do better than that if you are interested in investing the
effort. There are also two glitches on which you can capitalize to avoid two
of these potentially damaging situations unless, of course, you consider this
to be cheating. Finally, this level contains three Secrets that are
particularly difficult to obtain, and Colin and I will show you virtually
foolproof methods of getting them. Sound enticing? Well, let's get started
then!
Particulars:
When you enter the area, there will be two lions nearby. Climb onto the ledge
on the left side of the screen and you can shoot them from complete safety. Go
right and push the block to open the door ahead, but before proceeding you
should pause and consider your options.
You are about to have your first encounter with Pierre, one of your
"unbeatable" enemies with a gun. He will definitely cause you some damage if
you fight him. However, this encounter is avoidable if you can execute a
couple of tricky jumps. If you want to pursue this, check out Colin's FAQ
under "5.6.2 Skip the Gorilla Room and Pierre". For more details, read on.
First of all, the tile that you are trying to avoid is the one with the Omega
symbol. For the jump into the room, you want to stand fairly close to that
tile and to one side, let's say the left. Remember that Lara can jump
pretty far, so don't try to angle too sharply or you'll run into the door or
ceiling. Jump more or less straight for the far left corner of the tile, and
bend your jump left so that she lands beside the Omega tile. You now need to
throw the switch immediately in front of the door (the one upstairs only opens
the door, which hopefully you won't need), but doing so releases another
gorilla to the upper left as you are facing the switch, so be prepared. Once
the gorilla is history, you need to set up the jump back outside. Position
Lara just to the right of the Omega tile and maybe one step closer to the door
than the edge of the tile that is farthest inside the room. Angle her to land
just slightly left of the center of the doorway. When you make the jump, be
sure to hold the X button to lower her trajectory so that she clears the low
ceiling.
These jumps will probably take some practice, but if you miss one, just go back
and keep practicing them before you reload your game. You will know when you
get them right, and then you won't have to keep repeating the first part of
this level over and over again.
Whatever you decide, you will want to start by killing the two gorillas within
the building. Do this from the outside. If they get too close to you, just
backhop off the front ledge and onto the ground. For some reason, these
gorillas cannot follow you there. If you are trying to circumvent your
encounter with Pierre, remember not to step on the Omega tile.
If you decided to play fair and shoot it out with Pierre, kill all three
gorillas described above, throw both switches, and pause for a moment before
going back outside.
As I mentioned earlier, these encounters with shooting enemies who won't die
are truly annoying and represent the greatest cumulative threat to your health
in the game. Your success, therefore, depends heavily on how well you deal
with these encounters, so let's discuss a couple of general tips.
* Once you have inflicted a certain amount of damage, these lugs will go away
on their own.
* However, they generally have a preferred avenue of escape. If you are
blocking that path, they will continue to fire at you, causing you
unnecessary damage. Once you have damaged them enough, you want them to go
away so that they will stop shooting.
* It is not necessary to watch them leave. If they have taken sufficient
damage and are not visible on the screen, they will magically disappear.
* Remember that damage is inversely proportional to distance, and this works
both ways. If you and Pierre are close together, you will cause more
damage, but so will he. Since we are mostly concerned with defense here, I
generally prefer to shoot from a distance while hopping side to side if
possible.
In this area, Pierre seems to prefer escaping to the far right corner as you
enter the area, but we aren't going to worry about that. In this case, you can
use the huge pillars to your advantage. Try to use them as shields to put some
distance between yourself and Pierre. I did this by simply running down the
aisle between the pillars and then doing a roll at the far end. Once you have
done so, fire at him while side-jumping. When you think that he's had enough,
hide behind one of the pillars so that he is no longer visible, and with any
luck at all, he will disappear. You are going to have to fight him again in
this level, so try to limit yourself to about 20 - 25% loss of life in this
encounter.
With Pierre out of the way (for now), you can push the block to the other omega
symbol to open the door way at the top, and then push it in the other direction
to access the first pillar. Make your way to the ledge with the first Secret.
I have read many ways to execute the necessary jumps to get this Secret, but
Colin's is pretty much foolproof. With his permission, I am copying it here.
"This secret is in a small room high up on the right-hand wall as you enter the
first room of the level. Once inside, the hardest part is getting the jumps
right in order to reach the first ledge. The following method seems a little
complicated, but as far as I know it works every time: give it a go if you're
finding this secret difficult.
Go to the ledge at the entrance to the secret room, then grab on to the edge so
that you're facing towards where you start this level. Shimmy left as far as
you can, then pull yourself up. Press Circle to roll, then jump to the right.
Sidestep twice to the right (don't release R2 between sidesteps), then press
Circle to roll again. You're now in the perfect jumping position.
Do a backflip, and keep holding both Jump and Walk afterwards. Lara should
collide with the back wall, rebound off both slopes, then dive onto the ledge."
I REALLY don't know how Colin figured that one out, but I know that we are all
indebted to him for doing so.
Return to the ledge and follow the pillars to the opposite side of the room,
turn left, and head towards the door at the end. Just beyond this door is the
second Secret. The following foolproof strategy for collecting this otherwise
tricky Secret comes from alert reader "Free Storage."
Follow the path and you will come to a long downward ramp. At the end of that
downward ramp is a smaller ramp, and you have to jump from that smaller ramp
across the gap onto a ledge on the other side of some water. To do this
successfully, start by backsliding down the long ramp, holding the Action
button so that you can grab onto the edge when you reach the end. Pull up onto
the long ramp, and as soon as Lara falls towards the short ramp, press and hold
the Jump button and down on the D-pad. Lara will do a backflip and will land
on the ledge across the water! Understand that the key element of this method
is pulling up onto the long ramp first -- if you just drop onto the short ramp,
your backflip will come up short and you will fall into the water.
After you collect the second Secret, go back to the ledge at the entrance to
this room (the one to which you just jumped.) There is a crocodile in the
water below, and you should try to shoot him from up here. My croc was not
very cooperative about making himself visible, but this is the best look that
you're going to have at him. If you don't kill him now, you risk having to
repeat everything that you've done so far, so have some patience. Try moving
away from the edge and then coming back to try to get the crocodile to move
into range.
To get the next Secret, we are going to have to dive into the water. Be
aware that there is a strong current flowing away from where you are now
standing. You will be swimming with the current, but if you overshoot your
mark, you will have difficulty backtracking. With this in mind, jump into the
water, dodge the croc if necessary, and surface quickly into the first opening
in the ceiling to get the not-very-secret Secret. Return to the water and
proceed to the next opening, keeping in mind that you can only pull out on the
NEAR side of this opening, so you will have to turn around before you can pull
up. Throw the switch to drain the water. If the croc is still around, you are
going to have to deal with him now. Target him from above if you can, but if
not have your shotgun selected, hang from the edge of the opening, and wait for
the croc to move away from you. When he does, drop and fire. One shot will
take him out for good. You can now head up the stairs to your first Save
Crystal of this level. Needless to say, use it NOW. Health target: 50 - 75%.
We have several things to accomplish here, and we have some latitude regarding
the order in which we do them. Since there is a Save Crystal at ground level
that I never seem to use, I'm going to suggest this: Let's slowly work our way
down, throwing all the switches, collecting all the items, and killing all of
the bats along the way. We can then save when we reach ground level. From
there we can climb all the way back up and start completing the four god rooms,
using a Save Crystal every time that we complete one. After we complete the
last room and save, we can deal with Pierre (who will be waiting for us at the
bottom.) Sound like a plan? Then let's do it!
Kill some bats, drop down a level, and throw the switch that opens the Thor
door. Be sure to jump over onto the gray tile -- it will open the door to a
Secret for us. Drop down another level, kill more bats, and open the door to
the Damocles room. Down two more levels is the switch for the Neptune room
(and two more bats) and some Magnum clips guarded by another bat. Finally,
make your way to the ground floor and throw the switch that opens the door to
the Atlas room. Now use the Save Crystal, in accordance with our plan. Your
health should not have changed since the last save point.
You may have noticed the closed door in a corner of the lower level. Behind
that door is the fourth and final Secret of this level. When you jumped on the
gray tile near the top, this door opened briefly, but it is timed and since we
took our sweet time getting down here, it closed again. However, if you now
reload your game, that door will miraculously open for you and you can collect
the Secret. (In fact, if you watch closely, you can even see the door opening
when the game finishes loading.) Yes, this is another glitch in the game, but
it is one that is definitely worth exploiting. The "honest" way of collecting
this Secret requires that you race downwards at breakneck speed, taking severe
damage from some perilous but unavoidable drops along the way. To be honest,
even throwing caution to the wind, I have never yet been able to get to that
door before it closed. If you want to play "Beat the Clock" and think that you
have a good enough run that you can withstand the damage(that is, your health
is at the upper end of the recommended guidelines), be my guest. Honestly, I
didn't even know that the door was timed until I read about it -- I always
thought that it was just a really easy Secret. My feeling is if the
programmers are going to make it this easy for you, then you may as well take
advantage of the bug.
From here, climb all the way back up to the Neptune room. Since you will be
taking a slightly different path than you did on the way down, you will
probably trigger some more bats along the way. It is better to take them out
now, don't you think? I like doing the Neptune room first because it is
relatively risk free, especially if you know what to expect. Dive into the
pool from the side where you entered the room and go straight down. When you
reach the horizontal passage at the bottom you will see a passage to the left
and slightly up. Take that passage and throw the switch. Then turn around, go
down and left to grab the key, then turn around again, go to the end of the
horizontal passage, and go straight up. It sounds like a lot, but it is really
easy if you are a veteran swimmer. Exit this room, jump back to the central
structure, drop down a couple of levels to the first Save Crystal, and save
your game. Your health should not have changed since you saved at the bottom.
Next up (or down really) is the Atlas room. Kill the gorilla that charges at
you as you enter. Go behind the open gate, turn right, and look at the huge
boulder at the top of the ramp. Run towards it, and when it starts to descend
the ramp, execute a roll and run to the pit. In front of the pit, roll and
grab the edge and let the boulder roll harmlessly over your fingers (ouch!)
You can now go back up the ramp, climb into the alcove on the left, and climb
your way up to the key. Exit this room by reversing these steps, go back to
the central structure, drop down to the next Save Crystal, and use it. Again,
you shouldn't have lost any health since the last save.
You are now across from the Thor room, for which I have a particular dislike.
Walk slowly toward the dark room and lightning will start flashing. See those
gray tiles on the floor? Picture them as a circle. If you step inside of that
circle while the lightning is flashing, you will get zapped and lose lots of
life. Take a left and walk along the left wall until you are just even with
the far side of the nearest gray tile. Time a running jump so that you are
clear of the circle before the next flash. I wish that I could be more
specific here, but I will leave it up to you to find safety zones and proper
timing. Trigger the dropping of the giant hammer, and use the blocks to get up
to the alcove with the key. Backtrack to the lightning room and time another
run/jump across the circle to safety. If you take any damage at all, reload
and try again. When you have done this room correctly, go to the central
structure, drop down a level, and stand by the last Save Crystal, but don't use
it just yet.
You have a choice here because we have two more things to do and only one more
Save Crystal. First, be aware that Pierre is now strolling around the ground
level (along with two lions) and will shoot you if he can. Eventually, we need
to deal with him. We also still need to complete the Damocles room, which is
not difficult but it does require some time and patience. I'm inclined to
tackle the Damocles room, then save, then deal with Pierre since the fight with
Pierre is more likely to need repeating. Make your own decision, but I'm
headed to the Damocles room.
Enter the room and make your way through the rubble to the back room, where you
can claim the key and a small Medi Pack. Before you head out STOP at the
doorway between the two rooms. Those huge swords on the ceiling are now
activated and will fall if you get close to the points directly below them. To
safely navigate your way back to the main chamber, WALK one step at a time. I
don't mean like you would walk through spikes. I mean walk a step and then
don't take another step until Lara completely stops moving from the step you
just took. Do NOT rely on the shadows on the floor or the swords that you see
overhead. Once false move, and you go back to your last save. I know that it
is nerve-wracking, but really it only takes a couple of minutes, and if you are
patient you will never be hit or even nicked by any of the swords.
When you get back to the main chamber, remember that Pierre is still below
taking shots at you, so don't linger near the edges. Jump back to the center
and use the last Save Crystal. You should have at least half of your life left
at this point, perhaps a bit less if you got the fourth Secret "honestly."
Either way, you should have plenty of life to deal with the enemies below. We
are going to dispatch Pierre and the lions from up here. I had my best luck
when I positioned Lara so that the door to the last Secret is to her left when
she is facing outward. Pierre had a tendency to wander into this room, giving
you some good shots at his back without danger of taking damage. When you
think he has had enough, you can just go to the center of your platform and
hide behind a pillar, removing him from the screen and, hopefully, from your
life for the time being. (I'm not real sure where the game designers want us to
believe that he has gone, since there is only one exit down there and it is
sealed up tight.) Anyway, with Pierre gone, you can finish off the lions at
your leisure, make your way to the ground, use the four keys in their
respective locks, and open the door to the next level. Oh, yes -- give
yourself a pat on the back, too. You just completed a rather long and
difficult level without relying on Medi Packs to restore your health.
===============================================================================
Level 6 -- Colosseum (L06)
Overview:
Considering that we have to fight Pierre twice in this level, you can actually
lose surprisingly little life. Most of the other enemies can be taken out from
safe locations, so other than the fights with Pierre we mostly have to watch
out for careless falls. I lost only about 10 - 15% of my life in this level,
and I know that you can do at least that well. Let's give it a try!
Particulars:
As you enter the first area, shoot the crocodile in the pool. Dive in, swim to
the other side, and pull up on the right as far from the building as possible.
Two lions are in this area -- one near the building entrance and one to the
left. I'm not sure what triggers their attacks, but it seems that if you stay
to the right only the first one will attack you. When it is down, you can go
left and fight the second one. Colin describes a way to avoid the second one
by doing a tricky jump -- check his FAQ if you are interested. I think that
it's just as quick to go left, kill the lion, and follow the intended path up
the building. (There is a third lion in the building, but I'm pretty sure that
if you don't go inside, it won't bother you.) Jump over to get the first
Secret, then return and drop down the hole. Kill the two crocodiles, grab
another Secret, and continue into the next area. Ignore the switch and pause
before climbing the stairs.
Pierre is back, and when you emerge into the main area he should appear to your
left. Unfortunately, his preferred exit this time is precisely where you are
now standing, but this isn't going to be a problem. Face left and as soon as
Lara targets him, start shooting and side-jumping left then back right. The
stairwell and your jumping will protect you. When you think he's had enough,
just retreat down the stairs (to get him off the screen) and return, and with
any luck he will be gone for now. I chased him away with only about 10 - 15%
loss of life. You can now turn your attention to the two lions and the gorilla
frolicking around the coliseum (this is the correct spelling, by the way, not
"colosseum") floor. Waste them from the safety of this upper area, then drop
down to the floor and head to the far left corner. At this point, there are
some shortcuts that you can employ. If you are interested, see Colin's FAQ. I
consider these to be oddities more than real time-savers or life-savers, so I'm
going to proceed with the intended sequence of events.
Before you slide down the ramp, be prepared for the two lions that await you
there. Since these are kind of cramped quarters, I splurged and used two
shotgun shells on each and took no damage from them. Throw both switches and
head out into the pit with the Save Crystal, but don't use it just yet. There
are 4 more lions roaming around above you, and it would be nice to dispatch
them before saving. Climb out, draw your pistols, and blast until a lion gets
close to you, then jump back into the pit. If they seem to hover near one
particular edge, pull out from another edge. Repeat as necessary. You should
be able to take out all 4 without suffering any further damage. You've now
earned yourself use of the Save Crystal. Health target: 70 - 90% remaining.
Go to the next corner clockwise from the one with the ramp, killing another
lion among the rocks on the way. Enter the room and do the annoying timed gate
puzzle and open the way to the "Worst Spike Pit Ever" (see Colin's FAQ if you
are interested.) I would bypass the Save Crystal for now (I wish these darned
things were spaced out a bit more evenly.) Climb the rocks, leap over to the
outcropping, and jump/grab onto the balcony. Oops -- gorillas! Use your
shotgun on both of these beasts so that you don't get knocked down. Pull out
the block, and throw the switch that opens the door. You might as well use the
Save Crystal up here because the next time you come up here, another one will
be available. Now make your way back down to the coliseum floor. Health
target: 60 - 90% remaining.
Go the next corner clockwise from where you did the annoying timed gate puzzle
and climb up. Climb the bleachers and head into the corner room, killing two
bats on the way. Run into the pit to avoid the boulder, then climb out and up
to throw a switch. Slide down the ramp and catch your breath. When you exit
from here, there will be a lion and Pierre to deal with.
You want to fight them in this corner if at all possible because you have room
to side-jump. Unfortunately, the enemies' appearances seem to vary. Sometimes
they arrive together, sometimes Pierre shows up first, and sometimes the lion
shows up first. My advice is to exit towards the rock where you climbed up
here, then turn left. Shoot at anything that comes towards you, and if it
shoots back, jump from side to side. After a couple of unsuccessful battles, I
got the lion to show up first, so I was able to kill it without worrying about
Pierre. I then inched forward until Pierre showed up, at which point I
backhopped until I got back to the corner, then I sidehopped until Pierre went
back into the dark. With a little practice, I was able to chase Pierre away
without taking any damage at all, but frankly that is overkill (or is it
underkill?). This was our last major battle of this level and aside from
dodging a crocodile and avoiding careless plummets, we're really home free. At
this point, you may want to take a short side-trip back to use the Save Crystal
that you left behind in the spike pit just in case you take a nasty fall in
this next room. Health target: 20% - 90% remaining.
Proceed to the next corner clockwise and do the fun-filled jumping puzzle with
a timed gate to finally get yourself the additional firepower of the Magnums.
Throw the switch to open the door in the next corner. Go clockwise around the
coliseum one last time, climb into the alcove, and throw the switch. Take a
swim, push and pull a block, and get the rusty key that you need to exit this
level. Go back out to the coliseum and notice that there is one new gorilla on
the floor. You can eliminate it on your way to repeating the climb up to the
balcony. Go through the open door at the end to get a small Medi Pack and use
the Save Crystal (although it seems a bit late since we are nearly finished
with this level.) Health target: 20% - 90% remaining. Use the rusty key,
dive into the water, avoid the crocodile, and pull up into the first opening.
Throw the switch and swim to the end of the level. I was very surprised to see
that not only was Lara able to outswim a crocodile, but I finished this level
with nearly 90% life remaining.
===============================================================================
Level 7 -- Palace Midas (L07)
Overview:
Although I certainly would not characterize this level as easy, it is entirely
possible to complete it without losing any life. If you have been practicing
the techniques described at the beginning of this FAQ, the knowledge of your
enemies' whereabouts and triggers should give you all the advantage that you
need to achieve a perfect level. See if you can accomplish this -- if nothing
else, it is good practice. If you lose health the first time through, don't
reload right away. Instead, see the level through to the next save so that you
practice everything at least once, then redo it for real. For the record,
there is a Save Crystal that we never use even though it is in a central
location and is accessible throughout the level. If you feel the need to use
it, don't hesitate to do so. For information on how to access it, see the last
two paragraphs in this section.
Particulars:
Swim through the gate and pull up on your right. Our first order of business
is going to be eliminating the multitude of creatures that are roaming the
vicinity. Remember that you now have your Magnums, which have considerably
more stopping power than your pistols. Use your pistols when you are in little
danger of taking damage and can take your time, and use the Magnums when you
need to stop something in a hurry. Save your shotgun for emergencies. If you
are careful, you can clear the surrounding area of vermin without losing any
health at all.
Start in the room directly ahead of you. Kill the two gorillas (one on each
side) by backhopping as necessary. Your pistols should be fine here. Go to
the back of the room. Beware of this passage to the next room! Enemies have a
tendency to congregate near here, giving you little time or room for taking
them out. I always equipped my shotgun before entering this passage. Enter
the next room and kill two more gorillas -- Magnums are probably a good weapon
choice here. Go through the self-opening door ("Welcome to Wal-Mart!") and
throw the switch. This will release three more gorillas. Yes, I know that
there is a Save Crystal here -- we'll use it a little later. Exit the building
and try to let the gorillas come to you in this room so that you don't get
trapped in the narrow passage. Take them out with your Magnums.
Go back to the pool and take a left, but LOOK around the corner before you turn
right. A crocodile will be coming after you. Shoot him while backhopping and
you should avoid his attack. Execute a roll and go into the garden. Two more
gorillas await you there (one on each side), and you can probably take them
down with your pistols. Throw the Secret switch now so that you don't have to
repeat this later, but do not attempt to get this Secret just yet. Instead, go
back past the dead crocodile, and when you have to decide, take the lower path.
Cautiously proceed to the left. Stay to your left and look into the next-to-
last alcove on the right. You will see two lions waiting to spring upon you
once they are triggered. Lucky for you, they are triggered separately, so if
you proceed slowly (one walking step at a time), you can trigger and kill the
first one, then return and trigger and kill the second one. Equip your pistols
for the last alcove on the right which only contains some bats and a small Medi
Pack. Retrace your steps and go all the way to the narrow alcove at the end.
A gorilla lurks there, but he isn't triggered until you step on the square in
front of the alcove. Equip your Magnums, jump forward onto the trigger square,
then backflip twice to put some distance between you and the big monkey.
Dispatch the simian and go claim 100 rounds of ammo for your Magnums. Having
sanitized that area, exit and turn right to go up the stairs. There are three
gorillas in this room, but you should have plenty of time to take them out with
your pistols.
We have now killed all peripheral enemies, and if you have been paying
attention, you should still have 100% of your life left. Since we only have
easy tasks ahead of us before the next Save Crystal, I would advise
backtracking to the Save Crystal we left behind at Wal-Mart, then going after
the rather dangerous Secret in the garden. So, go save now. Health target:
80% - 100% remaining. In the garden, a well-timed standing jump in each
direction will get you past the shredders, but it will probably take you
several tries to execute two of these in a row. If you take any damage at all,
reload and try again -- that's why we saved right before trying this. When you
have claimed this Secret, head all the way back past the pool and up the
stairs. Go to the back right corner and climb onto the white blocks. It is
actually possible to jump directly from here to the building top where the five
switches are (see Colin's FAQ if you are interested), but the intended path
really doesn't take that long. Besides, if you use the route across the
pillars, you can collect some more Magnum clips and a small Medi Pack that we
REALLY need. One way or another, get to the switches.
We have four doors to open, three of which contain challenges for us. I
recommend doing the "Fire and Water" challenge first, since there is a Save
Crystal at each end. Throw the left-hand switch down, go down the stairs, and
throw the switch to open the door at the bottom (GREATLY facilitating your
returns to this balcony!) If you want to have some fun, you can now exploit
the "Corner Bug" to get the impossibly high Medi-Pack near the platform with
the switches. Refer to Colin's FAQ for particulars. Back down on earth, enter
the now-opened door. Shoot the three water rats from up here, and then save at
the Save Crystal. Health target -- still 80 - 100% since we really haven't had
any encounters since our last save.
Make your way across the flaming pillars to claim the first lead bar. Use the
Save Crystal at the other end since we won't be coming this way again. Back in
the switch room, another gorilla has now appeared, but you should have no
trouble taking him out once you find him. Go back up to the switches and
change the first, third, and fifth ones so that you have Up, Up, Down, Up, Down
from left to right. Go through the open door, walk through the spikes, and
enter the ground-level entrance. Move the block, throw the switch, and go up
the ramp past the Save Crystal -- we'll use it on the way out. Jump counter-
clockwise around the pillars until you get to the opening in the wall. There
is a gorilla in there, and he is triggered when you land in the opening. So,
jump to the opening and immediately backflip back to the pillar so that you can
dispatch him safely. Grab the second lead bar, jump back to the pillar, jump
down to the ground, and then go back up the ramp and use the Save Crystal.
Health target -- still 80 - 100%.
Return to the switches and position them Up, Up, Down, Down, Up from left to
right and go through the now-opened door. Head downstairs and use your super-
human strength to move a block that apparently was holding up the column and
ceiling in the previous room. Wow! Return to the main room to inspect the
chaos that you wreaked with your own bare hands. Jump your way around the room
until you can get into the upper-level opening. Climb up to the Save Crystal
and use it. Health target -- still 80 - 100%.
Look out towards the pool and shoot anything that moves. There are at least
two gorillas, two bats (coming from the left), and two crocodiles (in the
water). There is also a gorilla directly below you. This is your best look at
him, and if you can take him out with your Magnums now, it is a real plus. You
can jump over to the pool's edge for better targeting -- just be careful not to
fall off the edge. You can lure the crocodiles out of hiding by jumping into
the water and swimming near them if necessary. When the coast is clear, swim
to the far end of the pool and jump around the rocks to get the Secret. Swim
back to where you entered and try again to pick off the gorilla below. When
you do your safety drop to get the Secret, start from as far right as possible
and you won't lose any life from the drop. Hop over the ledge and finish off
the gorilla if you didn't do so from above. Straight ahead there is nothing
except a small Medi Pack. Pick it up, then double back. When you jump to the
ledge to your left have your Magnums drawn, because you will trigger a gorilla
in the second alcove. Another one awaits you in the last alcove. Needless to
say, be careful not to backhop off the ledge! Make an impossibly long
jump/grab to the large Medi pack across the way. Before you shimmy left,
select your pistols as your weapons. When you reach the end you will trigger
two bats, so drop down quickly, pull out your pistols, and blast the blasted
pests to animal kingdom come.
Jump back across the chasm and follow the path. Beware of the breakaway tiles
where you see the Medi Pack. When you emerge on a building ledge, draw your
Magnums because there is a lion up here well camouflaged by the stonework. It
has been a long time since we saw a Save Crystal and we still have a ways to
go, so we can't afford mistakes now. Follow the path until you come to an
opening, then jump across to the other opening. Follow the path to the water,
shoot the crocodile, and go for a swim. Pull out and go to the opening and
kill two bats. Jump over to the roof and try to pick off the two lions down
below. Go to the far side of the roof and get the third lead bar and use the
Save Crystal. Health target -- 60% - 100%. We're almost there.
As far as I know, there is no direct way to get down from this roof without
losing some life. You can jump from the roof edge closest to the Save Crystal
onto the sloping rocks below and only lose about 10% if you want. I had a
perfect level at this point, so I chose to backtrack through the pool to the
ledge and did a safety drop into the first room we entered at the beginning of
the level and took no damage. Beware -- if you didn't finish the lions, they
will pursue you in here, so be prepared. Now return to the garden, climb onto
the roof of the structure, pick up the Medi Pack and proceed with caution to
the statue of Midas. One at a time, place the lead bars in the hand of Midas
to turn them to gold, then save at the nearby Save Crystal. If you have never
done so, see what happens to Lara if she jumps into the hand of Midas -- just
be sure that you save first.
Return to the room with the five switches and position them Down, Up, Up, Up,
Down. Enter the tall structure with Magnums drawn and level the oversized
kitty cat that come bounding down to play with you. Go all the way to the top
to get the shotgun shells next to the useless Save Crystal that we REALLY could
have used elsewhere, then go back down to the mid-level door. Follow the not-
so-subtle hint carved into the wall above the alcoves and insert the gold bars
into their proper receptacles to open the door to the next level. Slide down
the ramp and pat yourself on the back!
===============================================================================
Level 8 -- The Cistern (L08)
Overview:
I can pretty well guarantee that you will lose some life in this level. For
starters, you are going to have THREE encounters with Pierre, which is never
good for your health. In addition, there are a couple of places where the
enemies just have the advantage and will damage you before you can even get
your guns out. On a positive note, you CAN survive the encounters with Pierre
with a little practice, and the cumulative damage from enemies with the
advantage is minimal. Overall, you will be in good shape if you just remember
the basics -- know where your enemies will be and what triggers them. Couple
that with an extra measure of caution when jumping (thus avoiding lethal
plummets) and you will totally own this level and can realistically finish with
about half of your life remaining.
Particulars:
When you drop down the hole, a rat will be on you immediately. Your loss of
health will be slight or, if you are very fortunate, nonexistent. Push the
block, pull the switch, and kill two more rats from atop the block. Get the
Medi Pack, enter the HUGE main area, and start taking potshots at the two
crocodiles and two rats below you. Jump over to the raised ledge near where
you entered, killing the rat that is triggered by your arrival. Shimmy
counterclockwise as far as you can (stopping to pick up the shotgun shells),
then pull up and run clockwise around the upper path for the rusty key. Return
to where you pulled up, drop down, and pull up next to the Save Crystal which,
regrettably, we probably need to use since we are about to shoot it out with
Pierre again.
Pierre is going to be on your right as you enter, and he will head for you as
soon as you jump over to the entrance, so do this quickly. Pull out your
Magnums (they do more damage faster), jump across the gap, and run up the
stairs. Near the top turn to your right, side-jump into the room, and start
shooting and side-jumping. It only takes a few hits to chase him away. Hide
behind the blue pillar just inside the door (don't fall into the water!) and
Pierre will disappear. Once he ran past me and out the entrance Lara came in.
Either way, I survived with 90% of my life intact, but 80% is probably OK too.
Since we just saved, you can afford to try this a couple of times until you get
a good run.
Run around this room gathering items and a Secret and throw the switch. To
minimize damage after claiming the Secret, make an angled jump directly at the
wall so that Lara slides backwards down the slope. Hold the X button on the
way down so that she grabs the edge. She will still take a tiny amount of
damage dropping from here, but it is barely noticeable. Go back to the water
hole near the switch and try to pick off as many of the 3 water rats as you can
before diving in. Then take a swim, pull out, and waste the remaining rats.
Go around the room to get the rusty key, pick off another couple of rats, then
shimmy left and slide down to the Save Crystal, but don't use it just yet.
Swim out to the middle of the area and get the easy underwater Secret (so that
we don't have to do it later) before returning to use this Save Crystal.
Health target: 70% - 90%.
Dive into the water and swim to the left door at the far side of the area. Use
the rusty key to open the door and waste the two gorillas inside. Go back to
the wall with the entrance door, climb up, and pause for a moment, because you
are about to fight probably the toughest battle with Pierre.
As soon as you land on the next ledge, Pierre is going to appear almost
directly below you. If you stay up here, you are a sitting duck, and if you
drop down you will be so close to him that he can cause you lots of damage in a
short period of time. To get rid of him with minimum damage, first make sure
that you have your Magnums equipped. Line yourself up with the center of the
ledge that you are on. Now as quickly as you can run and jump to the next
ledge, roll, grab the edge briefly (otherwise Lara will take too long to
recover from the fall), release the edge, draw your weapons, and fire while
backflipping. When you get to the last alcove, sidejump to one side and hope
that Pierre is gone. You will take some damage, but with practice you will
lose only about 10 - 20% of your life here. This is really the worst that you
will have to endure in this level, so if you can survive with about half of
your life, you are just fine.
Go back and climb the wall by the entrance again and jump/grab your way across
the room. Shimmy right, drop down, and drop into the next room. Slide down
the first three ramps and you should see a crocodile that you can eliminate
from the safety of these blocks using your pistols. Slide down to the ground,
quickly run and pull up onto the block with the Save Crystal, turn, and kill
another crocodile. Get back on the floor, equip your shotgun, and move very
cautiously towards the passage on the right. If you look carefully you can see
the head of a crocodile on the left side of the passage, and when you get
within a square of him, he will be triggered. You can jump forward, backflip
immediately, and waste him with your shotgun without getting hurt. Now go back
and use the Save Crystal. Health target: 50% - 80%.
Jump and shimmy your way around the room and open the door at the top. To
avoid damage when dropping down a level (just before you shimmy left), simply
back up and run off the edge of the higher ledge instead of jumping. Kill the
2 rats from up here if possible. Watch out for the spikes as you jump into
the pit and finish off the rats. Take a swim and surface in the room with a
rat on either side of you. You will likely take a small amount of damage
before you can get your pistols out and firing (especially if Lara targets the
farther rat first!), but this is acceptable. Throw the underwater switch,
collect the items, and use the Save Crystal. Health target: 45 - 80%.
We aren't going to see another Save Crystal for a while, so take special care
in executing the next few moves. Dive back in and grab the nearby silver key.
Swim back to the central area and go to the locked door next to where you last
fought Pierre. Use the Rusty Key to open the way. There are some dangerous
looking spikes in the water below, but I'm pretty sure that you can swim right
through them without suffering any damage. Grab the small Medi pack. Before
you take the Gold Key, make sure that you are pointing towards the closed door
because as soon as you grab the key, a crocodile is going to come after you
from behind. Grab the key, swim into the main area, pull up as quickly as
possible, and shoot the crocodile from safety.
Return to the switch room where we first fought Pierre in this level and pull
the switch to drain the water again. You now need to retrace your steps back
to where you first entered this room by going clockwise around the perimeter --
much more difficult now that the water is drained! Make your way to the room
where you most recently fought Pierre and duplicate your path all the way
across this room, down the ramps, clockwise around the room with the ramps, and
up to the door the opens into the spiked pit. Jump across the pit as before,
but now that the water is gone you can drop into the next room. Kill the two
rats before dropping down if possible; if not, just watch for them to come from
the adjacent room to your right. Make your way clockwise around the room to
throw the switch in the elevated alcove, being VERY careful NOT to fall into
the water! You cannot pull out of the water back into this room, and it is a
VERY long way back here! Return to ground level, find the opened door with the
key, and pause for a moment.
When you pick up this key, Pierre is going to appear, and that is never good
news. Fortunately, we don't have to shoot it out with him this time. In fact,
it is entirely possible to escape from him without taking any damage (!) What
you're going to do is this (don't try this yet -- just read): Back into the
cubby with the key so that you are facing out. Grab the key and then run along
the right-hand wall until you are even with the second lowest step to your
left. This means that you are against the wall on the right but you have not
gone so far as the alcove past the second step. From here, you can side-jump
left onto the second step, then side jump left again into the pool, then swim
away from Pierre without having to shoot him. Remember that in order to make
the jump, you have to be pretty close to the right wall. Now that you know
what to do, practice the run and the first jump (NOT the second one -- it is a
LONG ways back if you fall into the water!) until you are comfortable with it.
If you take some damage from Pierre, it is OK -- we're almost done with this
level anyway -- just keep your cool and concentrate on getting the run and the
first jump right, and you will be fine. When you are ready, follow the steps
detailed above, swim back into the main area, and head to the yet-unexplored
building directly opposite where we entered this area and counterclockwise from
the Switch Room.
On your way in, grab the Secret, then use both Silver Keys to open the doors.
Pull up onto the block with the Save Crystal and use it! Health target -- 10 -
80%. Jump to the next ledge and look to the left across the way. You will see
a temporarily "frozen" gorilla waiting to pounce on you when you jump across.
So, do a standing jump/grab to trigger the gorilla (you may have to actually
pull up onto the ledge to trigger him) and then safety drop to the floor. Now
you can climb back up and get this monkey off your back safely. Jump back to
the ledge with the (now deceased) gorilla and use the gold key. This will
release two lions below you, but you should be able to take them out from the
second ledge. In the next room, avoid the lower level of the floor -- it is
full of spiked traps. Get on the first elevated level and go to the back of
the room. Do NOT throw the switch! It will only release lions that you can
otherwise avoid. Use the moveable block to get up to the upper level and claim
the loot. If you go through the opening to your right as you climb up, you
will be pursued by two rats that you will need to kill (lest they knock you
over the edge), and you will see three lions below that you can kill if you
feel like wasting your ammunition. Personally, I would just avoid this area
altogether as there is nothing to gain by going there. When you have done all
that you care to do, return to the lower level and jump into the long shaft and
into the water to end this lengthy and rather difficult level, hopefully with
at least half of your life intact.
===============================================================================
Level 9 -- Tomb of Tihocan (L09)
Overview:
I suppose that it is possible to avoid any and all damage in this level, but,
as I will describe, I'm not sure that is a realistic goal if you also collect
both Secrets. We have two more encounters with Pierre (our last two!), and you
are likely to take some damage from the first one at least. Nothing else in
this level should give you any problems. If you have made it this far, then
this first fight with Pierre is the only part of this level that should give
you any trouble at all. I finished with 85 - 90% health remaining, so I am
confident that you can sail through this level too.
Particulars:
Swim to the switch and throw it, pull out and throw another switch, and be
prepared for the crocodile that comes through the opened door. If you want to
have some fun, swim back to where you originally fell into the water and look
at the weird view you get of the shaft you fell down. Climb around the room
counterclockwise BUT when you pull up onto the tall pillar, stay to the right
to avoid darts. Now you can safely jump to the corner and then to the alcove
to throw the switch. Dive down and get the small Medi Pack, climb onto the
white block, and head to the next water hole. Dive down deep to throw the
switch, then go back up and watch the current carry Lara at superhuman speed
through the water. Pull out and shoot the rat before it can do you much harm,
then move the block so that you can start climbing.
Do you recall my saying that Pierre shows up in the worst places? Well here is
another example. See that overhead alcove? He's going to be up there waiting
for you, and there isn't much room to maneuver. You can try side jumping into
and then out of the stairwell, but that won't do you any good if he turns the
corner. All I can suggest is to try to keep behind him and give him a way to
escape when he's had enough. This time, it is easier said than done. BTW, do
NOT retreat down the stairs because there is a shredder down there. I lost 10
- 15% health here, and I consider that pretty good. Anything below 35% is
probably acceptable. Anything above that, and I would reload and try again.
If you are really having trouble with this battle, you can use the Save Crystal
before heading into the alcove, thus reducing the amount of the level that you
have to repeat.
Alert reader Lynne Moffitt wrote and reminded me that it is often possible to
hang out by the Save Crystal and shoot Pierre in relative safety when he makes
his brief appearances in the doorway. I would like to note that this strategy
does require a lot of patience (since Pierre's appearances are intermittent at
best) and that in some runs I have waited there for 10+ minutes without ever
seeing him. At the very least, waiting at the Save Crystal is probably worth
trying as you have nothing to lose by doing so except a couple of minutes of
your time.
For what it's worth, you can actually skip this battle with Pierre entirely.
At the bottom of the stairs are some items on the floor (shotgun shells and
Magnum clips), a Secret and a crocodile. You will be returning to this room in
just a few minutes, but first you are going to fill it with water. Once the
room is filled with water, you can no longer get the Secret. You can, however,
retrieve the items from the floor of the room. The down side is that you are
going to have to dodge the crocodile while getting them. Personally, I can't
stand to pass up a Secret, and I wouldn't feel right avoiding a battle this
way. Besides, the fight isn't that tough and you should have plenty of life to
spare in this level anyway. So, although I don't recommend it, I thought that
you should be aware that this part of this level can be bypassed altogether if
you wish.
Once Pierre has moved on to other things, descend the stairs and time a run
past the shredder. A crocodile awaits you at the bottom, but he won't get you
as long as you are on the stairs. Gather the loot and the Secret, and then
head back up the stairs. (Note: If you chose to skip going down the stairs,
continue with the walkthrough here.) Make your way over to the Save Crystal
and use it now if you didn't before. Health target -- 65% - 90%. Jump past
the swinging blade to get the shotgun shells, then make a sharply angled
jump/grab to the adjacent alcove. Shimmy right to throw a switch and drop down
into the water. Pull up onto the nearby ledge, and notice the inanimate rat
that isn't going to come to life and let you kill it until you get within one
square of it. Take another swim, and when you emerge look to your left for a
lion that you need to take out. Go to the hall behind the Save Crystal and
throw the switch. Climb onto the ledge with the Save Crystal and safely
eliminate two gorillas on the level above you. Climb up; jump, shimmy, and
pull up; grab the key and Medi Pack. Get back down to the Save Crystal and
save your game. Health target: 60% - 90%.
Move to the adjacent room, use the key, and jump across the water. You are in
the room with five doors that you can open by moving the block onto the four
squares. Just remember that when most of these doors open, they will release
creatures, but you are generally safe from them atop the block. So, go through
this routine four times: pull the block onto a square, jump on top of the
block and kill any enemies that you released, then grab any loot from behind
the door that you opened. There is a boulder trap behind one door (the only
one that did not release any enemies), and the overhead room has a very visible
shredder, but otherwise there is little to fear here. After you have
slaughtered all wildlife and looted all five rooms, use your Rusty Keys to
access the Save Crystal and use it. Health target: 50% - 90%. So far, the
only place that I have lost any life was in the gunfight with Pierre.
Slide down the ramp, remembering that there is a Secret to the left on the way
down. The changing camera angle makes it tough to gauge, but jump left on a
slow count to 4 after hitting the ramp, and you should do fine. Besides, you
did just save, so if you miss it just try again. By the way, who designs these
rooms with breakaway tiles? Are we to believe that Lara is the first one to
tread on them EVER? Anyway, slide down all the way to the water and quickly
swim to and pull up on the light colored square. I say "quickly" because there
is a crocodile in hot pursuit -- one that you should neutralize as soon as you
reach safe ground. Follow the path, jump off the ramp, climb up, and throw the
switch. Slide down into the water and swim to the building with the two
statues in front. You will notice a Save Crystal across the way. This is
another example of uneven distribution of these things, because the very next
place that you are going has another Save Crystal! So, use it or lose it
because this level is nearly over. Swim to the other side of the building.
Almost directly underneath the statue on this side there is a bluish rock that
marks the entrance to a nearly invisible tunnel. Swim into it, pull out, throw
the switch and (I guess) use the Save Crystal. Health target -- 40% - 90%.
Swim back to the building, pull up, and QUICKLY go inside. The statues are
going to come to life and they are very hard to fight from outside. Once you
are inside, you can fight them or ignore them as you please. Fighting them is
basically a colossal waste of ammunition, but if you want to do it without
getting hurt, here's how. Position yourself a few steps back from the door but
lined up with the door opening. Shoot them as they go by (they won't come
inside), but be ready to side-jump to avoid their fireballs if necessary. I
suppose fighting the statues is good practice, but it is totally unnecessary.
What IS necessary is fighting Pierre, who is waiting for you in the next room
to the left as you enter. Equip your Magnums, run to the center of the room,
and shoot him while side-jumping. This time you have plenty of room to avoid
his shots, and this time rather than run off, Pierre has the decency to die. I
got lucky and never got hit even once in this fight. Collect the items from
his corpse, collect the ammunition and Medi Pack from the ledges, use the key
in the lock on the upper level, and exit through the back of the room to the
next level. Congratulations -- you are over halfway through the game and have
not yet used a Medi Pack. (So far, I've collected 35 small and 30 large Medi
Packs, but I'm quite sure that I missed some along the way.)
===============================================================================
Level 10 -- City of Khamoon (L10)
Overview:
We have a new challenge in this level. For the first time, we are going to do
battle with panther mummies. From a distance, they can throw fireballs at you,
and up close they move really fast, making them hard to target. To add to the
fun, when you kill them they explode. This means that if Lara kills them at
close range their death will cause damage to HER. In addition, we are going to
encounter a situation where we cannot just pick off our enemies from a
sheltered position, but rather have to get down and duke it out with them.
Despite these new challenges, finishing the level with 80% or more life
remaining is a reasonable goal, largely because we are going to give ourselves
multiple chances at the tough battles. So, roll up your sleeves and let's
prove ourselves up to the task.
Particulars:
Use blocks and the natural terrain to get across the pit. Before dropping
down, kill the panther bounding around below. Jump up the slope and look
below. It may seem peaceful now, but there is a white panther mummy in the
vicinity that you need to eliminate before going down into this main area.
When he has exploded (!), pick up all of the ammo in the area, go ahead and
pull the block out, then go behind the sphinx's head. Pick up the items and
use the Save Crystal. Health target -- 100% (Yes, 100% -- we really haven't
done anything yet to endanger Lara's health.)
Use the (misspelled) Saphire Key to open the way, and before turning the
corner, climb up to your right. This will give you a better vantage point from
which to kill the oncoming panther. Go to the end, take a right, and have your
Magnums out because another panther will attack about halfway down the
corridor. Backhopping should help you avoid any damage. Just past the Save
Crystal, kill the crocodile below and then (I guess) go ahead and save your
game since we can't easily get back up here. Health target -- 90 - 100%, but
if you lost any life since the last save, you could easily reload and try
again.
Safety drop to the ground, get the Medi Pack, trigger the boulder, and grab the
Secret. Dive into the water, pull the switch, swim forward, and pull out as
quickly as possible so that you can eliminate the crocodile that is nipping at
your heels before he gets to you. Move the block to access the nearby overhead
alcove. Then jump up there, pull a switch, and get back down. Now move the
block into position to access the ledge at the other side of the room. Before
going up there, let's think about what lies ahead.
When you move that overhead block, you are going to be attacked by a crazed
panther mummy, and you are probably going to need a couple of tries to minimize
damage. Thus, I recommend that you use the Save Crystal NOW to avoid repeating
all of this block-pushing and switch-throwing. Health target -- still 90 -
100%. When you are ready, head up and push the block out of the way.
I have tried this fight dozens of different ways, and the way that has been
most successful for me has been the direct method. Panther mummies seem to be
nearsighted and not exceptionally bright. If you are up close to them, they
are all over you, but if you keep your distance they often will not attack
immediately, even if you are pumping them full of lead. So, as soon as Lara
releases the block, draw the Magnums, turn to face the room, and shoot. Do NOT
move -- just stand and fire. Sometimes the panther will charge you and knock
you off, sometimes he will explode right in front of you, causing you damage.
In either of these cases, just reload and try again. Sometimes he will just
hunker down and look at you while you blast him to kingdom come, and you can
escape with ZERO damage. This is what we want, so keep trying until it happens
for you. When it does, go inside and throw the switch. Use the second block to
help you get to the new central structure and pull up inside. Throw the switch
and catch your breath.
We are still a ways from a Save Crystal, and we are about to execute some high
altitude jumps. My point is that you need to exercise extra caution and WALK
pretty much everywhere you go for a while unless you REALLY want to repeat
everything starting with your battle with the panther mummy. 'Nuff said. Go
to the gong and follow the path to the left. Collect some Magnum clips, slide
down the ramp, and collect a small Medi Pack. Jump over to your right to the
outcropping that points towards the green roof. You may hear a crocodile
below, so pick it off now. Jump over to the green roof for some Magnum clips,
then use the sloped green block to launch you to the next roof clockwise for a
Secret. Safety drop to the ramp (NOT the ground!) and congratulate yourself
for having the foresight to clear away the boulder first.
Go to the new area that you just opened by the jade cat statue and drop down
cautiously. Avoid the path with stairs, opting instead to pick up some Magnum
clips before dropping down a couple of levels. Stand on the ledge with the
Save Crystal and kill the two panthers below. Now throw the switch behind you,
pick up some more Magnum clips, and save your game at the last Save Crystal of
this level. Health target -- 90 - 100%.
We now have to do something that we have earnestly endeavored to avoid and that
is fight enemies from a vulnerable position. Sadly, we have no choice here.
When you drop to the ground, two more panthers will attack you from the far
right corner, and there is no easily accessible place to climb and protect
yourself. This is another battle that I have tried many different ways, and
the direct approach again proved to be the best. Safety drop, roll, and draw
your Magnums. Wait for the cats to come to you. When the cats are within
range, start shooting. When they get too close for comfort, jump over them,
roll, and backhop to finish them off. I know it sounds hard to believe, but
you can actually sustain ZERO damage in this fight. You will probably have to
practice a couple of times, but again, that is why we saved just before this
battle. If you can get away with 40% damage or less, you are probably just
fine, but you may want to see how close to zero you can get just for fun.
We're almost through with this level anyway, and we have just one major battle
left.
When you have done your best, climb the small pillar and start across the
bridge, releasing two more panthers below. Mercifully, you can eliminate them
from up here. Go get the Secret, drop to the floor, and collect those
essential Medi Packs that you left behind. Climb back up and proceed down the
wildly zigzagging hallway with Magnums drawn, for another crazed panther mummy
lurks at the end. You do NOT want him to trap you in this hallway. Rather,
you want to fight him in the open area that lies beyond. Use this as a guide:
The hallway jogs left, right, left, left, and then right. As soon as you make
that last jog to the right, run forward, roll if necessary, and do your best to
shoot while side-jumping. This one is not going to hold still for you like the
last one, but if you take the initiative, you will survive just fine. I took
about 10% damage and considered myself very lucky indeed.
The rest of this level is fairly routine. Go to the elevated doorway, follow
the path, and climb up to get the second (still misspelled) Saphire Key (Geez -
- didn't any of these programmers go to school?) Run up the hill and go around
the ledges to get some Magnum clips and throw a switch. Backtrack, take a long
slide down, make a U-turn, and go uphill to use this Key to open the way to the
next level, putting you two-thirds of the way towards reaching your "No Medi
Packs" goal.
===============================================================================
Level 11 -- Obelisk of Khamoon (L11)
Overview:
This level is more about jumping and throwing switches than it is about
fighting enemies. You are going to cross paths with several panther mummies,
but since we already know their weakness, we aren't going to take much damage
from them. My biggest problem in this area was carelessness -- taking
unnecessary falls because I wasn't paying attention. I'm sure that you will be
more careful than I was. If not, have a good laugh at your own mistakes and
reassure yourself that you won't have much to repeat because this level
contains no less than eight Save Crystals. So be patient, take care of the
panther mummies, and you can finish this level with about 75% life remaining
without breaking a sweat.
Particulars:
Follow the path to the room with the four moveable blocks. Behind each is a new
danger -- let's tackle the riskiest one first. Counting from the block that is
more or less directly in front of you, pull out the third block
counterclockwise. When you drop into this area, you will slide down the
slanted block beneath you, and a panther will attack from your far right. Have
your shotgun ready and level the panther with two blasts. If you take more than
a little damage, just reload. Throw the switch and climb back out. The first
block (two clockwise from the one you just moved) can be pulled out and
positioned underneath the overhead door. If you want, you can go into the
opened area and get a small Medi Pack, but be aware that a panther will quickly
be upon you. Two shotgun blasts will stop it, but you may just want to skip
this area. There is no reason to pull out the next block counterclockwise --
there is nothing behind it except a panther. Finally, the last block leads to
a watery area with a crocodile. Swim in and pull out ASAP, then blast the
crocodile with your pistols from a safe position. Scout the waters for a key,
a small Medi pack, and some more soggy ammunition. When you have accomplished
all of this (hopefully without losing any life), leave the Save Crystal unused
for now and return to the room with the moveable blocks.
Use the Saphire (still misspelled) key to open the overhead door. Equip your
Magnums and save your game at the overhead Save Crystal. Health target -- 90 -
100%. We used this Save Crystal instead of the last one because you may have
to repeat this battle a couple of times, and this way you have to repeat less.
A panther mummy awaits you in the room ahead, and you know how crazy they can
be.
Remember the drill for panther mummies -- stand still and shoot. Run up the
stairs with your Magnums drawn. When you enter the room and see Lara target
the mummy, STOP MOVING and shoot. With a little luck, you can escape
completely unscathed. When you are satisfied with your performance in this
battle, throw the switch, get the Eye of Horus, and drop off the bridge into
the water. Gather the ammunition and enter the opening in the wall. Slide
down, kill two panthers from the safety of the ledge, and start climbing. Go
across for the large Medi Pack if you like, but steer clear of that hole in the
floor nearby -- it only contains another Medi Pack (which you really don't
need) and two more panther mummies (which you really don't want to fight.)
Make your way to the top of the room and use the nearby Save Crystal. Health
target: 80 - 100%.
Jump, grab the next ledge and pull out those Magnums. Another panther mummy
will come down the stairs, but remember -- stay put and shoot and he probably
won't bother you. If he gets too close, you can always jump back to the ledge
that had the Save Crystal and shoot him safely from there as he romps around
the areas. When he is dispatched, throw the nearby switch and drop down to get
the bounty of treasures just below the switch. Climb up the stairs, safety
drop down the hole, slide down a long ramp, and, when you reach the bottom,
pull up quickly into one of the alcoves so that you can shoot the oncoming
panther. Throw the switch, run into the adjacent room for some ammo, then
start the climb up the steps that were clearly designed for NBA players. Jump
over to the level with the Save Crystal but don't use it just yet. Enter the
room with the pillar, take a left, and pick up the Ankh. Go past the door to
the Save Crystal to throw yet another switch and pick up a large Medi Pack,
then return to the Save Crystal and save your game. Health target -- 70 -
100%.
Climb the new giant steps, jump/grab the crevice, and shimmy across the see-
through wall (you'll see what I mean), and drop down at the end so that you can
throw another switch that creates another set of giant steps. Climb these,
pull up at the top, and whip out those Magnums because you are face-to-face
with another panther mummy. You should know the drill by now. Hey -- here's
something different -- a switch to throw. Ok, make that two. Throw them both,
grab the item, and use the Save Crystal since we aren't coming back here
anytime soon. Heatlth target -- still 70% - 100%.
Go out the door you just opened, past the three columns, and make a daring leap
to the Secret atop the pillar. Now make a truly death-defying leap to the
ledge with the gong for another Secret, taking about a 5% loss of life in the
process. Drop down, go around clockwise to get the Seal of Anubis, and then
backtrack to where you dropped down. Follow the blue walkway through the
doorway into the next room. We are ultimately headed for the Save Crystal
directly below where you are now standing, but there are some items to collect
above us, so we'll get those first. Moving clockwise around the room, climb
the steps, shimmy right, and pull up. Jump/grab the ledge with the pillar and
follow the passage for a Secret. Emerge from the other side and continue
clockwise by jumping until you get the ammo. Backtrack all the way to where
you pulled up to get the Secret. From here you have two choices. The "honest"
way is to continue to shimmy clockwise around the room using the lower path
before doing a running jump/grab to the ledge with the Save Crystal. I prefer
to just backtrack to the blue walkway and use the safety drop glitch to get to
the ledge with the Save Crystal. I'll leave this decision to you.
If you feel like wasting some ammo, there are 2 panther mummies on the ground
level that you can kill in relative safety. Descend the blocks in the corner
just clockwise from the blue walkway, drop to the ground, and then immediately
pull back up onto the blocks. The PMs are released when you hit the ground,
but they can't harm you (except by exploding close to you) when you are on the
block. For the record, there are no treasures to be found on the ground level,
but clearing the ground of enemies will slightly facilitate our passage in a
moment.
Once you have made your way to the Save Crystal, throw the switch in the room
behind the Crystal, then save your game. Health target -- still 70 - 100%.
You now need to backtrack to where you entered. If you killed the two panther
mummies on the ground, it is easiest to jump back to the lower ledge, safety
drop to the ground, and climb back up the blocks that you used to kill the PMs.
If you chose not to fight the panther mummies, you have to shimmy
counterclockwise pretty much all the way around the room. Once you are back on
the blue walkway, go across the bridge, and claim the Scarab. Now drop into
the water, and if you like, backtrack to the Save Crystal that we left behind
in the watery room beyond the room with the four moveable blocks so that you
can save before proceeding.
Swim into the opened door at the base of the pillar. This is quite a long swim
and there are three items to pick up on the way, so don't try to do it all at
once. When you finally get to the end, you are rewarded with a fight with a
panther mummy. This one hit me for about 20% health, but since it's very near
the end of the level, I didn't sweat it. Collect the items from the bottom of
the pool and use the Save Crystal. Health target -- 40 - 90%. Climb the steps
and take out this panther mummy from the safety of your elevated position.
Collect an item and exit this area, returning to where you began the last
level. Go to the column and insert the four items into their appropriate
places, opening the way to a new level and signifying the successful completion
of yet another level without using any Medi packs.
===============================================================================
Level 12 -- Sanctuary of the Scion (L12)
Overview:
This is definitely the hardest level to this point. Near the end, you will
fight what is arguably the most difficult battle of the game, and after that
you will have another encounter with a gun-toting Larson. In anticipation of
these challenges, it will be important for you to try to conserve every bit of
life possible. With a little practice, you can avoid virtually all damage up
until those final two fights, so be especially conservative. If you take
damage from an accidental fall or from an unlucky encounter, consider reloading
and trying again, because you will want to have around 75% life remaining for
those last two battles. Having said that, I should also point out that I
finished the level with about 80% life remaining, so I know that you can too.
Let's get down to it.
Particulars:
First, note that this first sequence of events is rather long and is fraught
with peril. There are many ways to go wrong here -- some from carelessness and
some from just plain dumb luck -- so exercise extreme caution, especially as
you get close to the Save Crystal.
Head about halfway up the stairs and wait for the two panther mummies to come
bounding at you. As soon as Lara targets them, start backhopping to keep a
good distance between you and them. Remember to periodically release the X
button so that you are always targeting the nearer enemy. Using your Magnums,
you should blow them both up before they have a chance to scratch you. Get the
ammo at the bottom of the stairs, ascend the stairs again and get some more
ammo, then pull up onto the back of the sphinx. Go right just behind the
sloped block and slide safely to the ground, then turn and look to your left.
You will be confronted by another panther mummy, and this one is going to throw
fireballs at you! There isn't much room to maneuver, but if you can backflip
to a place where you can sidejump, the fireballs are easy to dodge and you can
survive this with no damage at all. Go back and get the Magnum clips that you
left behind you in the sand and run counterclockwise around the sphinx. There
is more ammo between the paws, and you can get that now or later. Head to the
opposite side of the sphinx and climb all the way back to the top.
Facing the same direction as the sphinx, WALK (you REALLY don't want to fall
from here!) to your left as far as you can. Execute an extremely daring leap
of faith to the invisible block with the Uzis on it, losing a small amount of
health in the process. Equip them immediately and point back towards the
sphinx to kill the two flying (and exploding!) demons coming towards you. All
that stands between you and a Save Crystal now is a sequence of jumps, so take
care in lining up and executing each of them so that you don't have to repeat
everything in this level up to this point. Turn your back to the sphinx and
face the cliffs. WALK to the upper left corner of the invisible block, then
sidestep once to the right to ensure that you don't jump off the block when you
jump back. Look at the block across the way that slopes upward from left to
right. You need to aim a running jump/grab for the LOWER (left-hand) side of
this block. Pull up and start going around the cliffs clockwise, picking up
ammo as you go, until you reach a switch and a Save Crystal. Use the Save
Crystal, but let's pause for a moment before throwing the switch. Health
target -- 80 - 100%.
When you throw the switch (not YET -- read this first) you will be attacked by
another flying demon. You are in danger of either a) being knocked off the
cliff or 2) having him damage you by exploding near you when he dies. Throw
the switch and quickly hit the L1 button so that you can see again. The demon
tends to head towards the switch rather than towards Lara, so make your way
close to the corner (to your right as you face the switch.) Start the Uzis a-
blazing as soon as you can and sidestep into the corner. Rotate clockwise as
the demon gets closer, so that when it lands on the ledge you can sidejump once
safely. That should be enough for you to escape this encounter undamaged.
Continue clockwise as far as you can, then shimmy and jump back
counterclockwise until you can drop safely to the ground. Go to the door you
just opened -- it is near where you landed when you slid off the sphinx. Slide
backwards, shimmy, and pull up to go through the next door. Slide into the
water to get the key, then make your way to the top of the NBA-sized stairs.
Slide and jump/grab to the bridge, and pause a moment before using the key.
Using this key opens the door at the other end of the bridge. Behind it is a
centaur, similar to the living statues that I told you NOT to fight in the Tomb
of Tihocan. Centaurs can take a lot of punishment and worse yet, they can
and will hurl fireballs at you. This is okay if you have room to side-jump,
but you might have noticed that we don't have a lot of room to maneuver here.
Initially, I was tempted to stay back a ways and shoot from a distance, but I
consistently wound up getting pummeled with fireballs when I tried this
strategy. I found it best to be proactive, largely because you will cause more
damage if you are closer. Run up close to the entrance but stay on the bridge
and fire away. The whole fireball-throwing thing seems to come in bursts --
either the centaur trots around harmlessly or it stays in one place and pelts
you with one fireball after another. So, if he starts throwing fireballs at
you, consider either jumping into the water, returning to the bridge, and
trying again or (heaven forbid!) reloading your game and trying again. The
faster that you can put him away, the less likely it is that he will bring out
the fireballs. Remember that these guys do explode when you finish them off.
I felt fortunate to take him out on my first try without suffering any damage.
If you get hit by more than one or two fireballs, reload and try again. Once
you have had a successful fight, you can go inside and claim some loot and an
Ankh and use the Save Crystal. Health target -- 75 - 95%.
Exit the way you came into this area and head to the pillars near the sphinx's
right paw for some climbing and jumping. Make your way up to the Save Crystal
and go ahead and use it because you may have to repeat this ensuing sequence a
couple of times. Time a run past the shredder, watch out for the gap in the
path, and make your way over to the switch. Before you throw it, stop and
think -- in this level, what happens when you throw a switch? That's right --
a flying demon comes your way. This time he seems to navigate towards the
center of the path between the shredder and the switch. So, throw the switch,
press L1 so that you can see, jump back across the gap, and wait for the demon
on the raised part of the path before the shredder. The demon should come to
your left, so keep turning left so that you continue to shoot him with both
Uzis. When he lands, you can backhop to avoid damage from him when he
explodes. Your goal here is zero damage. Don't feel bad if this takes you a
couple of tries -- be patient and it will work out. Go back to the switch,
turn right, and do a standing jump to the Medi Pack. You can get down easily
from here by sliding and grabbing on the sloped ledge below.
Go to the tip of the sphinx's left paw and climb the nearby white rock. Jump
right and then make your way counterclockwise around the area, watching out for
the gaps in the path. When you get to the door that you just opened and a Save
Crystal, go inside and push the block before you use the Save Crystal so that
you don't have to repeat this. Health target -- still 75 - 95%. Climb onto
the block and then to the upper level. The room ahead contains another
fireball-throwing centaur, but this time you have enough room to side-jump.
Start at the left edge of the raised path and side-jump right to get your
positioning correct. Go forward enough to trigger the centaur (you will hear
it clip-clopping inside), then hop back a step or two. Shoot the centaur from
out here, and if he stops and throws a fireball at you, just side-jump to avoid
it. Once you get the timing down, this is pretty easy. Again, you just saved
so your goal here is zero damage. Pick up the item and the Ankh and head back
to the cliffs.
Drop off the side and slide down the ramp. You will hear growling, warning you
that a panther mummy is in the vicinity and this one can throw fireballs. So
quickly side-jump to the block with the Medi Pack and blast away. If a
fireball comes your way, side-jump to avoid it. Again, your goal should be
zero damage. Drop onto the back of the sphinx and climb back up to the top.
Put the two Ankhs into place and use the Save Crystal. Health target -- still
75 - 95%. Carefully return to the Sphinx's back, slide down to the ground as
you did near the beginning of the level, and enter the door between the
sphinx's paws. Retrieve the soggy ammunition, surface for air, then dive
really, really deep between the dog statue's paws to throw a switch. The
current will carry you up through a hole. Climb out, jump around a little, and
stop before sliding down the ramp. There is a flying demon in here, and with a
little patience, you can kill him from here (you can even switch to your
Magnums to conserve Uzi ammo) without taking any damage at all. When he has
exploded, slide down to the Save Crystal and use it. Yes -- I still expect
your health to be above 75%.
If you want to have a little fun, make your way over to the dog statue and see
what happens when you try to walk out onto his nose. For even more fun, turn
around and try to execute a safety drop onto his nose. (I'm not crediting
Colin for this because it isn't in his FAQ yet -- I found this one myself.)
When you've had your fun, carefully make your way down until you can safely
jump into the water. Climb out near the center of the dog statue and throw a
switch that opens a door. Swim between the bird statue's feet, pull out, and
climb the really long ramp up the Save Crystal, picking up two sets of Magnum
clips along the way. Save at the Crystal and pause to consider what lies
ahead.
When you pick up the Scarab in front of you, the gate will open, unleashing two
panther mummies and a centaur. Individually, each of these enemies is a
nuisance; collectively, they are a nightmare. You really don't want to go into
the open area ahead and risk trying to fight all 3 at the same time because
they will have you outnumbered. You are welcome to try your own strategies,
but here is what worked best for me.
Run to the Scarab, roll, pick it up, and retreat to the end of this particular
hall. Don't turn any corners -- just run until you hit a wall, then roll and
wait with your back against the wall. Eventually one or both of the panther
mummies will come after you, but you are safe from the centaur for now. When
Lara raises her guns, blast like crazy, releasing the X button periodically so
that you are not targeting a dead enemy. If both panther mummies come directly
towards you, you are dead -- just accept it. Within a couple of tries, though,
you should get a situation where only one comes down the hall and pauses
partway there. You will finish him before he can even scratch you. Now the
odds are more favorable. You can either go back to the wall and wait for the
second panther mummy or, possibly better, wait about halfway down the hallway.
From here, you can get a few shots in without danger of being hit. When the
second panther mummy comes for you, he will be weakened and you can finish him
off more easily. Once the two panther mummies are out of the way, the rest is
easy. Run into the open area, face up to the centaur, and shoot while side-
jumping to avoid his fireballs. If you are too close to him, you won't have
time to react, so you may need to take one jump backwards as well, depending on
where the centaur is when you enter the room. Fortunately for us, once the
centaur starts throwing fireballs, he stays where he is and doesn't move.
Moreover, he never realizes that all of his shots are missing their targets. I
took him down with my Magnums and never got hit. In fact, it only took me a
couple of tries to survive this entire battle with zero damage. It's
frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, this battle is actually
kind of fun.
You can now use the Scarab to open the nearby gate and climb into the overhead
opening. When you drop into the next room, Larson will appear to your right.
Keep jumping while firing and you will take him down before he can do much
damage to you. (Note: One time when I jumped into this room for the fight
with Larson, he delivered his little speech but was frozen in his starting
position and Lara would not target him, suggesting that I had somehow missed
whatever it is that is supposed to trigger him. When I got close enough to
him, he came to life and I was able to finish the level. However, I tried to
duplicate these circumstances several times and I still don't know what it is
that prevented him from being triggered in the first place. If you have an
answer to this, please write and let me know!)
Go pick up the last piece of the Scion and watch some videos. Despite some
rather difficult battles, I finished the level with about 80% life remaining,
and I'll bet that you can do better than that if you try. However, just
surviving this level without using any Medi Packs is a major accomplishment, so
congratulate yourself on a job well done.
===============================================================================
Level 13 -- Natla's Mines (L13)
Overview:
In this level, the focus is more on puzzle-solving than on shooting enemies.
In fact, you are going to rack up only three kills. However, each of them is
going to require surviving a harrowing gunfight with one of Natla's goons.
Since you start the level with no weapons, your opponent in each of these
battles will have a weapon that is equal to or superior to anything that you
have. You are going to have to defeat these enemies with superior agility and
intelligence rather than sheer firepower. Fortunately, we will be able to save
immediately before each gunfight, so you can try each fight multiple times
without having to repeat long stretches of the game. Persevere until you can
win each battle within the established health targets and you will complete
this level, like its predecessors, without using any Medi Packs.
Particulars:
Swim under the waterfall, pull out, and throw the switch. Swim across the way,
pull a block, and access another switch to throw. Return to the area behind
the waterfall, jump across the chasm, go back a couple of rooms, and follow the
tracks to the door that opens automatically. Jump the hurdles and dodge the
boulders to get the first fuse and a Save Crystal, which you should now use
with 100% life remaining -- no excuses!
Dodge more boulders and make your way back to the room with the shack. Use the
block to get on top, fall through the breakaway tile, and follow the path to
another switch. From here, return to the water, pull up onto the repositioned
boat, and jump over to the area with all the crates. Enter the area to the
left and grab some ammo. Move some crates to throw another switch that moves
the RH-75 (?) out of the way. Swim back to where the RH-75 is, follow the
tunnel, and pick up the fuse but don't take a single step beyond it! If you
do, you will be attacked by the cowboy, and without any weapons you will be
toast! We'll get to him soon enough. As you backtrack, use the crate you
moved to access the overhead area containing some Uzi clips and another switch
to throw.
Go back to the area behind the waterfall. In the second room across the chasm,
go to the left to the conveyor belt. Head to the left to throw a switch and
pick up some very well camouflaged Uzi clips. Pick up the fuse, and head over
to the room with the overhead trailer. Enter the building, pick up some ammo,
and put the three fuses in their receptacles. Go to the now-lowered trailer to
reclaim your pistols, noticing that simply hitting the triangle button will not
cause Lara to draw them -- you have to select them from the items menu this
first time. Feeling somewhat less vulnerable now that you are armed, go back
to the building and use the Save Crystal. Climb onto the now-grounded trailer
and jump into the overhead tunnel. Take a quick right for a Secret, observing
that apparently having her legs crushed by a trap door does not cause Lara any
damage. Slide down next to the Save Crystal and use it with your life still
100% intact (but not for long!)
You are about to fight what can be one of the tougher battles of the game. It
is another gunfight with one of Natla's thugs (the cowboy.) One problem is
that you are seriously out-armed -- he has your Magnums and you only have your
pistols. It takes an unbelievable number of hits to take him down, and every
shot you absorb causes you beaucoup damage. I have tried this battle many
different ways -- and as always, you are welcome to try your own strategies --
but here is what worked best for me. Go back to the area where I previously
told you the cowboy would be. He waits for you in the far right corner as you
enter, but he isn't triggered until you pass that big rock group (the Rolling
Stones?) in the middle of the room. Run straight into the room, roll to
trigger the cowboy, retreat to the arched area just beyond where the path
slopes upward, roll again, and start shooting and side-jumping. The arch seems
to provide an extra measure of protection beyond simply side-jumping. The
camera view will make you dizzy, but just mindlessly side-jump and shoot until
the cowboy goes down. If he decides to move in towards you, you are toast and
might as well reload your game. I got away with losing only about 10% of my
life, though it took me a few tries to do that well. Anything under 25% is
good. (Update 9/08 -- I actually took zero damage in this fight. I kept
hearing the cowboy's shots ricochet off the rocks, but he never hit me even
once. It CAN be done! It seems that position is everything.)
When you are victorious, reclaim your Magnums and go back to where the cowboy
was when you entered. Do a safety drop over the edge by the Save Crystal and
use it. Health target: 75 - 90%. You can make it to the next rock by
jumping, but if you do you will lose some life from the fall. The safe way to
proceed is to use the Safety Drop bug described in Colin's FAQ to drop to the
rock directly below you. You can then pick up the small Medi Pack and shimmy
safely to that same rock to which you would have jumped. If you have issues
with using this bug, make the jump, accept the minor loss of health, then
shimmy left to the Medi Pack and then back right. Continue clockwise around
the room, slide down a ramp, and head into the room with the tall pillars. Be
sure to take the side trip to the right for a Secret because you will get lots
of great items including your shotgun, which will be your weapon of choice in
your next battle. When you return to the room with the pillars, remember that
the ones with the brown tops are safe, however, precariously sloped they may
appear to be.
Follow the path to the TNT room and pull the moveable crate so that you can
access the overhead path. There is a Save Crystal here, but I am going to
recommend doing a couple more things before using it. We have another gunfight
coming up, and you will probably have to repeat it a few times to get it right,
so I'm trying to minimize repetition. However, let me remind you that it has
been a LONG time since we saved, so use extra caution during these last few
procedures. Follow the path and make two very careful running jumps to the
brown patches above the lava pit to get across safely, avoiding the boulder
before the second jump. Follow the path to the switch, pick up the ammo, and
pull the switch to blow up the TNT. CAREFULLY follow the path back and
CAREFULLY jump back across the pit. Now use the Save Crystal. Health target:
75 - 90%
Climb over the rubble created by the explosion, and mentally prepare for your
next combat. You are going to fight a kid on a skateboard, and he has your
Uzis. The skateboard gives him good speed and very good maneuverability. The
good news is that you now have your shotgun, and it can take him down pretty
quickly. As you enter the concrete area, he could either approach you from
straight ahead or from your right. Hide behind the first pillar so that he
can't shoot you until he passes the pillar. When he emerges from behind the
pillar, do your best "Run and Roll", blasting him with the shotgun after every
roll. Since he stays close to you, you can do a lot of damage quickly, and
five good blasts should take him down. It may take a couple of tries (which is
why we saved right before this fight), but you can survive with minimal (10 -
25%) damage. My life bar at this point was at about 80%, but anything above
about 50% is fine.
Remember to reclaim your Uzis from this brat, then scout the area for more ammo
and a Secret. Just be careful not to fall into any of the lava pits --
repeating that last battle would really be the pits, don't you think? When you
have stuffed your backpack with loot, go to the exit and use the Save Crystal.
Health target -- 50 - 80%. Follow the path and dodge 4 boulders, then do some
jumping and climbing to arrive at the claustrophobic and confusing rooms and
blocks puzzle. I will leave it up to you to figure this one out. I will
advise you to hold off using the Save Crystal until after you have opened the
door beyond it, because your third and final gun battle of this level awaits
you beyond it.
This time we are fighting the thug who has your shotgun. Side-jumping won't do
you any good here because of the wide shot dispersion of the shotgun. The good
news is that his reload time between shots is pretty long. The "Run and Roll"
technique worked best for me. You are going to take some damage running up to
him, but once you do so it isn't too hard to stay behind him in the open area.
I tried waiting for him in one of the nearby corridors, but he has an annoying
habit of lodging in a corner and just blasting Lara by pivoting. The straight-
on attack worked better for me. I tried this battle with both the shotgun and
the Uzis, and the Uzis seemed to work a little better, largely because you
could do more damage while approaching him. Either way, this guy can take a
lot of punishment -- around 10 shotgun blasts or about 200 Uzi rounds, so keep
after him until he goes down. He actually whittled 30% off of my life -- more
than I have lost in any one battle so far, and more than I have lost in many
entire levels. However, I didn't really obsess over trying to reduce this.
This still left me with right around 50% health, and anything above 0% is OK
since this is our last battle of the level.
I should mention at this point that this battle can be avoided altogether.
Refer to Colin's FAQ under the section titled, "5.14.11 Beat the Annoying
Door." With a little practice, you can go through a door that you are not
supposed to be able to use. By going out a different exit than the programmers
anticipated, you will never trigger this enemy and he will stand inanimately by
the exit to the level. However, if you want to play fair, go ahead and fight
this guy -- it isn't all that hard. You may want to try it both ways -- beat
the shotgun guy once to prove that you can survive, then reload your game and
try to beat the annoying door. When you've had your fun, climb the pyramid to
throw a switch, go back to the building for some loot and the pyramid key, and
use the key to exit this level with at least some life still remaining on your
health meter. Only two more levels to go!
===============================================================================
Level 14 -- Atlantis (L14)
Overview:
Yes, only two levels to go -- and predictably enough, these will be your most
challenging. For one thing, there will be many more enemies that can "shoot"
at you, meaning that some loss of life will be inevitable. Knowing this, it is
all the more important that you conserve every sliver of life possible. If you
take any careless or unlucky damage, you need to reload and try again.
Otherwise, even if you breezed through the first 13 levels, you may have
trouble completing this one. This is complicated further by the positioning of
the Save Crystals. There will be at least two long and difficult sequences to
complete without the possibility of saving, and any mistakes in any step of
these sequences will require trying again. So remember to be patient, to stay
focused, and to take a break if you are getting frustrated. For the record, I
only had about 40% of my life remaining when I finished this level. Even
though I'm sure that I could do much better, I'm sure you get the point -- this
level is going to challenge you, so be prepared. Follow along, and I'll give
you my best advice along the way.
Particulars:
From this point on, the Uzis are going to be your weapon of choice. Even after
pumping 200 rounds into the shotgun guy, I started this level with 1400 rounds
of Uzi ammo and, thankfully, many more clips will be available throughout the
last two levels. The fights are going to be hard enough, so don't skimp on
ammo.
Pick up the ammo in the hallway. As you enter the area, the first egg on your
left will hatch. Blast the creature with your Uzis, and if it stops moving to
throw fireballs at you, side jump to avoid them. Turn right and face the first
egg on the opposite side. Approach it slowly and it too will hatch. Fire
while side-jumping and you will blow up the enemy before it can damage you.
Repeat this process with the last egg on the left. Head upstairs and approach
the ammo on the central walkway and a flying demon will hatch below you. Take
it out from up here. Throw the switch at the end and then the switch in the
next corner closest to you. Head back towards the other end of this upper area.
You will see an egg hatch below you. Watch the demon bound to the nearby
stairs -- it is coming up to get you. Position yourself near the central
walkway so that you have some room to maneuver and blast the demon before it
can get to you. Head down the new stairway to throw one last switch, and exit
this room. I'm pretty sure that you can avoid having to fight the demon in the
last egg.
WALK onto the platform and look up for a flying demon. Shot him as much as you
can from here, but if he gets too close, retreat into the previous room and
shoot him from the cover of the hallway. Drop down to get a Secret and follow
the path to drop into a hallway. Proceed AWAY FROM the shredder! In the room
with the broken bridge, jump/grab the crevice, drop down to the opening, and
throw a switch. Grab the Uzi clips, jump back to the bridge, and do a running
jump/grab to cross the gap. A flying demon will hatch below you, but you
should be able to avoid it, and you really don't need to kill it. Go down the
hallway and use the much-appreciated Save Crystal. Health target: 90 - 100%,
but really your health should be at 100% if you've been careful.
Enter the next room and make your way around it clockwise. Go into the upper
left corner for a Secret, then continue clockwise until you get to the room
with the switch. After you throw it, dive into the water, pull the underwater
switch, then swim and jump your way to the timed door and on through it. In
the next room jump/grab the LOWER ledge in front of you and go through the door
at the opposite end. Use the Save Crystal with your life still 100% intact.
OK -- I'll give you 90 - 100%.
Follow the path, jump over the spike pit, and dive into the pool at the end.
Grab the ammo, throw the switch, and swim through the door. You will see
shredder teeth ahead of you, but the shredder doesn't start until after you
pass it. Do this next sequence quickly but carefully. There is a flying demon
in the large shaft ahead of you, and you want to avoid it, but you really don't
want to fall down the shaft to a grisly death either. Run to the platform,
grab the Uzi clips, carefully jump/grab the platform to your right, ignore the
second set of Uzi clips for now, pull out your Uzis and start blasting the
flying demon. As always, if it gets too close, retreat into the cover of the
hallway. After the demon has exploded, claim the Uzi clips and proceed onward.
Go for a short swim and pull up into the room with the Save Crystal, but don't
save just yet.
Stand facing the Save Crystal. Let's number the five switches in the room
clockwise from your left. So, switch #1 is ahead of you and to your left, #2
is directly in front of you (and the Save Crystal), #3 is ahead of you and to
your right, #4 is behind you and to your right, and #5 is behind you and to
your left. To open the way ahead, you need to throw switches #1, #2, and #4 --
HOWEVER -- when you throw switch #2 (or #3 or #5), a demon will hatch from the
ominous eggs above you. The good news is that the demon activated by throwing
switch #2 isn't triggered until you advance two squares past the Save Crystal,
so we can effectively avoid it altogether. Throw the two safe switches (#1 and
#4), then throw #2, then save your game. The demon should not hatch yet. Do a
swan dive into the water and head way down deep and forward as quickly as
possible, because the demon will be shooting at you and can hit you even if you
are in the water. However, you should be able to exit this room and swim
through the tunnel without sustaining any damage -- pretty cool, huh?
Pull out of the water and follow the tunnel. Take a right and throw the switch
to enter the room where the boulder blocks your path. Or so the programmers
wanted you to think. You can play this one straight if you want, but I see no
reason to do so when you can just run to the right of the boulder, angle
sharply to your left, and jump past the boulder. Sheesh -- if the programmers
are going to make it that easy for you, why not take advantage of it? (oh yes
-- thanks to Colin for that tip.) Follow the path to the platform and follow
the usual procedure -- run/jump/grab the next platform, kill the flying demon
from a safe position, and save at the Save Crystal. Health target -- 90 -
100%.
We now have a pretty difficult sequence to complete before reaching the next
Save Crystal. Even if you mess up on part of it, I would advise you to carry
on so that you can practice the entire sequence before you try again. The room
ahead of you has two more eggs, each of which will hatch a flying demon.
If you proceed cautiously, you can release just one at a time. The one to your
left will be first. Before releasing him, let's get to know him a little
better.
Flying demons do not excel at multi-tasking. They can fly or they can throw
fireballs, but they can't do both at once. When they first hatch, if they opt
to touch the ground, they will pelt you with fireballs, which is exactly what
you don't want. If they have no immediate target, they will fly instead. I
had my best success when I inched forward to make the first one hatch, then
retreated so that he would be unable to target me and would take to the air
instead. After a brief pause, I returned to find him actually flying away from
me and I could waste him with complete safety. I then repeated the process
with the one on the right.
Your goal should ultimately be zero damage from these guys, but again, if that
doesn't work out, move on anyway just so you can practice what lies ahead.
When you have canceled the demons' last flights, line yourself up with one of
the red slopes across from you (you can use the L1 button to check your
alignment), then slide and jump across the spiked pit. Gather up the items and
move on to the next room.
When you enter the room, carefully side jump right twice to trigger a flying
demon. If you start shooting immediately, he should pose you no real threat.
Pick up the Uzi clips and head back towards the entrance. Follow the path on
the left of the entrance and another flying demon will hatch when you make the
jump to the ledge around the corner. You know what to do. As you make your
way through the short tunnel, you will pick up some Uzi clips and hear the
growling of demons. There are two of these beasts in the cave just beyond
where you are now. Make a running jump to the severely sloped rock in front of
you, turn, and do your best to kill the beasts from here. If you are lucky,
they will just frolic around and let you blast them; if you are less lucky,
they will stop and shoot at you, in which case you are screwed because you
really don't have room to side-jump and avoid their shots. You really need to
have a "lucky" encounter here, as you can't afford the damage that their
fireballs cause. After they have blown up, WALK to the edge of this central
formation that is farthest from the wall where the demons were and make a
daring running jump to the rock directly across from you. Turn right to get
some Uzi clips and throw a switch, then carefully make your way to the opposite
corner, BEING CAREFUL TO JUMP OVER THE SECTION OF THE PATH THAT IS TOO
STEEP TO WALK ON! Pull the block out and go through the short tunnel. When
going through the shredder, put on the brakes quickly after making it through,
lest you slide off into the lava. Turn right and make a running jump to the
tunnel ahead. Follow it to pick up some items and reach another platform.
You must jump to the next platform, but this time, shooting the flying demon is
optional. Head forward to the Save Crystal, but don't use it just yet. You are
going to have to repeat the next sequence many times, so let's do a couple of
simple things before saving so that we have less to repeat. Do a running jump
along the wall to the next ledge, pull the switch, then do another running jump
back to the Save Crystal and use it. Health target -- OK, I'll give you some
slack here and say 75 - 100%, but my health meter is still full. I know that
this is a long sequence, but keep trying until you can meet this target,
because we have some tough battles ahead.
If you want to check out another oddity of the game, try to return to the
platform where you last killed a flying demon. A door closed behind you, but
an invisible wall keeps you from even getting all the way to that door. No, I
didn't find this one myself, so thanks again to Colin.
We are now going to do lots of jumping and then fight a battle that you are
probably going to have to repeat many times. As you are facing out across this
room, there is an alcove to the left and a doorway straight ahead. First make
your way to the alcove to pull a switch, then make your way to the doorway and
jump into it.
To your left in an area parallel to this short hall there are three fireball-
flinging demons. The worst part of this fight is that it takes place in an
area with a very low ceiling, meaning that you are not going to be able to
side-jump and avoid the fireballs. Here is the strategy that worked best for
me. Turn left, go down the next hallway, and stand on the last tile before the
turn to the left. Turn left so that Lara's face is against the wall and she
will be facing forward when she rounds the next corner. With Uzis drawn, have
her side-jump into the area and start shooting away. She should get in some
free shots before the demons start firing. When you see your health meter
going down, side jump back into the hallway, run to the corner at the end, and
roll and face the direction where the demons will be coming from. When Lara
targets them, have her get off a few shots and then side jump left to avoid any
fireballs they may throw. Side jump right, fire, then side-jump left. If even
one of the demons decides to run down the hall and pounce on you, you're dead
meat because even if you kill him, the explosion will cause excessive damage.
You are going to have to rely on a certain amount of luck here. On the
attempts that I survived, I lost between about 10% - 60% of Lara's life, so if
you can get away with 25 - 30% loss of life, you can deem that acceptable. We
have been conserving life up to this point because we knew that this battle was
coming, so as much as it irks me to lose this much life in a single battle, I
recognize that there is still enough remaining to survive the level.
However, don't breathe easy yet -- we have two more challenges before we can
save. First grab the Secret on the right side of the long hallway (you may
have to go back to the short hallway to trigger the timed door again.) Go
through the door in the red hall and immediately pull up left. These platforms
should look familiar, except this time there is no flying demon and -- sadly --
no Save Crystal yet. (If you chose to not kill the flying demon that I
designated as "optional", you can see it hovering a couple of levels down, but
oddly it can't seem to fly up to your current level.) Proceed cautiously into
the area with the Uzi clips on the ground and stay to the far right. Another
demon is going to appear at the far end of this hall. While the room is barely
wide enough to execute side jumps (which is why you are way over to one side),
since Lara runs into the walls when she side jumps, she will stumble and take a
moment to recover. If you are lucky, the demon will just bound in and out of
the screen and let you blast it to oblivion. If you are less fortunate, it
will shoot fireballs at you, in which case you need to side jump to avoid them.
Two or three side jumps should be enough, so make them count.
One more challenge to go before saving -- the ramp with dart-shooting pipes, a
shredder, and a boulder. In fact, the shredder will not be a problem at all.
Time runs past the first two dart-shooting pipes and the boulder will be
triggered, so side jump to avoid it. This will stop the shredder. Now just
climb onto the highest part of the ramp and you should make it to the Save
Crystal without sustaining any further damage. Before using it, go left and
push the block twice so that you won't have to repeat that later. Now save
your game. My life is now at 80%, so I'll give you a health target of 50 -
80%. Congratulate yourself on completing that very difficult sequence and
consider taking a break for a while.
Go into the back hall and stand in front of the right-hand switch. Press X to
throw the switch, then immediately hold down and square so that Lara will
backflip off the trapdoor before it opens. Safety drop down the hole,
taking an unavoidable loss in health (about 5%) doing so. Jump forward and
then backward to avoid the boulder, then follow the path and throw the switch.
Make your way back to the room with the two switches and go through the now-
opened door. Ignore the Uzi clips for now and focus on the egg directly in
front of you. It contains a centaur that is going to pelt you with very
damaging fireballs as soon as it hatches. You can avoid them by side jumping,
but you have to get uncomfortably close to the egg -- just beyond the last red
"pillar" on the left -- before it will hatch. Once you have a feel for where
it hatches, try jumping forward, then backwards once to get some distance
between you and the centaur, and then jumping to alternate sides, firing all
the while. Find what works best for you, but be aware that we have several
more battles yet to fight, so try to keep your health above 40% or so. When
you are satisfied, pick up the Uzi clips and pause for a moment.
When you throw the switch, the door is going to open, revealing a Save Crystal.
However, the switch also releases two more demons that you would just as soon
avoid having to fight. So, as quickly as possible, throw the switch, run to
the Save Crystal and if you are quite sure that the demons are not about to rip
you apart, save your game here at the last Save Crystal of this level. If they
are already upon you, you might find it preferable to reload. When you regain
control, quickly slide down the ramp, where two more demons await you. Stay
near the bottom of the ramp and with any luck at all you can blow them up
before they pounce on you. Remember to release the X button occasionally so
that you are always targeting the demon that is on the screen. We have one
more difficult fight ahead of us before the end of the level, so you really
want to have about 40% or more life remaining after this fight.
When the demons are history, dispose of the creepy skinless version of Lara (I
trust that you know how), go through the door, pull up, grab the Uzi clips, and
pause. Ahead of you, the corridor bends to the left and opens into a room that
has a centaur and a demon. You want to fight them one at a time, and you want
to fight them from this end, NOT in the room ahead -- you will see why when you
get to this "room." The centaur will be to your left and will be triggered
first, and the demon will be to your right. With Uzis drawn, go down the
corridor and stop when you reach the "seam" where this corridor intersects the
next one (if you look at the ground, you can see the actual line.) When you
step over that line, the centaur will be triggered. Turn 90 degrees left so
that you will be facing the centaur and side jump right. You should start to
hear the horsie noises of the centaur. Take one (walking) sidestep right so
that you can stay on this square when fighting, but stay centered (front-to-
back) so that you can see what is ahead of you. When the centaur enters your
sights, shoot while side-jumping, first left and then right. As before, the
centaur will consistently miss you with his shots, and he should stay immobile
while you blast it. Do not try to use the previous corridor for shelter. If
you move out of the centaur's line of sight, it will pursue you, and you want
it to stay right where it is. After a couple of tries, I took zero damage from
the centaur. Get back in the same starting position and move forward slowly
until you hear the demon growling (somewhere just past where the Uzi clips
are.) Return to your position by backflipping and look right for the demon.
If you are lucky (as I was), the demon will just romp around, briefly appearing
around the corner and will let you blast it unharmed. If you are less
fortunate, he will stop and shoot at you, in which case you can still side-jump
left and right to avoid his shots while blasting him. If he decides to charge
at you, reloading may be necessary, depending on how much life you have
stockpiled and how quickly you can take him out. Remember -- all that you have
to do is survive this battle, for it is the last one of this level.
With these last two enemies duly dispatched, get the ammo in front of you and
run clockwise around the perimeter to get the Uzi clips at the far end. Do not
throw this switch (let's call it switch #2) yet. Go all the way
counterclockwise to the other switch (let's call it switch #1) and throw it.
The clock is now ticking, for the bridge that is formed by throwing these
switches is timed. Roll and run as quickly as you safely can back to switch #2
and throw it. Roll again and now race across the central bridge before it
collapses. If you botch the run, you might consider staying off the bridge,
because if time runs out while you are one the bridge, you will fall and die
and have to repeat everything since the last save. It is much easier to just
repeat this last portion. When you do make it safely across, get the ammo,
peer through the opening at the large egg and platform below (where you will
begin the next level), and touch the Scion. You can now make some popcorn and
sit back and watch the movies, content in the satisfaction of having completed
this very difficult level without having to use any Medi Packs!
===============================================================================
Level 15 -- The Great Pyramid (L15)
Overview:
OK, kids -- this is it! The same rules apply as for the last level -- no
careless or unnecessary loss of life. If something goes wrong, reload and try
again. This level contains an unavoidable fall that will deplete about 20% of
your life and an area where you will almost certainly lose about 30% of your
life. In addition, you want to have about 50% left for the final battle.
This doesn't leave a lot of room for error. On the positive side, we are only
going to fight two battles in this level, and in the first one we are going to
sustain zero damage. This level is all about traps, and once you learn their
locations and weaknesses, survival is just a matter of practice. So put your
best game face on, and let's show how much we've learned so far on this run.
Particulars:
Many consider this first battle to be the toughest of the game. Depending on
how you choose to fight it, it can be very tough or ridiculously easy. Since
we can't afford to take any damage here, we are going to opt for the
ridiculously easy way.
As soon as the level begins, equip your Uzis and start blasting. The creature
will start crawling towards you. When he gets to about the halfway line of the
platform, holster your Uzis, hop back off the edge, and grab the edge.
Eventually, the creature will retreat. You want to pull up again when he has
his back to you and is almost all the way to the back wall. Since you can't
actually see him, you are going to have to try this a couple of times to get a
feel for the rhythm. If the creature has not gone beyond that halfway line,
drop back down without shooting and try again in a few seconds. When he has
retreated sufficiently, blast him again until he reaches that halfway line,
then drop over the edge again. Repeat this until he blows up, which should be
after about 600 Uzi rounds.
The greatest danger that you face here is waiting too long to drop off the
edge. When Lara drops over the edge, the creature will scoot forward another
time or two before retreating. If you let the creature get too close to you,
its claws will reach over the edge and nick you while you are hanging over the
edge, causing a small amount of damage. However, any damage from this fight is
unnecessary and unacceptable, so if you get nicked even once, reload and try
again. To a certain extent, shimmying away from the creature's trajectory can
help avoid this, but your best defense is to be conservative and put your guns
away too early rather than too late.
When you have put this evolutionary nightmare to rest, grab the Uzi clips from
the four corners of the platform and proceed through the door. In the hallway,
move a couple of blocks to access the overhead Save Crystal and use it with
100% life remaining. You heard me -- 100% and not a sliver less! Run past the
shredder and breakaway tiles, move another block around, throw a switch, and
move into the next area. Jump into the safe places on the slope, retreat to
the bridge if you want all the Secret items that you will never use, then make
your way back and jump across the lava. Dodge a couple of boulders and arrive
at a breakaway tile at the end. This is an excellent place to use the
"Collapsing Floor Bug," but if you want to play fair, roll onto the tile then
off again to get rid of the tile and safety drop to the bottom, shaving about
20% off your life in the process. Does this room look familiar? It should --
it's where you ended the last level. Opening the door past the Save Crystal
requires that you shoot the Scion, so do so and then save with 80 - 100% of
your life remaining, depending on your decision about the Collapsing Floor.
From now until the end of the level, you will be more or less constantly
annoyed by the "earthquakes" you just caused by shooting the Scion. You're
going to have to learn to live with it, for there is really no way to avoid it.
In the next room (which should also look familiar,) there are three demons
lurking, but there is no reason to fight them. Drop off the bridge and run to
the hole to the right in the black rocks, where you can drop down and avoid the
demons altogether. Shimmy across the wall with the darts and curse the
unavoidable loss of life that you will incur. I don't think that I have ever
taken less than four hits from these things, and each drains almost 10% off
your life. I would be interested in hearing from anyone knowing a good way to
avoid these things. At this point, my life bar was just below half, and I
fully intend to keep it there until the final battle. Drop down and backflip
off the ramp lest you slide into the lava, but don't rest yet because some
darts may be aimed right where you are standing. Quickly hop back once and
move on to the next room.
Go down the right side first to trigger the boulder on the left. Time a jump
past the pendulum onto the spike-free area and WALK through the spikes, and up
to the ramp. Do two standing jumps on the breakaway tiles to get to the
opening. Turn left and do a daring standing jump/grab to the impossibly small
seam in the wall so that you can shimmy right to the end for the Secret. If
you are having trouble grabbing the wall, you are probably standing too close
to the wall. You need to be back about one square from the wall. You can use
the Safety Drop Bug to get to the Save Crystal below you, but you will lose
about 25% of your maximum health doing so. Instead, backflip onto the ramp
below and immediately jump from there to the next-to-last Save Crystal in the
game. Health target -- at least 40%.
From here you have to pass a sequence of seven traps to get to the last Save
Crystal and the final battle. Needless to say, there is no room for error --
you want to pass through all seven unscathed or start over. I'll do my best to
help you through. Start by shimmying and then jumping over to the opening.
Stand in the middle of the corridor just at the edge of the first breakaway
tile. When the pendulum just passes the bottom of its swing going AWAY from
you, start running across the tiles and turn right when you get to the opening.
If you run too close to the right wall, the pendulum will damage you, so stay
centered, then cut sharply to the right. My success rate on this trap is about
80%. One down, six to go.
The first boulder trap is easy -- just run down the ramp and turn right before
the boulder squashes you. If you desperately want that small Medi Pack, go
back and get it, but since you will probably have to repeat this sequence
several times, you are going to get awfully tired of doing so, and after a
point you are going to ask yourself why you have been bothering with it. The
second boulder is easy too. Line up in the middle of the ramp and start
sliding when the pendulum is at either extreme side of its swing. Jump at the
end to dodge the boulder. My success rate on each of these is about 90%.
Three down and four to go.
I don't know why I always have so much trouble with this next trap, but I can
tell you that this lava room kills me more than all of the other traps
combined. I think the trick is to avoid going straight through the room -- you
have to jog left and then right at the end to dodge the oncoming "lava" --
which, I might add, is depicted with possibly the cheesiest graphics since the
advent of the Playstation. It looks like someone painted flames on pieces of
plywood and then had them pushed into the room. Maybe I'm just bitter because
I die here so often. Anyway, needless to say, skip this Medi Pack also. Throw
the switch when you make it through. My success rate on this is maybe 40%.
What can I say? I'm a klutz, but you can probably do much better. Four down
and three to go.
When you go through the door, there are Uzi clips to the right, but I doubt
that you need them. Face left and you will see two boulders and a pit. Run
forward until the first boulder rolls over your head. You can now walk up to
the edge of the pit and jump/grab the far edge at your leisure, causing the
second boulder to roll harmlessly over your head. Your success rate on this
should be nearly 100%. Five down and two to go.
Stand on the far right corner of the first ramp and do a running jump/grab over
the first burner to the second one. Pull up and do a standing jump over the
second burner, again staying to the far right. Finally, repeat your running
jump/grab to get over the last burner and safely to the other side. This one
is pretty easy, really. Even if you miss, you land in the water and can try
again. I'd say my survival rate is 95%. Six down and one to go.
If my success rates are accurate, I would only reach this last trap about 25%
of the time -- roughly one try out of four. This means that you don't get many
chances to practice it because it is at the end of the sequence. Luckily, it
is pretty automatic. Walk to the edge of the ramp and center yourself on the
opening ahead. Take 4 walking steps backwards. When the pendulum is at the
bottom of its swing, start running and hit and hold the jump button as well as
forward on the D-pad. You should hit the breakaway tiles but then continue
through to the Secret across from them. Sadly, this won't register as a Secret
because of a bug in the game, but it's not like you get a huge reward for
finding them all anyway. The important thing is that YOU know that you got
them all. Your last challenge is how to get from way up here into that itty
bitty pool of water below. The answer is easy -- stand at the very edge of the
room and do a swan dive, and you will land perfectly in the pool. Swim
around, grab the Uzi clips, surface, grab some more Uzi clips, and use the last
Save Crystal of the game with at least 40% of your life remaining.
You will probably have to try this final battle several times since your
remaining life is very limited. When you enter this last room, Natla is flying
around to your left, probably just past the first big rock cluster. Have your
Uzis drawn, run past that rock cluster, and turn left. About 80 - 90%% of the
time, Natla will stay aloft, hovering around above you. In these cases, you
are pretty much dead since she is much more agile than Lara is and has superior
firepower. Often you will die before you even figure out where the heck she
is. Be thankful that you just saved, reload your game, and try again.
The other 10 - 20% of the time, however, she will swoop over Lara's head and
land on the ground behind her. This is your chance. Keep running away from
her and look for a place where you have room to side jump, then roll and fight
her as you would a centaur. With a little luck she will behave like a centaur
and stay put (on the ground!) throwing fireballs towards you but will miss
because you are side jumping.
It takes about 200 hits to make her go down the first time. When she does, use
this opportunity to square up your position (so that you are pointing directly
towards her) and to put some distance between you and Natla. She will come
back to life on her own, so keep your distance and be prepared when she does.
The good news is that she is now grounded and thus loses her mobility
advantage, plus she will now be shooting those bullet-like objects instead of
her fireballs, and you can withstand a few of those. Keep side jumping to
dodge her shots and after about 200 more hits, she will go down for good.
After a little practice, I survived this with about 20% life left. (9/08 update
-- I actually beat Natla while sustaining ZERO damage in this final battle. I
attribute this mostly to luck -- she landed right away and my side-jumping
dodged all of her shots.) Of course, all you have to do is survive -- anything
beyond that is just for bragging rights. There are some more Uzi clips to pick
up in this area but really, why on earth would you need more ammo when you've
already defeated the last enemy in the game? All you really have to do is find
your way out of here, but you've done this before so I'll not bother walking
you through that.
Instead, let me congratulate you on undertaking and completing this challenge.
Tomb Raider is not an easy game in its usual form, and trying to complete it
without using any Medi Packs magnifies the difficulty tremendously. It is the
dedicated gamer who voluntarily adds challenge to a game, and you are to be
commended for your fortitude and perseverance.
Shameless plug: If you enjoyed this, I invite you to read and follow my FAQ on
completing Tomb Raider II without using any Medi Packs. Although the save-
anywhere feature of that game facilitates the process, the game itself is much
more difficult to complete in this challenge format. Many of the skills
employed in the walkthrough are relevant to TR2 as well. However, because TR2
contains far more enemies with guns and a much wider variety of enemies
overall, many new skills are also necessary in that game. I think that you
will find that walkthrough entertaining and informative if you are the die-hard
Tomb Raider fanatic that you must be if you are reading this now.
===============================================================================
VII. Final Notes and Credits
I don't pretend to be a very skilled gamer, nor do I profess to be any kind of
authority on this or any other game. As I said at the beginning, I wrote this
FAQ primarily to enhance my own knowledge of one of my favorite games. Wow --
did I ever accomplish this goal! I would guess that I have invested at least
60 hours writing and editing this guide while playing through the game,
repeating sections over and over until I was certain that I had found the most
health-efficient way of getting through. When you spend that much time
examining anything, you are bound to learn much that you did not know before.
Still, since I found the subject matter interesting, I didn't see this
enterprise as work but rather as an enjoyable way to spend some time.
In my efforts to put my findings into writing to share with you, I'm sure that
I have made some omissions, typos, and just plain mistakes. If so, I would
certainly like to hear about these. My current email address is
brussell15@austin.rr.com
Please feel free to communicate your thoughts with me IF you can meet the
following two guidelines:
* Courtesy, please. Keep your wording and tone polite and people in general
(and myself in particular) will be much more likely to heed your words.
* Please do your best to use proper grammar, spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation. How you write is a reflection of who you are, and if you want
to be taken seriously structure your writings within the boundaries of
commonly accepted norms.
Finally, there are a couple of people without whose assistance this guide would
not exist, and I would like to give them due credit for their contributions.
In no particular order, I would like to thank the following people.
* Colin Chalmers, not only for prodding me into writing this FAQ in the first
place but also for his many bug and glitch contributions. Additionally,
Colin has tirelessly answered the questions that have arisen as I wrote this
and has taken the time to review some of the sections and provide me with
input. Colin is possibly the most hardcore Tomb Raider fan that I know,
and this walkthrough wouldn't have been as complete, as informative, or as
accurate as it is without his help. Many thanks, Colin.
* My friend and GameFAQs contributor Chad Steele. Although Chad has
absolutely no idea that I have written this guide and, as far as I know, has
never even played Tomb Raider, he has long been my inspiration and motivator
for undertaking these projects. As I typed each of the over 30,000 words
contained in the FAQ, I continually asked myself whether it was good enough
for Chad. Chad, I hope that I maintained the standards that you have set.
* The good people at GameFAQs who provide this service for the gaming
community. Here in the information-bloated 21st century, we tend to take
such things as this wonderful web site for granted. Some of us, however,
remember the day when getting stuck in a game meant that you had to call an
800 number (or worse yet, a 900 number that charged you by the minute) or
fork over big bucks for a printed guidebook that probably contained
misinformation anyway. Your walkthrough postings are invaluable tools, and
I cannot adequately thank you for providing this free service to the crazed
game players around the world. I am honored to be a tiny part of what you
do.
* Finally, thanks to you, the reader. I hope that you have found my guide
helpful as well as entertaining, and that you enjoyed undertaking this
challenge as much as I enjoyed writing about it.
Congratulations again on your accomplishment. Now put down that controller,
turn off the TV, and go outside and get some real exercise before all of your
muscles atrophy from disuse!
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