GETTING PHAROS KNOT

 

Level by Harry Laudie

 

Authorized walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

 

 

Begin on a rocky ledge with a lonely palm tree off to your left.  Jump into the viscous water to arouse two crocodiles, then quickly climb back out and dispatch them with your pistols.  Or, if you prefer, you can swim across to the other side and deal with them from the shore, but you'll also have two wild boars with which to contend.  After peace has been restored, jump back into the water and find some flares near the north wall. 

 

Back ashore, hop up onto the horseshoe-like ledge and explore it for some uzi ammo and shotgun shells.  Jump back down and shoot out the wooden barriers behind the structure near the west wall.  Climb up to the top of the structure and find the SHOTGUN.  When you pick it up another crocodile appears below, so shoot it from this position of safety.  Climb down the ladder on the west side of the structure and pick up the small medi-pack down at the bottom of the pit.  Jump up to grab the ladder, and when Lara's feet are set in place back flip into the corridor.  Turn around and follow the corridor west, jumping over a spike pit along the way, climb the blocks at the end and pull up into a valley.

 

Two wild boars will come around the corner ahead to welcome you, so wait for their arrival and shoot them dead.  Run forward with care, as two boulders are poised high above you to your right.  However, they're relatively easy to avoid after being triggered.  Don't fall into any of the spike traps, either.  There's one more boulder to trigger after you turn right.  When you near the north end of the valley you'll alert two more wild boars, so kill them and then pull up into the opening in the east wall.  Climb the blocks into a higher area and locate two stashes of shotgun ammo, one red and one blue.  Finally, go over to the SE corner for SECRET #1 and a large medi-pack.  Shoot another wild boar and get back down to the valley floor.

 

Climb up the ladder in the NW corner (the surrounding ledge is bare) and pull up into a tunnel.  Jump over the spike trap and start running down the ramp.  About halfway down a boulder will be triggered, but you have plenty to time to jump over a fire pit to safety.  Climb up the ladder to your left, shift right at the top and drop down into a higher tunnel.  Turn around and head east down the tunnel.  Turn left into the side passage and step carefully around the fire at the corner.  Pick up the GATE KEY at the end of the passage and retrace your steps.  Continue east along the main tunnel and drop down through the opening at the end.

 

You find yourself on a ledge overlooking a large room with a pool down below.  To your left you can see three gem receptacles near the NW corner, and they're obviously for later.  Therefore, run off the south end of the ledge to the pillar below (or simply dive into the pool), and make your way east with running jumps (with grab, as necessary) from pillar to pillar.  When you reach the SE corner, pull up and turn left.  Hop down to the next block and safety drop from there to the floor.  Clear the pool of crocodiles, then jump in, swim over to the west end, pull out and pick up flares and two stashes of shotgun ammo.  This awakens a skeleton that was sunbathing on the north ledge, but you can either blast it into the water or simply dive back in and thereby avoid it.

 

There are small underwater openings in the north and south walls, and a larger opening in the west wall.  Swim into the north opening, keep to your right and pick up the shotgun shells at the end, and return for air.  Go back, take the more ambitious left route this time, and turn left at the intersection for red shotgun shells.  Flip turn and swim north down the passage.  Take the second right and pick up the uzi ammo.  Return for air.  Swim back into the north opening a third time, take the left passage, turn right at the intersection and stay north.  Take the first left for some uzi ammo.  Continue along the passage and take the next right for a small medi-pack.  Return to the main passage and continue until you reach an opening in front of a simulated ladder.  Pull out and climb up into a room with a burning floor and sloped blocks scattered about.  Don't pull up onto the block to your right, as there's a fire trap on top.  Instead, line up with the ladder and take a running jump and grab to it.  Shift right or left around two corners to the opposite side, take a rolling back flip and grab the next ladder.  Shift right or left around two corners and drop down onto a safe ledge.  Pick up the shotgun shells and uzi ammo.

 

Turn to face north and you can see the first gem across the way.  Take a running jump slightly NW and grab the edge of the sloped block.  Pull up, slide down the other side and wait until the last instant before jumping off onto the ledge against the north wall.  Pull up onto the block and grab the HORSEMAN'S GEM.  Jump back to the previous ledge and go to the west end.  Take a standing jump to the first sloped block and jump four times in succession, making a sharp midair curve to the right after the fourth one so you'll land safely on the ledge at the entrance. 

 

Get back into the submerged tunnel and find that two crocodiles are awaiting you.  Swim past them, and when you reach the long stretch headed west, ignore the side passages and continue until you're headed south.  Take the second left, then the first right, and when you reach the main pool pull out and kill the crocs. 

 

Jump back into the water and enter the tight south opening.  Follow the passage, avoiding the two spike traps along the way, until you emerge in a room with partially submerged pillars.  Get out at the steps in the NE corner and follow around the steps until you reach the UZIS for SECRET #2.  Head for the trigger tile at the opposite SE corner, which temporarily turns off the flames on the pillar tops.  Take a running jump to the first one and a continuing running jump to the second one.  You now have plenty of time to take a couple of steps back, take a running jump to your choice of the next pillar ahead and a standing jump from there to the west ledge before the flames return. 

 

Jump up and shoot the wooden barrier south, then pick up the second HORSEMAN'S GEM.  You can now leave via the upper SW passage.  Oops, the passage turns out to be a dead end, but you do find some red and blue shotgun ammo at the end of it.  Picking it up also awakens the skeleton that you may have seen sleeping on the ledge below, so deal with it, if you have the inclination to do so, and jump back into the water.  Stop for a small medi-pack on the south underwater ledge, then exit through the opening near the NE corner and return to the main pool (being mindful of the spike traps, as the first one is right around the corner).

 

Now swim into the west opening and up the ramp.  Pull out at the end and enter another room with a burning floor and sloped pillars scattered about.  Take a running jump to the nearest one and take successive jumps off the sloped surfaces until you reach a level block against the north wall.  (You may have to grab the edge of the block after that last jump and pull up.)  Face SW and take a standing jump over the face of the next slope.  Slide down to the bottom and jump off at the last instant to grab the edge of the next level block south.  Pull up and hop over to the block in the SW corner.  Pull up onto the west ledge, turn right and vault over the block to pick up the third HORSEMAN'S GEM on the other side. 

 

Get back onto the block and face east.  To get back you need to use the overhead monkey swing, but the route is rather sneaky, and you need to be at maximum health.  Follow the bars straight ahead until just before the texture changes.  Turn left there and go all the way to the north wall.  From there, turn right and simply follow the walls until you reach the end.  You'll have quite a drop to the ledge below, which means an unavoidable loss of health.  Another crocodile is waiting for you in the water below, so hurry back to the main pool and dispose of it. 

 

Now it's time to place those hard-earned gems.  Pull out of the pool at the NE corner and climb up onto the block adjacent to the waterfall.  Take a running jump south to the higher sloped block, grab and pull up.  Slide down and jump off to grab the next block south.  Pull up and vault up onto the next block in the SE corner.  Face west and take a series of jumps until you reach the block near the SW corner.  Jump up to grab the ledge and pull up.  Take running jumps north until you reach the gem receptacles.  Insert all three gems, and you'll find that three ropes have appeared over the pool.  Get back to the central ledge in the west wall, line yourself up with the ropes and jump from rope to rope until you reach the east side.  If you wish, you can divert from the second rope and jump over to the north ledge for a small medi-pack and another SHOTGUN.  However, you'll awaken a sleeping skeleton the instant you land, so decide whether or not the risks outweigh the rewards.

 

From the west ledge you can hop back, grab the edge and shimmy right past the obstruction until you reach the SE corner.  Pull up, shoot the wooden barrier and enter the passage.  Run over a closed trapdoor and pick up the large medi-pack at the end of the passage.  The trapdoor will be triggered to reveal a spike trap, so simply take a running jump back across.   Shimmy back to the spot where you landed when you jumped off the third rope.  You'll see a small medi-pack in the water ahead, but the builder admonishes us to be alert for these clues:

 

Look in the water pool and notice:

 

-       A recessed rear opening with a texture of possible outlet pipes.

-       The middle section looks darker than the side sections.

-       The bottom is depressed as if scoured by a swift water flow.

-       The direction the plant is growing in the water channel.

-       Look at the far end and see the start of the waterfall.

 

This should indicate that there is a water current. Jump into the water pool and the current will carry you down to the lower pool and you'll have to use the ropes again. You can get the small medi-pack, but stay near the edge to get out. If you swim into the middle, the current gets you.

 

Decide whether it's worth it to go after that small medi-pack.  Then use your Gate Key to open the gate in the south wall (watch out for the flames).  Go inside and pick up the CROWBAR around the corner.  There just happens to be a nearby crowbar door in the east wall, so open it and proceed. 

 

Emerge in an open outdoor area with a deadly river down below.  A skeleton will attack from your left when you step out onto the upper ledge, so blast it with your shotgun.  Go to the north end of the ledge, from whence the skeleton came, and use the ladder there to climb down to the next ledge.  Don't enter the nearby passage in the west wall yet, but instead climb up into the nearby south crawl space near the west wall.  Follow to the other end, lower Lara down the side and enter the short west tunnel.  Use your crowbar to pry the GOLDEN STAR off the wall.  Return to the north end of the crawl space, enter the passage in the west wall and run down the ramp.  A boulder will be triggered on the way down, but simply jump over the spike pit at the bottom (no need to use the sprint key) while the boulder falls harmlessly into it.  Jump over the fire pit and continue until you reach the valley floor near the deadly river.  Pick up three stashes of uzi ammo, then walk out to the ledge jutting into the red river.  Take diagonal running jumps from ledge to ledge until you reach the other end of the river.  Three crocodiles are alerted, but they have better sense than to try and swim toward you.  When you get within range, shoot them, then jump to the NE bank.

 

Enter the passage, climb the tall ladder at the end at back flip about halfway up into a tunnel.  Follow the tunnel south, taking a running jump over a spike trap, and climb down the ladder at the other end.  Follow the passage downward until you reach another ladder.  Climb up and find yourself on a ledge on the east end of the valley.  Turn right and go to the north end of this ledge, admiring the gravity-defying palm tree on the way, and pick up a large medi-pack.  Go back and stand in front of the southmost opening in the east wall.  There's a spike trap there, but when you jump across the hole you trigger a boulder from ahead, so simply take a back flip to safety until the boulder falls into the spike trap and comes to rest.  Jump back over and follow the ramp up on the right side.  When you pass the alcove to your left another boulder is released, so hop back once and side flip left into the alcove to avoid the boulder.  Proceed up the ramp and pick up a large medi-pack to your right.  Enter the north passage and pick up the red shotgun shells.  Climb down the ladder at the opening and find yourself on a ledge overlooking a partially submerged room.

 

There are two crocodiles swimming about in the murky water below, so clear the area before diving in.  Swim across to the north side.  Pull up near the NE corner and follow the short passage to the end.  Pry the second GOLDEN STAR off the wall with your crowbar, then reverse roll and go back to the ledge.  You can't reach the west ladder from here, so jump back into the water and swim around to the alcove just below the ladder.  Pull up on the slope to your left, back flip to the slope behind you and jump off to grab the ladder.  As you climb up you can see a small medi-pack on the ledge below and to your left.  Pull up and use the pole to reach an upper north tunnel.  Shoot the wooden barrier and continue along the tunnel, past an intersection, until you reach SECRET #3 and a large medi-pack.  Retrace your steps and take the side passage this time (unless you want to take the time to go back for that small medi-pack).

 

Go down and around until you emerge on the uppermost ledge on the east side of the valley.  Three skeletons and a wild boar are on their way toward you from the south, so quickly pick up two stashes of blue shotgun shells and another SHOTGUN for good measure before they arrive.  Deal with the enemies and go to the south end of this ledge.  Insert the Golden Stars in their receptacles to open the gate between them.  Follow the passage until you reach another outdoor area while Lara's theme music plays.  Approach the Pharos Knot ahead and the level will end before you reach it.