BUILDING COMPLEX A

Level by Jonson

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Begin by sliding down into a small outdoor ravine. Hit the look key to regain camera control and run forward and to your right. Slide down into a lower ravine and go to the other end. Look to your right and you'll see a large structure built into the canyon wall. Before going down further, draw your pistols and shoot the mesh entrance in the south wall. It will shatter, allowing you a way inside. Jump down to the sloped concrete block and stand beneath the entrance. Using only the action key and the up arrow, jump up to grab the opening and pull inside.

Run along the glass floor toward the south doorway. As you approach it, a barrel will start rolling down toward you, so avoid it with a simple jump to your right or left. After it goes by, run up the ramp and turn left at the top. As you run along the bridge toward the opening in the east wall, an MP starts taking shots at you from the room below. You may as well drop down and deal with him now. After he's dead, search the cabinet against the north wall (standing about a step away from it) for some uzi ammo and note the closed door in the east wall. You'll need a couple of cards to open it, so get back onto the same bridge you dropped down from, either by using the short block opposite the cabinet or by taking a back flip to and jumping off the sloped surface near the east wall. Note the parallel bridge running alongside the south wall in this room. You'll be using it shortly, but for now, go through the east opening into a small room.

Search the cabinet for a small medi-pack, then shoot the grate in the NE corner to access a crawl space. Crawl forward to the end and pick up a small medi-pack, then turn around and crawl back toward the opening. Avoid the dark tiles in this area, as they're all death traps. Make a counterclockwise circuit around the crawl space area, passing over a steaming floor tile in the process, and you'll come to another grate. Hit the space bar to bring Lara to her knees, draw your pistols and shoot the grate. This alerts the MP standing inside, so quickly crawl inside and kill him. (If you'd shot the grate from further back, you would not have alerted him and he would have stood there like a statue as you entered. You may have been tempted under those circumstances just to leave him alone, but it's essential that he die.) Pick up the E-CARD I that he dropped, then take the desert eagle ammo from the computer station against the west wall. Shoot the barrel SW for some uzi ammo.

Crawl back to the small room and exit through the west opening beyond the cabinet. Use the bridge to cross over into a new room and shoot the MP who challenges you from your left. Go around the glassed-in enclosure and pick up the flares near the SW corner. Hop over the pipe and go into the opening in the south wall. Run up the ramp and hop or vault up into the alcove at the end. Pull down the wall switch for a cut scene showing a timed door opening in the previous room. Wait before hitting the look key, and you'll know how long you have before the door closes again. Throw the switch again, and this time you won't get the cut scene. Reverse roll and run back down the ramp, jump over the pipe and turn to your left. Use the sprint key to get around the glassed-in enclosure and hop over the pipe to enter the timed doorway in the north wall. (You may have to wait until the laser starts moving away.) Jump over the laser and then hop onto the ledge to your left.

Go through the opening and up the ramp. Find the wall switch at the top and get ready for another timed run. When you pull down the switch, a cut scene shows a door opening in the east wall of the room below. Wait until the door slams shut, then hit the look key and pull the switch down again. Reverse roll, slide down toward the previous room, jump off at the last second to clear the pipe, turn left and sprint around the glassed-in enclosure until you reach the open doorway. Dash inside and immediately draw your pistols to deal with the waiting dog. Take the E-CARD II from the NE corner of the console, then go through the south opening and follow the passage until you reach a ramp leading down to a closed door. The door opens briefly as you approach it, dumping you back into the room where you killed the first MP.

Use the E-Cards in the slots on either side of the closed east door, which then opens for you. Go inside and greet another MP with gunfire. Then step forward into the depression, which opens like a trap door and sends you sliding down a slope into a room guarded by a solitary dog. Kill it, then proceed about halfway down the east hallway. Pull up into either alcove on your right and left and shoot out the grates. You'll find a small medi-pack and some flares in the north room, and some desert eagle ammo and the CROWBAR in the south room. Go back down and use the crowbar to open the door at the end of the hall. An MP steps up to the attack, so kill him before picking up the flares in the corner of next room. Search the nearby cabinet for a small medi-pack and note the fuse receptacles in the far wall. Go through the east doorway into a dark and drab room. The door closes behind you, seemingly trapping you inside. Stand near the edge of the floor with the burning tiles below, and take a standing jump either to the left or right of the box. Move the box to one side and pick up the BLUE FUSE. When you do so, the door reopens.

Return to the previous room and go over to the west opening near the fuse receptacles for a little block puzzle. Enter to find three moveable blocks arranged in a row. I'll call the one nearest the doorway Block #1, and so on. Push Block #2 to the right (N) once, then pull out Block #1 and move it out of the way into the previous room. Go back and pull Block #2 back once to its original position. Then you can go around and pick up the YELLOW FUSE in the NW corner. There's no need to move Block #3 at all.

Go back outside and use the fuses to open the door in the south wall. Step into the dark passage, hop onto the ramp ahead and immediately back flip to avoid the barrel that rolls down from your right. Do the same thing with the next length of ramp. Take standing jumps up the ramp until you reach the opening. Two MPs come running toward you, so just slide back down to safety. The MPs will go back the other way, so draw your pistols and take them by surprise. Be careful, though, because when you step onto the threshold another barrel will be released from your left. The shorter barrel standing by itself can be shot, revealing a large medi-pack.

Go south and you'll emerge in an enclosed outdoor area. Shoot the dog, then find the small medi-pack in the nearby NW corner. An MP is shooting at you from high up in the far south wall, so try to take him out from here. There's a small room east where you'll find another MP and a closed door requiring another fuse. There's another open area to the SE flanked by spinning radar stations, but there's nothing to do there right now. Head west and find a doorway leading to another room. Go inside and shoot the panel box on the wall to your left. Pull down the switch for a cut scene showing the outer doors opening beneath the radar stations. The doors are timed, however, and even at a full sprint you don't have enough time to get there, so don't bother trying.

Continue west through the next two openings into a room guarded by two MPs. Kill them and find the uzi ammo on the floor SW. Go to the SE corner, where you'll find a grate. Shoot it, enter the space and get the UZIS. Come back out and go to the sloped block at the NE corner, back flip onto it and jump off to grab a crawl space in the duct. Pull inside and turn to your right. Crawl forward until you're able to stand up. You're overlooking a large funnel-shaped room with what looks like (and is) deadly liquid down at the bottom. Look to your right and see a switch in the east wall. Take a running jump and grab to the ledge below the switch. Pull up, step forward and pull down the switch to lift a trap door behind you (which isn't timed). Turn around, side step to the right (to give yourself running room) and take an angled running jump back to the south ledge. Face the trap door and take a running jump and grab to it. Pull up, face north and take a running jump to a flat portion of the large duct. Crawl east and face north when you can stand up. Take a running jump slightly NW down to the stable block beneath the closed door. Turn left, and when the flames subside take a running jump west to the next stable block.

There's an opening down below in the west wall. Standing with your back against the wall at the NE corner, take a running jump toward the opening, veering to the right and hitting the action key at the last instant to land inside the passage. Run to the other end and pull down the wall switch. The deadly liquid outside is drained away, allowing you to jump to the slope, slide down and grab the edge, and shimmy over to the east opening. Pull up into the crawl space and enter a small room. Search the cabinet for a BLUE FUSE, then crawl under the pipe and head south up the ramp. An MP runs toward you, so deal with him. Continue until you reach a familiar area. Turn left and return to the east room on the other side of the outdoor area. Insert the Blue Fuse in the receptacle to open the door to its left.

Go inside, and the door closes behind you. Note the three raised tiles in the room ahead, and remember their locations. Continue through the east doorway and follow the passage past a grilled alcove containing a wall switch. Pull down the wall switch at the end of the passage to raise that grill. Go back and pull down the wall switch in the alcove to open a door in the NW corner of the previous room. Return to the raised threshold to find that the other raised tiles have vanished. But you remember where they were, right? Take a standing jump slightly NW to the first safe tile (if you miss, the door will slam shut). From the spot where you land, you should be able to side flip left to the second safe tile. The next part is tricky. You need to face NW, with Lara's feet as close as possible to the edges of the safe tile. Take a running jump to the ledge in front of the open door without triggering the door release mechanism. This may take several tries, so be patient and remember to save as soon as you succeed.

You can climb the glass wall north (be as quiet as possible so you don't wake up the sleeping dog outside) and back flip to a passage. Turn around and follow the passage past a timed flame blower. Go around the corner and drop down into a dark kitchen next to the room where you used the Blue Fuse. Kill the MP and exit through the SW opening. Use your crowbar to open the door ahead and jump into the underground pool. Swim through the opening in the east wall (avoid the NE opening lest you be sucked into a powerful fan) and find a small triangular opening to your right. Swim inside for some desert eagle ammo. You may find it difficult and time-consuming to swim back out, so just return to the previous area for some air if you need it. Continue swimming SE and locate another small triangular opening. Swim inside and pull the underwater lever to open a door you may have seen in the underground pool area. Use the nearby air hole and then swim back the way you came. Pull up onto the south ledge and pull down the wall switch inside the alcove. It doesn't open the grate leading to the outside, so it must do something else.

Yep, it closes an underwater door in front of that pesky fan, so jump back into the water and swim into that NE opening you avoided earlier. Turn right into the east passage and swim up until your feet find the ramp. Run up the rest of the way and follow the passage until you reach an opening looking out over the underground pool. Activate the jump switch there to lower a rope ahead. The camera angle changes, so hit the look key to restore control. Side step to the left and take a running jump and grab to the rope. You can try to reach the rope from here if you wish, although I'm not sure it can be done. It's much easier to jump into the water, pull up onto the south ledge and reach it from there. Turn as necessary to face the opening in the west wall, then swing forward and jump off to grab the edge of the opening. The trick is to bring Lara all the way to the bottom of the rope, but release on the first swing.

Pull down the wall switch to open a door open you. Pull up into the opening. You'll immediately start sliding, and if you drop to the room below before noticing the rope dangling ahead of you, not to worry. Simply turn around, pull up onto the slope and take a rolling back flip to grab the rope. All of the corners except the NW corner are occupied by spinning radar stations, so turn Lara to face the NW corner, swing in that direction and jump off to land on the flat surface. Pick up the small medi-pack and jump up to shoot the grate in the west wall. Pull up into the crawl space and keep to your right. You'll go over a steaming tile and eventually arrive at an alcove where you can stand up and pull down a wall switch. You can hear the sound of a trap door opening, just beyond the grate to your left (which remains closed, unfortunately), so crawl back in the other direction and this time keep to your left. Locate the opening and lower Lara down it. Release and grab again immediately. Pull up into a lower crawl space area and locate the nearby opening. Lower Lara down and shimmy to the right and around one corner. Pull up west, and while still in a crouched position draw your pistols and shoot out the grate ahead. Crawl forward and emerge in the men's bathroom. Push the nearby button to open the exit door NE and go there.

You'll come out onto a ledge overlooking the area you explored earlier. Look to your left and you'll see an open doorway in the north wall. Don't go there now, or you'll be ambushed by an active sentry gun that's already pointed in your direction. Look to your right and you'll see a closed metal door with a card slot to its left. Look up at the block above the closed metal door and note for later the fuse box jutting out of it. Head past the closed metal door along the ledge and jump north to the long white building. Go to the east end and jump to the next long white building. Finally, jump to the shorter white building in the NE corner and vault up to pull down the wall switch. The door opens in the north wall, so hop into the opening and run down the corridor to the other end. You come to a room filled with deadly liquid and guarded by two roving laser banks. Take a running jump NE to the raised tile, being careful to avoid the nearby flame, and wait for the laser bank to go away before jumping over to the raised tile in the SE corner (you'll be safe in the extreme corner). When the laser bank goes away again, take a running jump east toward it and quickly scoot to your right into the open doorway before the laser bank begins its return trip.

Don't go into the next room yet, as you have one more task to perform first. Now you have two laser banks to contend with. Stand in the threshold of the doorway, about one step back from the darker tile, wait for both laser banks to clear the area, then take a running jump to the right side of the next raised tile west. Without stopping to assess the situation, continue with a running jump west so that you pass over the returning laser bank and land on the raised NW tile. Press your nose against the west wall, and you'll be safe from the laser. When it retreats, step back and pick up the ID CARD, then quickly step forward again. You can turn around and go back the same way you came, but it's much easier simply to turn to your left, jump up and grab the ceiling, and monkey swing back over to the SW corner. Release to drop down onto the raised tile, and repeat your jumps until you get back inside the east doorway.

Enter the room with grated flooring and pick up the flares. Then push the button in the east wall to open the trap door in the middle of the floor. Go over to the south wall, facing north, wait for the vertical flame blower to subside (the horizontal ones never do) and simply run forward to land on the north block, and run forward quickly to avoid the returning flames. Hop down to your right and pull up into the crawl space in the east wall. You'll alert an MP in the next room, but there's nothing you can do until you crawl to the opening and lower Lara down the other side. Kill the MP and pick up the DESERT EAGLE he drops. Then get some desert eagle ammo from the computer station against the south wall before exiting via the SE corridor. Go up the slight ramp and ready a weapon to kill the dog that attacks when you enter a filthy kitchen. Remember that sleeping dog you tried to avoid awakening earlier? Well, you've just invaded its lair. There are four more dogs in this area, you've interrupted their siesta, and they're very grumpy. Kill them all and proceed through the west opening. Go up the stairs and push the button to open the exit door.

Reverse roll, step out onto the ledge and return to the west side of the compound by jumping from white building to white building. Jump back to the ledge near the closed metal door (you still can't open it) and go around the ledge to the opening in the north wall. The sentry gun I mentioned earlier has been deactivated, so go inside and shoot the MP on the far ledge. You can see the laser sight on a ledge to your right, but you can't reach it from here. Turn around and approach the SE alcove (the one on your left). When you do so, a flame blower inside the alcove is activated. Take two steps back from the alcove, wait until the flames subside, then take a standing jump over the flame hole to the wall switch. You'll be safe here. Pull down the switch to remove a cover that protects the companion switch in the SW alcove, then side step to the corner and back flip to safety when the flames subside again. Repeat this procedure in the SW alcove, and when you pull down the second wall switch the flames guarding a ledge in the west wall are extinguished.

Take a standing jump to the nearer triangular ledge, turn your nose to the wall and take a side flip right to reach the second one. Save your game here, as you now need to make a difficult jump to the north ledge. Here's how I did it. Back up as far as possible, face NE and take a running jump, curving to the left before you leap, so that you barely clear the column ahead. When you get past the column, veer to your left in midair and grab the ledge where it's indented. Don't pull up here, however, or you'll trigger and be crushed by the barrel poised up to your right. Shimmy to your right (not your left) past the indentation and pull up. Turn to your right and run along the ledge past the point where it starts turning upward. Turn to your right and position Lara so that you can barely see the corner of the ledge on which the laser sight rests. Turn around, hang drop from the ledge, pull up and reverse roll. This technique gives you a little more jumping distance than would otherwise be available. Save your game and take a running jump. When you clear the column just ahead, veer to your left and then immediately straighten yourself out to grab the ledge. Pull up and claim the LASER SIGHT. Take a running jump south (no grab necessary) back to the ledge with the burner alcoves, and exit this area.

Go around to the closed metal door. Although you now have the ID Card, the door still won't open. Step back, combine the desert eagle and the laser sight, and shoot that fuse box I mentioned earlier. A brief flyby shows the card receptacle erupting in flames as the door opens. Go inside and run up the ramp as the door closes behind you. As you approach the next area, a flyby gives you a close-up of a Stealth jet and a waiting helicopter. As you continue down the west hallway, a cut scene shows a host of MPs and a dog being released to greet you. The dog reaches you first, so kill it before tending to the quartet of MPs. The lone barrel is empty, so continue to the south end of the hallway and press the button to open a door opposite the aircraft.

Go inside and get on the motorbike from its right side. Drive down the north ramp and continue, running over an MP as you descend, until a gate opens upon your approach and you enter a familiar room. Turn to your right, stop in the center of the room, facing the east doorway, and get off the motorbike. Pull down the timed switch in the south wall, then immediately reverse roll, dash to the motorbike and mount it, and keep the action key depressed as the motorbike heads outside into the walled compound. Turn to your right when you get to the other side and continue through the opening toward the open exit gates. When you pass through them to the wide reaches outside, the level comes to an end.