LARA'S DREAM 9 - The Quest for the Car Keys

Levels and Walkthrough by Kevin Learwood (Staticon)

Author's Preface:

Lara has piled on the pounds in recent years. On her way home from a restaurant one evening, she is overcome with tiredness. She pulls the car over onto the grass verge at the side of the road, stretches, and falls, very quickly, into a deep sleep.

The dream begins with Lara about to set off on a journey in her trusty Land Rover. Only problem is, though, that she has left the car keys on the bed in her friend, Staticon's, house.

Lara being Lara, nothing is simple, and thus begins an epic saga fraught with danger and adventure set in familiar, but strangely altered places as she sets out on 'The Quest For The Car Keys'.

She may have gained weight in real life but, in her dreams, she is still slim.

There are 14 secrets in this game. You need none of them to complete the quest but there is a small bonus level at the end. To access the bonus level requires two secrets. To activate the elements of the bonus requires a coin per element and each coin is, itself, a secret.

The prize here is to read a special custom edition of Deekman's excellent strip cartoon 'Custom Raiding Blues'.

Best of luck.

Walkthrough:

After a short cut-scene depicting the story, above, you will find a slim, athletic Lara, stood by the Land Rover minus the car keys. It is quite obvious that retrieving them will not be a straightforward activity so, here we go.


Staticon's House (visit 1)

Looking around will reveal that there is a road heading off to the east with a pond or lake to the right of it and a tall hedge to the left. Follow the road a short distance and you will see a gap in the hedge. Enter and find yourself on a familiar yellow brick road.

Run as far as the trees. The path goes left and right here. You will need the left-hand path later. It leads to a grating in the ground that is, currently, sealed closed. In the meantime, turn right and enter a medium clearing. Here, you will find a lever switch that needs pulling. Nothing will happen yet - but it will save a little time later.

Make your way back to the lake and dive in. Swim east and into the brick-surrounded opening. Arranged around a central pillar there are four exits from this small, submerged room. The one we entered by, one to the right and another straight ahead are both sealed by gates at present so, take the passage to the left and climb out of the water at the end. Have a good look around - there is a crowbar hidden here that you will need later.

Having found the crowbar, head off along the passage to the west. Ignore the passage to the left as you exit the clearing - it leads nowhere. At the end of the path, you will find another lever switch. Pushing this one activates a camera showing one of the gates opening in the submerged room we visited a short while ago. Head back to the clearing, jump into the water and swim to this newly opened room where, on a slightly raised part of the floor, you will find a green Man Key. Picking this up will activate another camera showing a hole in the ground. This was where the closed grating, mentioned earlier, had been barring access to the house.

Swim back out into the lake and make your way back to that first gap in the hedge. At the junction by the clearing, take the left-hand path and follow it all the way to the manhole. Drop into it and slide the slope to the house.

Turn left and round the corner of the house. In the porch, you will see a milk bottle. Pick it up - it will be useful later.

Head back out of the porch and make your way to the back of the house by whichever route you choose. Climb onto the garden wall but for now; don't drop into the back yard. If you do accidentally fall in, there is a ladder which will give you access to the top of the wall once more. Do feel free to admire the Victorian architecture of the house at any time.

At the rear of the house, jump from the garden wall onto the low roof of the outhouse. From here, you can climb up to the main roof. Run toward the front and notice a jump switch high on the wall of the attic room window. Jump up and grab the switch - a camera will show a door opening in the outhouse.

Go all the way back and drop into the yard. Admire the cats peering out of the window at you (In case it is of interest, the one on the left is called Rufus and the one on the right is named Olly). Enter the door of the outhouse and activate the lever switch you will find therein. A camera shows the back door opening. You will also see that a fire has ignited in the brazier in the yard. You will need this soon. The inner back door opens as you approach. Also, as you enter, the fridge door opens - we'll come to that in a moment.

Take a look around. At the West end of the room is a closed door. Another closed door is to your right. A little further into the room is a crude boiler in an alcove and, on a shelf through a window, you can see a torch.

Place the milk in the fridge and the pantry door opens. Enter and pick up the torch from the window shelf. Go back out into the yard and light the torch then back into the house and light the boiler. This opens the door to the main house. You will not need the torch again so dispose of it. (I usually sling it into the boiler).

Just outside this room, there is a cupboard under the stairs. I always keep a shotgun in here that you can take if you wish. Feel free to explore my home for as long as you like but, at the moment, most of the doors are locked. When you are ready, climb up all the stairs to the very top of the house and use the Man Key in its lock. The door to the back attic room opens and you may enter.

Go into the room and activate the lever switch near the shuttered window. This opens the door to the front attic room. Go into this room and activate another lever switch. A camera will show one of the gratings opening in the yard. Whilst in this room, look up. You will see an opening in the ceiling with a clay vase in the roof space. You can do nothing with it yet, but it is fairly important to remember that it is here.

Back down to the yard and through an open grating. Follow the passage around to the right. You will see a sloping passage coming back down but you cannot get through this way. Slide down the slope and arrive at-:

The Orb Chambers (Part 1)

At the bottom of the slope, you will find yourself in a large, ornately decorated chamber. There is a closed door in the west wall with a Drin Key receptacle beside it, and a glass passage leading off to the east. In the room below this passage, you can see a Russ Key - the object you have come here to collect. Follow this passage, up a steep step and round a corner. Tread carefully - there is a long drop just ahead.

Walk to the edge and do a standing jump to one of the alcoves in the east and west walls. Activate the switch then back into the corner with your back to the wall with the switch. Do a run-jump-grab to the alcove on the opposite side and activate the next switch. This will cause the door you entered by to close and the previously closed one to open. You must now jump from the alcove through the newly opened door. This is not too difficult once you get lined up correctly - just aim for the edge of the door.

Follow the corridor until it opens out into a room with several columns in. Do not drop to the floor of this room - it is lethal - as are most of the columns. Fortunately, there is a large mirror in this room that is showing where the dangers are. Please use it. Try to get to the other end of the room without my help......
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But - should you get stuck, follow this route:

From The entrance, jump south-easterly to the column nearest the mirror. Jump to the next column to the east then turn north. Do a long running jump/grab over the spike column to the one on the other side of the room. This is possible only if you stand right on the edge of the column. (As it is sloping, it sometimes causes Lara to stop just short of the edge).

If you look in the mirror, you will see that the flame, on top of the next block down to the south-east, has gone out allowing a standing jump to it. Do so, and the flame on the lowest block next to the mirror will go out. This is the way to go. Finally, do a jump/grab into the corridor ahead and follow the passage that heads off to the east.

Just around the corner, you enter a room with two rolling spike-balls. All you need to do is dodge between them to the passage that slopes down at the southern end of the room.

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Unless you wish to pick up the first secret.
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Check out the alcoves above the rolling balls. In these, you will find a door to climb up through. Here, you will find a closed gate and a lever switch. Activate the switch - nothing happens the first time - then make your way to the alcove on the other side of the ball room. Activating the lever switch here will open the gates on both sides of the room.

Follow the passage upwards. At the top, notice a pair of gates to the north and a depression in the floor to the south - is this giving away any clues yet?

Pull the lever in the east wall by the double gates, then make a rather hurried dash for the passage you entered by until the rolling balls have passed safely by. Run up the slope and turn right at the top. Follow a short passage into a small room with a pedestal on a raised dais. Upon the pedestal is our first secret - a coin.

Make your way back to the ball room and exit at the south.

Follow the passage to a small room with a water-filled hole. Plunge in. All you have to do here is follow the passage to the air gap - it's not quite as easy as that to do but persevere. You'll soon get the hang of it.

At the air gap, climb out and jump into the alcove to retrieve a Turr Key. Picking up this key triggers a camera that shows a submerged gate opening. To get there, turn to face the alcove exit (East) then just head in that direction back into the water and follow the rest of the passage. If you end up back in the small room with the water filled hole, then you went the wrong way. You should be in a larger room with a water-filled hole at one end and a large hole in the floor with a pole in the middle at the other end. Jump to the pole and slide to the bottom. Follow the short passage and find yourself at the base of a tower in some sort of church. Please feel free to explore and admire the magnificent architecture and the superb 'Puff and Bellows' Pipe Organ situated at the eastern end of the building.

In the centre of the church, at the tower end, there is an altar with a vase upon it. Facing the tower, there are two raised sections of floor with crosses, flames and more vases. Shoot the vase on the altar and the flame on the south-west section of floor will go out. Pull the cross out from the corner and slide it onto the spot where the flame was. A camera shows a section of the organ sinking into the ground revealing a lever.

Activate this lever. Nothing seems to happen - but, if you look, the other flame has gone out. You can now repeat the cross sliding procedure with the second cross. This will cause another camera to show the other part of the organ casing sinking into the ground to reveal another lever.

Activating this lever causes a cage to lift allowing you to obtain a Drin Key. Heading back to the tower will show that a door has closed, cutting off your exit from this restful place. There must be another way out.

Please, do try to find it yourself - I was very pleased with my cunning in concealing it.
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If you get really, really stuck - try pushing the organ to one side.

A short passage is revealed with a Turr Key Hole at the end. Use your key and enter the rather splendid church garden with its ornamental fountains and a rather bizarre iron construction at the far end.

Jump to the fountain column on the northern side of the small bridge. From here, jump and grab the ledge in the waterfall straight ahead. Crawl into the dark crawlspace. Just inside, there is a drop into water and a passage leading off to the right. This is also the location of seret#2. Lower yourself from the ledge and shimmy to the right - you will find that there is a thin crack for Lara to grip. Once Lara is on the sheer wall, you should see an opening in the wall a little lower down. Drop, grab and pull up into the secret area for a small medi-pack and some flares. Back out of the tunnel and drop into the water. Swim out into the pond and climb back onto the fountain column. Back up into the crawl space but this time, take the passage to the right. As soon as you can stand, draw your weapons - just around the corner at the end of the passage, there is a cyborg-soldier. Dispose of him and collect the goodies that await you.

You are now in the iron construction. At one end of the room, there is a lever switch. Leave it alone for the moment and, instead, go to the opening in the east wall. If you drop down, you will find a closed door. Above this area is, apparently, a window. It is not real and you can jump through it to the roof to pick up secret #3 - some more flares. (Well, you never know when they will come in handy.)

Drop back into the iron construction and push the lever switch. Sit back and enjoy a splendid fly-by that gives a clue on where to go next.

Drop down the hole in the east wall and exit through the now open door. Draw your guns - there is a pair of cyborg-soldiers waiting for you outside.
Once these are dispatched, make your way back through the church. The door will now open when you stand on the pad. Climb back up the pole and then swim back through the glass passages. Dodge the rolling balls once more and then its once more through the mirror room. With a couple of the flames out, this time, it is a slightly easier journey so I will let you figure it out for yourself.

You are, once more, at the top of the tall tower. You only need to operate one of the switches for the return journey, though. Enjoy. At the end of all this, you will be back in the entrance hall of the Orb Chambers.

Place the Drin Key in its holder and the door to the right will open. Head into the passage and see a knife ball drop from the roof and swing on the end of its rope. Check out the dark recess to your left - there is a crawlspace in the wall here which it would be best to explore now. You will not be able to get to it later and I am sure you will want secret #4. (At least, you will if you want to get into the bonus level.) By the way, try not to use this weapon - there is not much ammo supplied for it and you must have at least one bullet left if you wish to enter the bonus level.

Back into the passage and opposite the dark alcove you will see another passage which, currently, is blocked so, in the meantime, go and check out the other end of the open passage by crawling under the knife ball.

You find yourself in a smallish room with two closed doors and a pushable object on a metal floor that sinks a little when you stand on it. There is also a loud, rhythmic crashing sound coming from behind you.

As you are not yet able to push the large block onto the nearby pad, head back up the tunnel with the knife ball and, choosing the right moment, dodge past the sliding crusher block into the previously blocked passage.

At the end of this new passage, you will find two rooms, one closed, with transporters in them. Enter the open room and step onto the transporter pad. This will take you to . . . . .

The Ring Machine (Visit 1)

You will find yourself in a similar pair of rooms to the ones you have just left. Again, one of the rooms is currently closed. Exit the room and head off along the passage to the east. Note the triple gates to your right, a window to your left and, just around the corner, a glass panel in the floor offering a view of an item you will need shortly.

If you explore for a while, you will find a pair of closed gates (these open much later), several windows giving views of various parts of this level and even get a glimpse of the Ring Machine, itself - so many joys to come. If you have followed the passage as far as you can go, you will find a closed gate with a Sil Keyhole. This is the key you could see through the glass floor panel.

To get it, stand in the room with the pit and three doors that you cannot reach. Drop and grab the edge of the pit. You will see an opening in the wall just below the passage. Drop and grab then pull yourself into the opening. Crawl through the passage until you can stand, then enter a small room with the Sil Key in a block of glass, two gates, both closed, and an entrance to a large room.

Enter the large room and draw your guns. There is a cyborg soldier on a ledge above you. It would be prudent to dispatch him now otherwise he will keep taking pot-shots at you while you try to solve the puzzles. You may notice that there is a jump switch on the wall where the soldier was standing - you will get there soon.

Once the area is secured, take a look at your surroundings. There is another deep pit with a lever switch on a ledge on the southern side. A closed gate in the wall to the Southwest and a pressure pad on the floor in the same direction.

Stand on the pad and a camera will show a door opening back in the glass-block room. This is a timed run and the timer starts the moment you leave the pad. Run back to the glass-block room and through the gate. Activate the wall switch within and another camera shows the wall gate opening in the big room.

Head back and do a fairly tricky run, jump and grab to the newly opened door. Follow this passage up to the end and monkey swing to the opposite ledge. You can now activate the jump switch and watch a section of the wall, below, extending over the pit.

Slide back to the floor and do another fairly tricky run, jump grab to the block. As you pull up onto the block, another one will extend from the wall giving access to the southern ledge. Go here and activate the lever switch. A camera will show the Sil Key is now free from the block. Make your way back and collect your prize.

As you pick up the key, the gate to the west opens allowing you to exit this section via a little climb and a slide. At the bottom of the slide, turn left and follow the passage past the pit, up the slope, etc. all the way to the end and use the Sil Key in its keyhole. The gate next to you will open allowing you into the fire room. What fun.

Arranged around the walls in this room are six wall switches. Flames protect all bar one. There is also another gate opposite the entrance and the key for this is in the compartment in the south east corner of the room.
Operating the first switch will turn the flames off for the next switch in the sequence. These are, of course, timed - and quite tightly, too. Fortunately, you only have to operate three to open the large water-door. This will also extinguish the flames on the start lever for the second sequence of three switches. This sequence opens one of the gates behind the water-door. (And no, the water-door will not put you out if you catch fire, so save regularly - but not in the same slot). Go get 'em tiger.

Having opened the water-door and one gate, climb up into the compartment and activate the wall switch to open the other gate thus gaining the Spar Key.

Use this key in its keyhole in the corner of the fire room and follow the passage to the vault. This is quite a large room but, at the moment, sheets of indestructible glass restrict access to most of it. (Well, you can't break it.) You can, however, obtain the Man Key from its podium.

Make your way back to the corridor with two keyholes. That is the Ring Machine behind the glass. Use the Man Key. A camera shows the triple gates opening near where you started this section. If you look at the Ring Machine, you will see that the green ring is now rotating. Great, isn't it?

Head back to the triple gates. This room is not as daunting as it looks. Run under the flames and activate the jump switch on the wall at the end of the room. All the flames go out. You can now run back to the top end of the room and monkey swing all the way back to the alcove above the jump switch.

Pick up the Whis Key and activate the lever switch (though you do not have to do them in that order - just make sure you do both). Activating the lever switch causes a camera view of a gate opening in the transporter rooms. It also re-lights one of the flames so you will have to lower yourself out of the alcove carefully.

Head back to the transporter - you have finished here for now. Stand on the pad and you are taken back to . . .

The Orb Chambers (Part 2)

Leave the transporters behind and head back to the room with the sinking floor. This means dodging the crusher block and ducking under the knife ball again. Place the Whis Key in its holder and enter the new passage. Follow it to the end watching out for a rolling spike ball along the way.

In this small room below the metal floor, you will see a tall, pushable column. Place it below the sinking floor to hold the floor in place. Exit through the door behind where the column was initially situated.

You are now able to move the large block off of the metal floor and onto the waiting pad. A camera will show a section of the floor sinking in the Orb Chambers entrance hall. You will have to duck under the knife ball and dodge the crusher block one more time to get there.

Drop into the hole and run into the room ahead to collect the Russ Key. As you pick it up, the door, ahead, will open. Go through this door and slide the ramp back to . . . . .

Staticon's House (visit 2)

At the base of the ramp, you find that you are back in the brick passage close to where you entered the Orb Chambers. Run back to the back yard of the house and re-enter the house. Once inside, go up the short staircase and head for the front door. On the wall to your left, you will see the Russ Keyhole. Use the Russ Key and enter the front room.

All you have to do here is to dodge the sequence flames and activate the lever switch in the corner near the shuttered window. Once done, exit the room and take the first door to the left. Another lever switch awaits you, here.

A camera shows another grating opening in the yard. This is your next port of call. When you get there, follow the passage. It is very much like the passage to the Orb Chambers, but this one will take you . . . . . .

Through The Looking Glass (Part 1)

Draw your weapons - there are a pair of cyborg soldier guards awaiting your arrival. Once they are disposed of, you may take a look around. You are in a largish room, split into three sections by glass walls. On the far side of the room, you can see a Spi Key. This is the ultimate objective of this part of the level but there are still two sets of windows between you and the prize.

Exit this room by the door opposite the entrance slide. You will enter a large room with hollow metal pillars and a mirror mounted quite high on the wall. Most of the pillars are too high to climb but, near the north wall, there are two lower ones. Climb the pillar in the north east corner. You should be able to see some interesting clues in the mirror from here. If not, Just do a run, jump and grab to the taller pillar by the north wall.

If it helps, the binoculars can be quite useful here. Look around and notice that some of the reflected pillar tops have fire on them. It would not be wise to jump onto their counterparts in this room. You may also notice that there appears to be an opening in the wall just behind you.

Concealed in here, you will find secret #5. You will need to line up at a slight angle as the other end of the column you are standing on has an invisible flame on it. Do a standing jump to seemingly blank wall. Grab and pull up into a crawlspace to collect your second coin.

Crawl back out and drop to the floor, then make your way back up onto the pillar. Using the mirror to guide you, make your way over to the double column nearer the mirror. As you land on the top of this column, the flame on the pillar nearest to the mirror in the south east corner goes out. Jump to this pillar and the flame goes out on the matching pillar in the south west corner. Make your way to the top of that pillar. Now, for the fun part - face the mirror and walk forwards.

You have now passed through the looking glass. Drop to the floor and head for the door. Have your guns ready. There is another couple of cyborg soldiers waiting to pounce. Dispatch these, and follow the passage into the large room with the Golden Bridge.

In this room, you will notice several gates, all closed, and the Golden Bridge spanning a very deep pit. The bottom of the pit is where you need to go first. Head to the western end of the ledge then drop and grab into the pit. You will notice a shimmy crack sloping down to the east so, drop and grab to the crack and start shimmying.

When nearly at the eastern wall, drop and grab to another crack sloping down to the west. At the end of this crack, you can pull up into a crawlspace. Crawl to the west and into a passage that leads around to doorway from which you can jump to a tall pillar. You will notice that there is a closed gate in the southern wall and a ladder leading down to the base of the pit on the side of this column. Go down.

At the base, ready your weapons - you are about to be attacked by some strange enemies.

Once you have disposed of the soldiers, activate the lever under the roof of the pavilion. A camera shows one of the gates, high above, opening. While you are here, run into the opening in the east wall. At the end, you will see a crawlspace and, inside it, a small health pack. This is secret #6.

Back to the tall column and climb the ladder. Although there was no camera showing it, the gate in the south wall has also opened. Do a standing jump and grab, then pull up into the passage. (Lara can not jump directly into the passage due to the gate rising above the door - a quirk of the TR engine design.)

Follow the passage to its end and climb up into the room above. It doesn't matter which side - the next passage goes round a central, walled area and comes back to the hole in the floor you are now exiting. On the inner wall, on the opposite side of this room, there is a red section. Push this inward as far as you can. This reveals a second red block. Again, push this as far as it will go. This exposes a yellow block which should also be pushed as far as possible.

You can now get access to the area behind the first red block. Push it back onto its original position. Now, pull the yellow block you moved just now back to its original position. This reveals a hole in the ceiling that, incidentally, is the way out of this room. To get into the hole, you will need to slide the yellow block on the north side of the hole into the corner. This allows you to pull up into the passage above.

Before doing so, though, pull the yellow block in the south corner out so that it blocks the exit. Take a look at the space it occupied and find secret #7, a large medi-pack.

Bush the block back into its corner and climb up into the hole. Follow this passage to the end. A gate will open ahead of you. Position yourself for a jump and do a running jump back into the Golden Bridge room.

Enter the blue room. In here, you will see a Whis Key receptacle next to a glassed-in partition, a triple gate directly ahead and a lever switch on the east wall. Activate this switch. A camera shows the next gate opening in the Golden Bridge room.

Run back out and jump onto the sloped wall section by the deep pit. Slide down and grab the edge then shimmy along and around the corner to the open gate. Pull up into the passage. Follow it to the south and draw your guns.

At the end, enter the large room and do battle with a small army of card soldiers. Once they have been disposed of, look around and notice a raised section of floor at the west end of the room and two lever switches. Watch out near the raised floor - The Queen of Hearts will welcome you and attempt to kill you here. Also beware of a few more card soldiers who will attempt to creep up on you.

Activate the two lever switches, disposing of more soldiers at the same time, and a block will rise on the raised section. This gives you access to a hole in the roof where you need to go next.

Climb the block and pull up into a new passage. Follow it to a room with an ice floor, three blocks and several gates. Firstly, slide each of the blocks along the grooves to the other end. This causes a gate to open at the north west end of the room. In here, there is a wall switch. Activating this switch opens another gate in the south east of the main room. This is a timed gate so you will need to sprint over to it.

Inside, there is a water-filled hole that you must jump into. Swim out under the ice and make your way over to the north west cornet. Here, there is a short passage with a submerged roof switch for you to activate. This will open the exit gate.

Leave the ice-floor room ands follow a short twisting passage to the Golden Bridge. Don't admire the view for too long as the Queen of Hearts still wishes to detach your head from its shoulders. Dispatch her and collect the Whis Key from its pedestal at the east end of the bridge.

Follow the eastern exit to the top of a slide. Slide down and find yourself back in the main Golden Bridge room. Head back into the blue room and place the Whis Key in its holder. The glass disappears and you can activate the lever switch within.

The triple gate opens and you can see a small medi-pack on a pedestal. Beware, though. Two more cyborg soldiers are gunning for you. Once they have been neutralised, enter the passage they were guarding. You find yourself in the corridor between the two windows of the room you where you first arrived here and the Spi Key is a little closer to your grasp.

Go to the other end of the passage and enter the dark place. Only one door is clearly visible so enter. The door seals shut behind you as you enter. The painting on the wall is, appropriately, named 'No Escape' (Courtesy of Deekman). There is, however, an escape route in the form of a hole in the floor.

Dropping through it places you in a very similar one to the one you just left. The main difference being that this one has an exit in the east wall and some flares for you to pick up in the south west corner. Go through the east door into a dark room with a raised floor section with a candle pattern on it.

This is where all those flares you have collected come in handy. If you light one, you will find that the room is not entirely black. The flare should illuminate all doors and corners quite admirably.

You can get secret #8 by following the dark passage leading off to the south. At the end, there is a grating at floor level. Shoot it and crawl through the opening to pick up some more flares and a large medi-pack. Exit and return to the room with three doors.

There is nothing to pick up in the passage to the east but, if you are curious as to what is down there, feel free to take a look.

Stand on the raised floor section with the candle motif and angle to face the passage in the north wall. If necessary, light a fresh flare, then run down the passage as quickly as you can, trying not to bump into any of the walls. This is, of course, timed. After turning the third corner, hit the sprint key - that should get you through the gate just before it closes.

Now you have a climb ahead of you. At a one point, you will need to backflip and twist to catch a ladder on the wall behind you. A backflip alone, at the top, should suffice to place you on a ledge. The way ahead lies to the west, down a steepish slope - but don’t go rushing off yet.

To your right, you can see a small medi-pack, just sitting there in plain view. This is secret #9. Unfortunately, you cannot just stroll over and pick it up - a spiked ball will crush you. If you want to work out how to get it for yourself, stop reading here.

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Line yourself up, facing down the slope, next to either the right or left walls. Sprint down the slope ignoring the card soldier who appears. Just behind the soldier, jump over a shallow pit. If your timing was right, a gate should close behind you just before two spiked balls crash into the small pit and mysteriously become one.

Wait a few moments and the gate will re-open. You can now shoot the card soldier and take a walk back up the slope to collect your prize.

Back down the slope and head south to a water-filled hole. Dive in and swim down until you arrive at a beautiful, submerged church.

Secret #10 is hidden in this water filled room. To find it, you must carefully examine the stained-glass window at the south end of the church.

Also at the southern end of the church and at ground level, there is a small alcove with a raised dais with a broken pot on it. Just beyond this, in the ceiling, is an underwater switch. Pull this and a gate will open in the main church.

Find the gate and swim along a short passage. Pull up into a small room and face the door in the north wall. Enter slowly. A rolling spike ball will roll toward you but, so long as you are stood back a little, it will fall harmlessly into a pit.

Jump over the pit and up the slope. Activate the lever switch at the top and you are shown another gate opening in the church.

Run back down the slope, jump over the pit - the gate, ahead, will re-open as you approach, and drop into the water. Swim back along the short tunnel and find the newly opened door. Follow the passage into a large room with a glass partition in the middle, a pair of strange metal contraptions, closed gates near the ceilings of both halves of the room and a couple of inverted glass boxes with air trapped inside them.

Locate the underwater switch on the contraption in this half of the room and give it a tug. (You can get some air anytime you want it.) A camera shows another gate in the church opening. In addition to this, electricity is now arcing between two contacts on one of the contraptions.

Swim back to the church and through the gate opposite. You will find yourself in the other half of the contraption room. Locate the underwater switch on the second contraption. A camera shows a gate opening near the ceiling in the first half of the contraption room. Swim back there and follow the short passage to air.

Pull up into a small room and exit via the passage in the north wall. You arrive in another partitioned room containing some familiar objects. Out of reach on the southern wall, there is a closed gate with a Drin Key receptacle next to it. You will get the key elsewhere. In the meantime, stop onto the transporter pad for your second visit to . . . . .

The Ring Machine (Visit 2)

You arrive in a room bounded on three sides with large windows. To the west, you can see a Sil Key on a pedestal being guarded by a cyborg soldier. To the east, you can see the ring machine and a few objects. To the south, the exit transporter.

Exit through the door to the north. You will find yourself in a room with flaming blocks that you may have seen through a window on your first visit. Climb onto a block by the south wall next to the entrance door. The closed exit gate is the other side of this block. Jump, grab and monkey swing to the opening near the ceiling in the north wall.

In this room, you will see a pedestal with a Drin Key protected by flames, and a wall switch. Activate the switch to initiate an easy timed run back down the short passage with a running jump to the south west at the end. This should land you on top of a block with a Turr Key on. Quickly pick up the Turr Key and jump down from the block before the flame re-ignites.

You will notice that the horizontal flame has gone out on the back of the block in the Northeast corner of the room. Place the Turr Key in the holder and the flame goes out on top of the block. Jump up and collect a second Turr Key. Doing this causes all the flames in this room to go out and the block by the south wall drops into the ground revealing another Turr Keyhole.

Place the second Turr Key in this Keyhole and a camera will show the Drin Key you saw earlier is now collectable. Go get it. You can climb on any of the blocks now as all flames are out.

Picking up the Drin Key activates a camera that shows the exit gate opening in the south wall of the previous room. Guess where you have to go now.

The gate will close behind you as you enter the room next to the transporters. You are able to see another room below this one that you will be visiting later. This room has an open door to the south, a closed gate a to the east next to an alcove containing a second Drin Key, A Russ Keyhole and the Ring Machine with the green ring activated.

Head out of the open door in the south. You may recognise the pit that lies ahead from your previous visit. If you look to the south west, you will spot a pair of platforms that appear and disappear at regular intervals. There is a door in the south wall and an alcove in the west wall. All you have to do here is jump onto the nearest platform. Just before it disappears, jump to where the second platform will appear and, from here, jump into the alcove to collect a Whis Key.

Next, you need to visit the room to the south so, stand at the end of the alcove near the pit. Face south with your back to the wall. Just as the platform is about to appear to your left, jump sideways then immediately do a running jump to the fixed platform just outside the south room.

Enter a small room with a window directly ahead through which you can see the flame room from the end of your first visit here. Turn and face north. On the wall, either side of the door, are receptacles for the Whis Key and Drin Key that you currently have in your possession. Use them. They have opened the gate opposite where the cyborg soldier is guarding the Sil Key.

Using the alternating platforms, re-cross the pit and enter the newly opened room. Be ready with the guns, though. Another soldier has joined the guard and he will attack immediately.

Dispose of the soldiers and collect the Sil Key. Doing so causes the gate in the west wall to open. Go through and follow the passage to the vault. Directly ahead, in the north wall, is a water door. To the east, a closed gate (this comes into play later). A raised section of floor has a gold statue on it and to the west there is an open door and a Russ Key encased in a glassy block. Immediately behind this, there is a jump switch. Use it.

A camera shows the water door opening. You can now enter the main vault. Enter and follow the room around. You will see a closed gate in the northern wall as you run - you open it later so, for now, continue around the room to the centre. Just before you reach the middle of the room, you will pass another closed gate and an empty pedestal. This is, of course, where you collected the Man Key earlier.

Once at the centre, draw your guns and fire at the vases. Three of them shatter and trigger the glass block with the Russ Key inside, to disappear. This also, however, releases a pair of wraiths. Run all the way back to the gold statue and crouch down until the wraiths explode.
It is a good idea to save as soon as you reach the statue. Some times, the wraiths are near impossible to dispose of, other times; they explode almost instantly on contact with the statue. You may also get through a few health packs at this point.

Once they are disposed of, go and collect the Russ Key and then make your way back to the room by the Ring Machine. Use the Sil Key - the gate in the east wall opens.

Go through the gate and follow the passage into a large room with fountains in. Have your guns ready - two more cyborg soldiers are awaiting you here. Dispose of them.

A look around, once the room is cleared of hostiles, will reveal a deep pit beneath the fountain. In this pit, on a pedestal, is a Spar Key. Before dropping into the pit, however, take a look at the waterfall on the southern side of the room. Secret #11, essential for the bonus level, is just sitting there waiting to be picked up.

Step onto the cross-members of the fountain and safety-drop down. You can just leap down but will sustain some damage if you do. Pick up the Spar Key - the floor you dropped on to will fall away revealing a lower section with an exit. Drop down and head for the door.

Take great care in this passage. There is a pressure pad on the floor that triggers a rolling spike ball. Dash back out of the passage ahead of the ball and wait until it has settled. It is now safe to follow the passage all the way to the end. Slide down the last section and you will drop out of a grating in the wall right next to the Ring Machine once more.

Use the Spar Key and the glass partition keeping you from the Russ Keyhole and the Drin Key will disappear. Collect the Drin Key and use the Russ Key in its keyhole. A camera shows the middle gate in the pit room opening. The red ring on the Ring Machine has also been activated.

Exit this room and enter the newly opened room. Step onto the transporter pad that will immediately take you back to . . . . .

Through The Looking Glass (Part 2)

You return to this level in the compartment next to the one you left. Insert the Drin Key into its holder and a camera shows the last gate in the church opening. The gate just to your right has also opened.

Follow the long corridor back to a small room with a water-filled hole. Drop in and swim toward the gate, which will open as you approach. Swim into the second contraption room. Get some air if you need to then swim back to the church and out of the open gate to the exit.

Swim up a sloping passage for a distance until you reach air. Wade out and draw your guns. Follow the passage around two corners and you come face to face with a cyborg soldier and the Queen of Hearts who makes one final bit to part your head from your body.

Once you have disposed of both of them, you will see that you are in the final section of the very first room. Use the crowbar to prise the Spi Key off of the wall then exit via the door in the south wall.

Staticon's House (visit 3)

At the base of the ramp, you find that you are back, once more, in the brick passage close to where you entered the Looking Glass. Run back to the back yard of the house and re-enter the house. Once inside, go up the short staircase and up the first flight of stairs. Up one more step to the back part of the house. On the wall to your left, you will see the receptacle for the Spi Key. Use it and enter the bathroom.

As you stand with your back to the windows, you see, in front of you, the airing cupboard. Pull the left hand section to the left, toward the wall. In the space it once occupied, there is a lever switch. Activate it and the door to the back room opens. Yet another lever switch awaits you in here.

Activate it and a camera shows the third grating opening in the yard. This is your next port of call. When you get there, follow the passage. It is very much like the previous two passages, but this one take you to . . . . . .

The Block House (Part 1)

Straight ahead of you, at the bottom of the slide and behind a glass partition, you can see the object required from this level - a Turr Key. Also, behind the same partition, a transporter. To the east, a closed gate and, in the south wall, a doorway to another room.

Go here. Looking around reveals three wall switches, two of which, are too high up the wall to reach. Activate the wall lever that you can reach. A block rises behind you. Jump up onto this block and activate the wall switch to raise another block. From this second block, you can activate the switch that opens the gate in the previous room.

Go to the newly opened gate. On the other side of it, you will find a metal cage - beware that you do not fall through the mesh, though. The floor in this passage is lethal.

Walk into the cage - right to the floors edge and press the action key. The gyrosphere closes and begins rolling down the rails. Ride all the way to the end where the gyrosphere will stop and Lara will dismount. Do not let go of the action key during the ride. Lara will fall out of the transport and die.

Run through the door, ahead, into a small room with two closed gates. Head toward the gate in the northern wall. It will open as you approach. Follow the passage beyond into a tall room with a closed gate in the east wall and a series of platforms on the wall, which allow you to climb up to a high door in the north wall, near the ceiling.

Pull up onto the first platform. Do a roll then run, jump and grab to the second platform. Line up to the corner of the third block and do a run and jump. Do not grab or else Lara will not make it.

Aim for the right hand side of the door and run and jump again. You should make it safely into the doorway. Just inside this doorway to your right, there is a dark alcove. Remember it.

Head on into the room. To the right there is a window and, through it, you can see secret #12. Another of the essential secrets if you wish to complete the bonus level. Continue on to the wall switch and activate it. A camera shows the gate, in the room below, opening. This switch also causes a block to rise in a pit in a crawl space in the dark alcove. Without raising the block, you cannot get through the crawlspace and run a serious risk of becoming trapped.

Head back to the dark alcove. Near the ceiling, in the darkness, there is a crawl space. If you like, light a flare but there is not far to go before it gets light again. Pull up into the crawl space and crawl to the, now, shallow pit. Drop in and pull back up on the other side. Crawl on until you can stand then follow the passage round a corner to a slide. Slide down and collect the secret.

Run back out through the open panel in the window and head back down to floor level in the room with the climbable platforms. Enter the newly opened gate and run up the short incline to another small room with a window which commands a breathtaking view of yet another small brick room. You will visit it later.

Activate the wall switch on the north wall - a camera shows the final gate in the entrance hall opening. Return, and enter a good sized room with gates all around and a large yellow device dominating the room. On the eastern side of the device you will find three large buttons numbered 1, 2 and 3. You need to find the correct combination to continue on your way. Try it.
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If you get stuck, read on.

Enter the initialising combination of 123. Any other combination except this one will only open the room behind you, where you can re-set the device. 123 will open a gate in the only gate in the north wall. Follow the passage behind it to the small room you saw through the window a short while ago.

In this room, there is an aperture with an eye design upon it, and a wall switch. Activate the wall switch and the aperture will open for a short time. Side jump over the yellow casing next to the switch and quickly look through the opening. The combination that opens the exit gate is chalked on the wall at the end of a short passage. If you don’t read it in time, you can always activate the switch again for another try.

If you would like to explore behind the other gates, feel free. There are some goodies to be had behind some of them - just watch out for the few cyborg soldiers that are on guard here.

Press the buttons in the correct order to open the exit gate when you are ready and follow the passage behind it. After a short run, you enter a room that appears to be blocked by large steel blocks. There is a wall switch on the north wall near the entrance. Activate it - the large steel blocks rise - and fall again very heavily.

Run along the passage, avoiding the steel crushers but not a gate to your left as you run. Follow the passage to the end where you will find another closed gate and a wall switch. Activate the switch. A camera shows the gate by the second crusher opening. Yes, run back, avoiding the crushers, and enter a small room with a lever switch in it. Activate the lever switch and see the closed gate at the end of the passage opening.

Back through the crushers to the end of the passage and head through the doorway. Enter a bluish room with a picture of a fairly glum but large fellow sitting in front of a painting looking at an ice block containing a hat. The fellow is, of course, a hatter.

On the south wall, there is a jump switch. Leap up and activate it. A block lowers in the east wall revealing an alcove with a wall switch in it. Go there and activate the switch. The gate in the north wall opens. Go through and enter a large room with a domed ceiling and floor.

Walk to the end of the gantry. If you look down, you should be able to see an opening in the north wall that, at present, is unreachable, and a platform below the one you are currently standing on. Drop off the edge and grab. Drop and grab again then pull up onto the small, square platform. Monkey swing into the opening in the north wall. Follow the passage and, at the end, climb up and into a short passage.

There is a switch on the wall here. Activate it and a door will open high in the east wall of the Hatters room. From the passage with the switch, shoot at the vase in the alcove, opposite. Once it is broken (and be sure that it is broken), drop down into the hatters room and re-enter the large, domed room. If you stand at the end of the gantry, once more, you will see that a new platform has extended into the room. This makes the north door accessible.

Jump back and do a running jump from the gantry. You will land on the new platform. Enter the door and, near the end, climb down the pit on the right.

Enter an enclosed area of a larger room and activate the wall switch on the northern wall. A camera shows the block of ice encasing the hat has now gone. Climb back up the ladder to the domed room and make your way back to the hatters room - a running jump / grab from the platform should catch the gantry, allowing you to pull up and retrieve the hat. Although you don’t see it, picking up the hat causes the gate in the enclosed area to open.

Back down we go. At the bottom of the ladder, ready your guns. There are three cyborg soldiers to dispose of before you can progress.

Once the soldiers are dispatched, cross the large room to the wall switch on the west wall. Activate it and the gate next to it opens. Enter and take the only other exit into a short passage and finally into a transporter room. Stand on the pad and take a guess where you are going.

Yes . . . . .

The Ring Machine (Visit 3)

You start off in the western-most of two transporter rooms - a fairly familiar layout. Follow the passage to the north. The gate opens as you approach. If you take a look about, you will realise that you have been in this corridor before. Last time, though, there was a pair of gates that had remained closed. They are now open and two other gates have closed giving you access to some new areas but denying access to previously visited rooms.

Follow the passage to the north. It eventually turns a couple of corners and you enter the room with the Snee Key in its glass block.

Jump up onto the glass block and climb the pole - you will enter a hidden room where you can pick up an essential secret. Back flip onto the floor and collect the laser sight - secret #13.

Drop back into the main room and look around. There are four doors, one on each wall. To the north, the door you entered by. A closed gate blocks the east door, the south door leads through a short passage to another room and the west door leads under the ring machine.

Head south first. If you look down through the crystal pyramids, you will see a lever switch that needs activating, and a cyborg soldier guarding it.

There is a deep pit to the east with a tall column-like structure built into it. High up on the column is a jump switch. On the other side of the room you can see a large, empty alcove.

Run to the edge of the pit and do a run / jump / grab to the platform that runs around the column and pull up onto it. In the north wall, there is a window through which you can admire, once more, the beautiful fountains and waterfalls that you visited earlier. Walk around the platform to the other side and do another run / jump / grab to the alcove. You will see a hole in the ceiling but, currently, it is too high to jump into.

Stand at the edge of the pit, once more, and safety-drop onto the support spar below. Don't try safety dropping to the floor. You will, most certainly, die. Walk about half way up the support strut and angle Lara approximately north-west (or south-west if you prefer). Do a standing jump to the next support down. From here, you can safely drop to the floor of the pit.

There is an exit in the east wall, an alcove containing a block in the west wall and a flame in the centre of the room below the column. Pull the block from the alcove and position it on the flame - you won’t burn unless you pull or push the block too far. A camera shows a block, in the large alcove, rising out of the floor beneath the hole in the ceiling. There is also a cyborg guard.

Run to the exit in the east wall and climb the long ladder. You will emerge through a one-direction floor tile into the alcove with the newly raised block. Quickly draw your guns and dispatch the guard. Jump up onto the block and pull up through the ceiling hole. Follow the short passage to its end.

You are now facing the column again. Do a running jump to it, run around to the other side and activate the jump switch. A camera shows you a gate opening below. Return to the alcove with the block by running, jump and grab back to the short passage. Drop back into the alcove and make you way to the edge of the pit, once more.

A temporary ledge has appeared below so, once again, safety drop to the support spar. Follow the ledge around the column but be ready with your guns. The cyborg guard is active and awaiting your arrival. Dispatch him and enter the room he was guarding. Activate the lever switch and a camera shows the gate opening in the Snee Key room.

To get there, you will need to make your way back down to the bottom of the pit, climb up the ladder to the alcove and then, back to the crystal pyramid alcove via the column.

Just to make things awkward, the temporary platform has disappeared. You can safety drop to the floor but will take a health hit doing so. Alternatively, you can do a running jump to the support spar, aiming for the highest part - near the column. No health is lost if all goes well. From the spar, it is only a short drop to the floor.

Head out through the north door and return to the room with the glass block. Activate the lever switch in the east alcove and see a water-door opening in the room below the transporters from your second visit. Run through the short passage to the west and go through the opening in the glass wall. Be ready with your guns - a cyborg soldier is lurking in the darkness.

In the northern half of this room, examine the east wall to find a wall switch. Also note the closed gate in the west wall.

Activate the wall switch and dash to the gate. It is on a timer so you will need to be quick. Once through the gate, follow the winding passage to a familiar place.

You are back in the vault. The gate you entered by last time is closed so, no re-visiting old rooms.

At the golden statue, turn north and re-enter the main vault. Remember a closed gate with a pressure pad in front from an earlier visit? Head there - the gate will open this time and you can activate the lever switch within. Also, pick up a small health pack. A camera shows that the glass block encasing the Snee Key has gone. All you have to do is go back and get it.

Before heading back, though, take a look through the glass wall into the centre of the vault. Oh, and by the way, watch out for the three cyborg soldiers who are coming for you.

Through the glass, you will notice that a central section of the floor is missing. Go and have a closer look - drop down into the room below. Take the large medi-pack from the pedestal. You have just collected secret #14.

To get out of this room, activate the lever switch. A block rises on which you can climb to escape. Make your way back the way you got here and collect the Snee Key. Have no fear - there are no wraiths this time.

Having retrieved the key, go and use it in its keyhole near the Ring Machine. You see the gate to the return transporter opening. The Ring Machine is also fully activated now. What a magnificent sight it is. Head back to the transporter rooms and stand on the pad to be transported back to . . . . . .

The Block House (Part 2)

Not much to do here - just collect the Turr Key from its pedestal. The gate opens in the north wall. Walk through and slide back to . . . . . .

Staticon's House (visit 4)

At the base of the ramp, you find that you are back, once more, in the brick passage close to where you entered the Block House. Run back to the back yard of the house and re-enter the house. Make your way up the stairs to the last doors still un-opened.

Place the Turr Key in its holder. The door next to you opens. Kick the door of the cupboard open. Inside, you will find a receptacle for holding hats. Place the Hatters Hat upon it. This opens the final door.

Head into the newly opened room. There, lying resplendent upon the bed, the object of the quest - the Car Keys.

Notice, in the north east corner, a glassed in section of the room. On the floor, within, is a pressure pad. This is the entrance to the bonus section. You can enter so long as you have the revolver and laser sight. You do? Then combine them and run up the stair to the top of the house. Remember the open section in the ceiling with a vase in it? Go and shoot it then return to the bedroom. A section of the glass has been removed and you can step on the pressure pad. If, of course, you do not possess the revolver or laser sight, skip straight to "Staticon's House (last visit)".

Bonus Level

You seem to be standing in the same room except that there is no glass in this alcove now. Further examination of the room will show that the alcove in the north west corner is now glassed in.

Head out of the room via the door and notice that this isn't the same place you left behind. You arrive in a room with several sets of gates to the east. To the north there is a sort of gallery and a coin slot. Place a coin in the slot and a projector illuminates, showing the first frame of a special edition of Custom Raiding Blues by Deekman. The first set of gates to the east has also opened. Another coin slot is located here. Place another coin and you will get the next frame of the strip and open the next set of gates.

Repeat this for the remaining two frames (if you have found enough coins).
Head back to the bedroom whenever you are ready, regardless of how many coins you found. One of the glass panels has disappeared and you may step onto the pressure pad that takes you back to . . . .

Staticon's House (last visit)

If you haven't already done so, pick up the Car Keys from the bed. A camera shows the last gate in the yard opening. Head back down the stairs and out into the yard. Go through the gate and follow a long tunnel all the way to its end.

It opens out into a large sloping pipe-like tunnel. The lower end is filled with water. Drop into the pipe and make for the water. Swim down the slope towards a grating in the south end. Just before you get there, notice a gate in a recess to your right. Head for this. The gate opens as you approach.

Swim through into a familiar small room with a central pillar. Swim around the pillar and exit via the opening to the west. You are back in the lake.

Climb from the water and make your way to the Land Rover. Use the Car Keys and drive. Head east and follow the road as it turns south and climbs the steep hill. At the top, just keep driving until Lara wakes.

Thanks for playing.

Hope you enjoyed this level.