RUN LARA RUN
Level by Gylov
Walkthrough by Bex and posted here with permission
Introduction.
What can I say - this level is tough. Every step you take leads to trap after
trap. Even finding somewhere non-lethal to save your game is a challenge most
of the time - so much so that I’ve mentioned a few points at which it’s safe to
do so throughout this walkthrough.
Most of the tasks
you’ll face in this level are tightly timed, so I’m warning you now - if timed
stuff isn’t your cup of tea, “Run Lara Run” is definitely not going to be the
level for you. If on the other hand you’re like me and you’re a sucker for
timed stuff, this level may well make it into your top ten. Personally, I loved
every minute of it - but hey, I’m a masochist.
Savegames - posted at larashome.com, use this link -
http://www.larashome.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10402
I have included savegames at key places in this level in case anyone needs
them:
- Savegame 0: After
the initial timed run, spiked boulder traps and timed spike blocks
- Savegame 1: After the timed run with the skeletons, the fire burners and the
pole
- Savegame 2: After the burner tiles and pillars with spiked boulder traps
- Savegame 3: After the boulder traps, skeleton ledges, wraiths and rope swing
- Savegame 4: After the timed lava room, boulder traps, ceiling spikes and
scarabs
- Savegame 5: After the timed sliding, pot-shooting and jumping sequence
- Savegame 6: After the underwater boulder gauntlet
- Savegame 7: At the door to the alternative ending
Walkthrough.
Ah… you’ve just got to
love a level that starts with a timed run, haven’t you? Thankfully, this one’s
not particularly difficult. Slide down the slope at the beginning and enter a
room with a couple of pillars in a pool and a raised floor tile on your right. Standing
on the floor tile will briefly open the door on the other side of the pool.
Have a practise run first and pick up the small medipack from the first pillar,
then return to the floor tile and try it again for real. It’s simple enough if
you remember to jump from the second pillar at the very last minute so that
Lara lands right near the door, rather than having to pull up first.
Once you’ve managed to
get through the door, you’ll slide down a slope - immediately turn right and
sprint to outrun the spiked boulder that’s racing towards you. Jump over the
ledge at the end of the boulder slope and immediately roll at the bottom then
sprint again to outrun the next spiked boulder that’s on your heels.
The only place to go
after outrunning the second boulder is to the first of several nasty looking
blocks. Spikes will pop out from these blocks after a couple of seconds so
don’t hang around, get across them all as quickly as you can to avoid being
skewered.
Jump to the ladder
after the last spiked block and climb up. Negotiate a couple of slopes and land
in a room with spike tiles on the floor. In the split second between landing in
this room and being bombarded by scarabs, you can finally save your game.
Pick up the small medipack from the safe tile on the left and run away from the
scarabs before they can do you any damage. Run through the passageway on the
right and jump across the lava pit, grabbing the edge of the slope on the other
side. Shimmy right (avoiding the darts which are firing at you from the wall)
and pull up at the end. Slide down the three slopes over the spikes ahead of
you, and grab the ladder at the end.
Climb up into the next
room and three skeletons will appear. You have no weapons with which to
obliterate them, so avoiding them is the only thing you can do. To the North in
this room is a raised floor tile. Standing on this will open the door to the
South for a brief period of time.
Pick up the small
medipack from the nearby pedestal and save your game when you’re at a safe
distance from the skeletons, because in order to get to that door you’re going
to have to tackle an absolute pig of a timed run. (Actually it’s not, though
you may think it is at first. In reality it’s very easy, once you figure out
that you can use a running roll to nail it every time). Here’s how I did it,
although I’m sure there are other ways too:
1. Run to the trigger
tile in a kind of semi-circular way so that Lara’s feet just catch one of the
corners, and you’ll be positioned for a straight run to the door.
2. As Lara’s feet
touch the tile she should already be running and facing the door. Jump once
whilst running to clear a bit of distance, then sprint your butt off.
3. When the sprint bar
is literally empty, do a running roll (press alt whilst sprinting). This will
get you through the door in time.
Manage it? Bravo! But
don’t become smug and complacent just yet - there’s no rest for the wicked, not
in this level at least. As soon as you’re through the door, immediately sprint
down the path to avoid being set alight by the burners that burst into flames
almost as soon as you land on them, then jump to the pole at the end. Climb up
and backflip/twist so that you land on the nearby slope facing forwards. Jump
at the end and, when you’re at a safe distance from the mummy you just landed
next to, save your game.
Evade the mummy and
head for the slope close by, jumping up and grabbing as soon as you land on it
to catch hold of the monkey bars above your head. Traverse the monkey bars
quickly to avoid being impaled by the spikes that start shooting out of the
walls. At the end, turn left and drop, grabbing again straight away to catch
hold of the (temporarily) unlit burner tile in front of you. You could save
your game as you pull up onto this tile if you like.
Quickly crawl across
the burner tile and hang off the other side before it bursts into flames and
you catch fire. Continue using this method for the other burner tiles in this
area (again, saving as you pull up onto each one if need be). At last you’ll
come to a tile that doesn’t burn. Woohoo! Safe at last, I hear you cry! Well,
sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re about as safe as someone playing
marbles on a motorway. If you hang around on this tile for more than a split
second, a spiked boulder will fall from above and turn Lara into a pancake.
Nice eh?
There are in fact
spiked boulders above every single pillar in this room, and they will drop
almost as soon as Lara sets foot on those pillars. Run and jump to the first
pillar and immediately run and jump with grab to the second one to catch hold
of the edge. Shimmy around to corner the left. You’ll now be nicely lined up
for reaching the pillar opposite. Pull up and quickly take a running jump with
grab to that pillar and, once more catching the edge, shimmy, this time around
the corner to the right. You’ll be perfectly aligned to race across the
remaining pillars to the open doorway ahead. As you slide down the slope, save
your game.
Grab the small
medipack from the floor and as quickly as you can (so as to avoid being
slaughtered by the army of skeletons that appeared from the side doors that
just opened), push the floor lever to open the large door in front of you.
Proceed through the door and use the slopes to position yourself to land in the
small pool below you.
Beware of the
currents, as they will carry you into spike traps if you’re not careful. Near
the first spike trap, head to the right and go through the opening in the wall
that you’ll find there. Before being sucked into the second spike trap, swim
upwards through the hole in the ceiling.
You’ll be carried over
a pretty waterfall. Jump when you can to clear some of the distance between
Lara and the pole at the end of the shallow pool you’ll land in. It’s important
to get up the pole quickly, as the pool you’re standing in will catch fire
within a few seconds.
Backflip/twist off the
pole to land on the nearby slope facing forwards. Slide down another slope and
jump at the end. The floor you land on will rise, and as it does so a spiked
ceiling will lower. Yikes! Head through the hole in the wall as soon as you can
and slide down the slope ahead, jumping at the end to land at the foot of a
staircase.
An ominous rumbling
will begin at this stage. Oh joy! It’s a boulder heading down the staircase
you’re standing on. You now have to race up the staircase towards it, dashing
into the doorway at the top of the stairs at the last minute to relative
safety.
I say “relative”
safety because as soon as you manage to get through this door you will be set
upon by two wraiths. As if that’s not bad enough, I should warn you that these
buggers are going to be on your tail for quite a while whilst you tackle a
number of traps which get nastier by the minute. How lovely!
Assuming you have now
evaded the boulder and landed in the room with the wraiths, pick up the large
medipack and notice the ramps through the doorway nearby. You’ll probably
experience a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach at this point, especially
if you look up as you approach the doorway. There’s not one, but two spiked
boulders suspended high up in this ramped area, both of which are perfectly
positioned to make mincemeat out of poor Lara.
The one directly about
your head won’t fall just yet. You’ll need to trigger the one over the gap on
the next ramp first. Take a running jump to that ramp to trigger it, then
immediately roll and without stopping run back to the first ramp and sprint
down it, heading back through the doorway and keeping to the right to avoid
being squished by the boulder that was hanging above you earlier. You really do
need to be quick about this or you’ll be splattered in no time. When you’ve
done it and are at a reasonably safe distance from those pesky wraiths, it would
be a good time to save your game.
Head back up the
ramps. Yay! It’s one of those cross-thingies that destroys wraiths! Only… it’s
not. As you approach it, you’ll fall through the floor and land on the first of
three slopes. At the end of the third slope, jump to the first of several
ledges in this area, most of which have skeletons on them.
Do not take your time
here, because apart from the fact that those wraiths are still in hot pursuit,
the skeletons will of course also spring to life at any moment, with the
intention of giving Lara a few unwanted body piercings. Hop across the ledges
as quickly as you can, picking up the small medipack on the uninhabited ledge
near the rope. Jump to the rope. You’ll see another of those cross-thingies on
the East wall, but it’s a trap, as you probably already guessed due to the fact
that it’s guarded by flames and bolts of electricity. Swing as high as you can
so you land inside the doorway above the cross instead.
If you happened to
land near the cross and catch fire, you can throw yourself in one of the
shallow pools inside this room, but hopefully you managed to get here without
frying yourself. Finally! Real cross-thingies! Use them to rid yourself of the
two wraiths that have been bugging you for what seems like an eternity and save
your game.
The door in this area
should now be open. The whole of the next room is timed from the minute you
slide into it, so it’s up to you whether or not you decide to take a few
seconds to pick up the two large medipacks which are lying on the central
plinth. (It can be done in time).
Either way, from the
central plinth, run, jump and grab the first pillar on the North wall (the
first one on your left as you enter this room). Make your way across all of the
wall pillars in this room in a clockwise direction without stopping.
Shoot the pot on the
last pillar so that you can land on it and use the monkeybars above your head
to get to the high crawlspace opposite. If you did it in time, great, onwards
you go! If you didn’t, well, you’ll be busy dying in the lava pit that just
opened up beneath your feet.
We’ll be positive here
and assume that you made it. Slide down the slope on the other side of the high
crawlspace and jump at the end to grab the ladder. At the top, pull up and immediately
backflip, jump forwards and grab the ledge above you. Quickly pull up to avoid
the spiked boulder that is hurtling towards you. Once the boulder has passed,
backflip again and jump forwards once more to grab another ladder. Climb up and
shimmy right, dropping off onto the slope nearby.
What follows is really
nasty. At the end of the second slope, jump forwards and grab the edge of the
slope ahead. Shimmy right and do not stop shimmying until you get to the end.
The camera angle will change to show you why - you just landed on a slope which
is full of spiked boulders, all of which are heading towards you. I repeat: Do
not stop shimmying until you get to the end! If you do, well, it’s curtains for
Croft.
At the end, drop off,
slide down the small slope and sprint like hell to the pole at the end of the
path you’re on to outrun the boulder that’s gaining on you. Slide down the pole
as the boulder crashes behind you. Continue along the path you’re on, sprinting
to avoid the swarm of bloodthirsty scarabs that just descended on you. Run
through the ceiling spikes nearby and save your game.
Jump over the two
spike pits and slide down the slope. You’ll land in a room with three buttons
on the walls. Unfortunately, so will a load more scarabs.
Push the buttons as
quickly as you can to open the door, and in the next room shoot the four pots
to open the door to the next room. Still being pursued by scarabs, run into the
next room. As you do, Lara’s weight causes the floor here to sink slightly.
Pull the floor lever on the right to stop this happening and head for the South
wall near the previously sinking floor. You can now pull up there. Do so on the
right-hand side of this wall and if you possibly can, save your game whilst
you’re in this pulling-up position, as there’s a really tricky sliding, jumping
and shooting sequence coming up next. Out of the whole game, this is the one
part which turned me prematurely grey and had me calling Gylov some names which
don’t bear repeating, lol…
As you pull up, you’ll
find yourself on a slope, with another slope and several pillars in front of
you. On each pillar is a pot which is on fire. The objective here is obviously
to get to the other side of the room. As you slide down the first slope, whip
out your pistols and jump to the second slope. As soon as you land on the
second slope, shoot the pot on the pillar ahead to turn off the fire there for
a few seconds. Jump to this pillar and immediately shoot the pot on the next
pillar and run/jump to that one. You have to be quick as the fires only remain
off for a few seconds.
Repeat this shooting,
running and jumping method until you arrive at the other side of this area.
This whole thing will most likely take a few (!!!) attempts, and may well
destroy a fair bit of your remaining sanity in the process, but take heart as
it can be done! (Actually, I know I found this bit really frustrating, but even
as I was cursing the author I had to admire the concept of this puzzle - I’ve
never seen anything quite like it before or since, so I have to give credit
where credit’s due for originality).
Save your game. Taking
care to avoid the steam jets as much as possible, climb the ledges until you
get to a slope. Slide down the slope (jumping over a couple of spike pits as
you go) and at the end, jump and grab the ladder texture on the wall ahead.
Notice anything… disturbing… about this ladder texture? Yep, you guessed it.
Spikes. As quickly as you can, make your way across this room. The camera
changes to show you that a few backflips with twists will be necessary in order
to do this. Note that your progress will be quicker (and therefore safer) by
far if you get Lara’s feet in what I call “dangle-mode”. By this I mean that
her feet should not be on the ladder, she should almost be shimmying rather
than climbing except when she has to have her hands and her feet on the rungs
in order to actually pull up and backflip.
After your final
backflip with twist you’ll land on a slope. At the bottom of this slope, run
across the blocks in front of you as quickly as you can because they will
retract and drop you to a fiery death if you don’t get a move on.
A rising floor will
transport you to an outdoor area. I’m not a fan of fixed camera shots at all,
but I have to say that the one you get here is excellent - if the sight of a
whole hill of spiked boulders hurtling towards you doesn’t give you a huge
adrenaline rush then nothing will. Sprint as fast as you can down the slope and
jump into the water at the bottom. Save your game.
What follows is a real
pig of a boulder gauntlet (yep, Gylov is certainly fond of his spiky balls… and
take that how you will!) It’s bad enough that it’s such a nasty set of traps,
but what makes it worse is that it’s underwater, because of course you only
have a limited amount of air.
Unless you are really
speedy or really lucky (or both), you can expect to be here for some time.
Personally, I became extremely well acquainted with my reload key at this
stage. Argh…
There really is no way
to explain how to do the first bit of part. It entails triggering a whole load
of spiked boulders. All I can tell you is that I found it easiest to trigger
each boulder very carefully one by one rather than trying to bomb through the
entire thing in one go. But it’s really trial and error, whatever works best
for you.
Once all the boulders
have been triggered, swim through the tunnel nearby. If you have a fair amount
of air left (unlikely), grab the large medipack from the floor. Time a swim
through the pink spike trap ahead and prepare yourself for another boulder
trap. Are we having fun yet? LOL…
If you can, save your game in the small tunnel just after the pink spike
trap. That done, swim out of the tunnel and straight ahead (the current will help
you). Swim upwards to the hole in the ceiling as three more spiked boulders
hurtle towards you.
Fill your aching lungs with air and save your game. You now have two
options, it depends on which ending you want to see. For the normal ending,
simply climb out of the pool and follow the path until you see an interesting
looking pyramid ahead of you. As you run towards the pyramid, the level will
end.
If however you want to see an alternative (and more interesting ending),
go back to the pool and swim up the slope the three boulders fell from. At the
end, look up and to the left. There’s an open door up there (for some reason,
that door doesn’t seem to open unless you first get out of the water, go down
the path until you can see the pyramid, and then return to the pool).
Swim through the open door and climb out. Make your way up the ledges
and drop down from the crawlspace into the main pyramid room. Grab the large
medipack from inside the pyramid and make your way to the top of the structure
using the pale whitish tiles on its side. At the top, jump to the rope and
swing to the crawlspace. Enter this area and watch the end flyby.