ULTIMATE TEST

Level by Szymon Cupryn (Emoo)

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Lara begins in what looks like a serene, soft-blue alcove. However, when you step forward and begin sliding down the slope, things begin deteriorating rapidly. This level is short but intense, and the walkthrough will be of much more value to those who read ahead so they'll know what's about to come. Things happen so fast and so furiously that it'll be difficult to try and follow the walkthrough "in real time" as you go along.

As you step forward and start sliding, you'll get a remote camera angle. As soon as Lara gets to the lighter-colored lower portion of the slope, jump off and grab the bottom of the rope ahead. Immediately swing forward and jump off to the sloped block ahead in the corner, as a demigod is shooting at you from the top of a pillar to your right. Slide down the sloped surface a bit, jump off to another sloped pillar, slide down that one a bit, then jump off and grab the edge of the next pillar. Pull up quickly and don't waste time trying to deal with the demigod still blasting away at you to your right. Turn slightly to your left and take a standing jump toward the ladder in the darkness ahead. Grab it and climb down. Release at the bottom and backflip off the slope to the one behind you. Jump off that one as well to the one in the corner. You'll change directions here and start heading west. Continue jumping off the slopes until you reach the next (SW) corner. Don't jump off this one, but allow Lara to slide down the pit and into the water below. (All the other pits in this area are lined with spike traps.)

Pull up onto the north ledge to catch your breath, and try to ignore the clamor of the springing spikes and all that heroic music that plays incessantly throughout the level. Note the gem receptacle ahead to your left, and the closed face door next to it. Stay away from the large medi-pack ahead for right now, as it's also protected by spikes (you'll be able to come back soon and get it safely, unless you want to squander some health going after it now). Turn around and note the south passage, also protected by cascading spikes. Take a running jump across the water and stand in front of the first bay of spikes. As soon as the spikes retract, run forward and continue around the corner until you've passed all the spikes. Brave a steam bath as you pick up the Horseman's Gem, then turn around for the return trip.

It doesn't work to go back "against the grain," so to speak, so jump up and grab the ceiling. Use the monkeybars to swing over the spikes to safety, then drop down and take a running jump back across the water and place the gem in its receptacle to open the face door next to it. When you go inside, the spikes protecting that large medi-pack in the previous area retract, so if you didn't get it earlier and the trip back is worth it to you, do so now. Otherwise, just jump into the water. Follow the ups and downs of the underwater tunnel (it's not very long, and it's impossible to get lost) until you come to the opening to find a harpy waiting for you. It'll probably inject its lethal venom before you have a chance to pull up, so use a medi-pack before disposing of it with your pistols.

Note the receptacle on the central pedestal, then go over to pick up the flares in the west alcove. The facing doors to the north and south open upon your approach. Going through the north doorway, you come to a pool filled with something I'll call rubber water. It's deep, and there are a half dozen Hathor Effigies scattered about on the bottom, but getting down there, getting one and pulling back out might prove quite an undertaking. Poor Lara bounces up and down as if she's attached to an invisible bungee cord wielded by a sadistic madman. I'm not sure if there's a trick to it or not, but I managed to pick up one of the effigies by doggedly keeping at it. It was almost as difficult to swim back to the edge to pull out, but eventually I managed that as well.

Now go into the south doorway and light a flare. Take the left path around the central spike trap, as the right one leads to a closed door. Time runs over the spikes until you reach the Ornate Handle. Pick it up and continue going in the same direction if you wish, because now the next door is open. Return to the central pool, combine the effigy and the handle to form the Portal Guardian, and use it on the post to open the large doors to the west. A fez-sporting skeleton is awakened at the same time, and since you have no suitable weapon to deal with it you just need to avoid it the best you can as you enter the new area.

Inside is another harpy, which you can kill with your pistols. The ladders near the NW and SW corners don't seem to be of much use, because the slanted tops are unstable. However, you can backflip from the top of each one to pick up a small medi-pack, at the cost of alerting another harpy each time. There's a jumpswitch on the wall to the left as you enter this room. Activate it to open the face door on the west wall across the room. Slide down the slope and immediately side flip to the right upon reaching the bottom, to avoid the spikes. You're next confronted with the choice of two paths, and the left one looks suspiciously like a spike gauntlet. It is, but you're going to have to play "beat the spikes" very soon. (At present, there's a closed face door on the other side of the spiked pathway.)

Take the right pathway and continue down the wider corridor that's guarded by dart gun, not to mention three skeletons and a quartet of harpies that you'll eventually meet as you wind clockwise in an ever-tightening spiral. When you reach the end you'll think at first that you've run into a dead end. But look up on the left wall to find the jumpswitch. Once you get those skeletons off your back long enough to activate it (to open the face door at the end of the spiked pathway), do so and head back the way you came.

When you get back to the separated pathways, go around and time a run past the spike traps. Turn left at the end and enter the underground tunnel. Those blasted skeletons can follow you right through the spikes, so escape them for the moment by climbing down the ladder to your left. Pick up the small medi-pack at the bottom and wipe your brow before climbing back up to deal with the waiting skeletons.

If you're lucky, they may have wandered a short distance away. But what you're about to face now is far worse. Pull up and make a horseshoe turn to your left and slide down into demigod hell as a brief earthquake rumbles. There are two good things about this, however: the skeletons won't follow you down the slope, and you only have to deal with one demigod at a time. The dying demigods seem to be dropping something as they fall, but you're much too busy to be worrying about that right now. After all four are dead and you've licked your wounds, look around to see what your next task might be. There are three receptacles on the wall beside you, and three Pharos Knots on the central island ahead where the demigods used to be. Jump over, pick them up, jump back over and place the three knots to open the door in the west wall on the other side of the lava pool.

Take a couple of running jumps over to the open doorway and slide down the slope ahead to end the level.