Back to Basics 20008 - La Guardia Monstruo

Level by Cory Smith

Walkthrough by Quarrystile

Pickups =7
Secrets=1
Kills=20

Little dinos=4+3+8=15 ( in order of appearance )
Raptors=2
Natives=2
Rex=1

MS = Monkeyswing.
JS = Jumpswitch.

Time for another adventure.

After the opening cut-scene, Lara finds herself in a room with a water filled hole at the centre and over on the W wall is a keyhole. So we need a key....

Do not go in the hole just yet as it is a dead end at the moment. Instead go to the N wall where you will see a sculpture that is different in colour to the others. Push or pull it to gain access to the wall lever behind it. This opens a door down in the water.

Time to get wet.

Get into water and follow the tunnel which will take you into a flooded room.

Note the two unopened doors and the hole in the ceiling to the N. We will be returning through this hole shortly. But for now, directly in front of you is the now open door.( E ) This is where you need to go. Swim through the tunnel and up. Climb out of the water into a room with four JS, one on each wall.

BE CAREFUL as three are booby trapped. Look up to see the boulders that lie in wait for Lara. The boulders are triggered by standing on the tile under the JS, so stay away! The JS we need is the one in the N wall. This is the safe one. So use it and the reddish door on Lara's right will open.

Swinging spike room.

The spikes swing further than you think, so do not get too close as Lara will take damage. Time the swing of the spikes and run OR sprint into one of the alcoves then the same again to get out to the other side.

Above the fires is a MS. Use this to get across. Lara can ONLY grab the ceiling tiles with the left/right lines (horizontal). The vertical ones will let Lara fall to the flames below. So carefully work your way over using this mini maze.

Red Water Room.

The water is DEADLY. Do not jump in!

Two things to do in here. Uzi's and 60 rounds of ammo for them are over in the dark SE corner. PICKUP 1 and 2

The SECRET is here too. Go to the S wall and look in the water. 1 LMP. How to get it if the water is deadly? The water is SAFE in the square containing the LMP. Go in carefully, and try not to go left or right too much. Climb back out and if you have not done so yet, go and get the uzi's and ammo.

Make your way out through the doorway in the NE corner.

Sloped floor room.

Save your game before continuing, unless you are experienced.

Fire/Death tiles run down the centre of this room, so avoid touching them. Jump forwards and backwards with a left or right curve on the sloped floors until you reach the doorway at the other end. ( W wall ) You will have to jump into the doorway as there is not a flat spot for Lara to stand on.

Chicken Run.

This next task reminds me of the chicken run down the school corridor. I wonder if the builder had inspiration from that?

OK, What to we have here? Wall knives that will make a mess of Lara's pretty knees, wall spikes that will make shish kebab of her, and as if that was not enough, BOULDERS in the ceiling! Tread carefully. I find that facing Lara against the wall, 1½ squares away from the blade and performing a sideways jump will get you past the knives, without ANY damage if done correctly.

The floor is littered with the remains of the unfortunate who did not make it past here. These can hinder you, so plan your route.

At the end is a T junction. Go N first. Notice the Door on Lara's right. You will come out of this door later. For now, pull the JS and then follow the S passage up the steps, turn right ( W ) and jump over the low wall back into the flooded room you were in earlier.

This time one of the blue doors is now open. The one in the NE corner. Swim though it and follow the tunnel until you can climb out to meet......

Little dinos!!! Four of these not so loveable creatures come to greet you. Deal with them quickly. It is surprising how much energy they can take out of Lara.

Follow the passageway until you come to a big room with red/black floor tiles. On the distant N wall is a door which is closed at the moment. That will need to be opened before Lara can continue her quest.

Closer inspection of the floor will reveal there is a different coloured floor tile along the E wall and that the red and black floor tiles do not have the same pattern on them (clue 1).

Above the door, there are four tiles. The first AND fourth tiles correspond to the tile along the E wall. The two centre tiles give us clue 2 - the "safe" path.

Using only those safe tiles, make your way to the tile of a different colour on the floor along the E wall. Get it wrong and Lara will have a long fall to her death. DO NOT TRY TO STAND ON THE DARK COLOURED TILE, as this is a "phantom" tile and you will fall through it. Instead, face W and hop backwards with a GRAB. Lara will catch hold of the edge of the LADDER hidden under this phantom tile.

The deep dark pit.

Use the ladder to climb down into the pit. Once you are down, look South. There, in the darkness, is another hole in the floor, but leave that for now. Light a flare and go to the dark NW corner for a LMP. This LMP is protected by a nasty adversary, a RAPTOR!

He will come from behind and get you when you are within one square of the LMP. So be ready and deal with him first! Now, you may be tempted to use your uzis to dispose of the raptor, but there may be a more important use for them later. So use the weapons of your choice, but you may pay dearly for it later. Once you have dealt with the raptor, collect the LMP (PICKUP 3).

Now head back to the S wall and drop down into the hole. Follow the passage until you come to a room with a multi-coloured door and two cages containing a hanging half skeleton.

Opening the door.

This is achieved by pushing the two skeleton cages onto the tiles in the NE and SE corners. A simple task. Go through the now open multi-coloured door.

Double doors room.

In this room are two doors NE and SE. In the SW corner is a wall lever guarded by a flame, In the NW corner is another wall lever. This is the one we need to use first. BUT WAIT. It cannot be as easy as that, can it? No, it is not. The floor is rigged out with spikes. Tread on the incorrect tiles and Lara's a goner! The safe tiles are the ones that are oriented the same way as the one at the entrance of this room. So, armed with this knowledge, make your way to the NW switch first, then pull it.

This opens the door in the SE corner. Mind your step and go through this door to see a wall lever directly in front. To the right and round the corner is a receptacle for something that you do not yet possess. For now, pull this lever to turn off the flame protecting the SW wall lever. Now go and pull that lever. This opens the other door, the one in the NE corner. Make your way to this door and go through.

Crawl under the swinging spikes over the trapdoor and stay near to the wall. ( I favour the left wall.) This will ensure that the spikes miss Lara. Continue crawling until she is round the corner to the right and out of harm's way. There is another wall lever here. Pull this to open the door behind Lara.

Time the swinging spikes and run into the room to find another lever. This lever opens the trapdoor you just crawled across. Once again, time the spikes and get down into the hole. DO NOT jump, but just run and fall into it. Collect the Statuette and get back out. (Do I need to mention to time the swinging spikes?)

I found the easy way to get out was to stand with Lara's back on the E wall of the trapdoor hole, so that she is facing W. Jump up and forward at the correct time and continue running until clear of the swinging spikes.

You now have the Statuette, so let's go use it. Make your way back to the spiked floor room and head for the SE door, past the wall lever and use the Statuette in the receptacle. This opens the door back up at the top of the long ladder.

So make your way back there. Be careful as the spiked floor is still waiting to skewer Lara. Go W through the skeleton cage room, up the short ladder, then finally the long one. Once at the top, take a running jump over to the doorway. Go though the door and down the short tunnel.

Outside, Fresh air!

Lara is now outside. Have a run round if you want, but there are no pickups in this area.

Those of you who did explore will have seen three of those skeleton cages in the NW corner. By the S wall near the pool is a floor texture that looks like wood flooring. You will have also noticed two raised blocks in this area. One is halfway along the N wall, the other halfway along the E wall. Behind the E wall block you may have spotted the blueish coloured trapdoor.

We need to open that blue trapdoor. Here's how.

Get one of the skeleton cages from the NW corner and maneuver it to the wood floor type texture at the S wall. As your near the pool, two little dinos and a raptor will come out to delay you. If you are lucky, the raptor will kill the little dinos. Dispose of whatever is left and continue moving that cage. Once it is in place, the raised block along the N wall will lower, exposing another wood floor texture. This will need a cage placed on it, too.

You have two choices now. You can go and get another cage OR you can continue using the one you already have. It makes no difference.)

Place a cage on the now accessable wood floor along the N wall. Once this one is placed, the raised block along the E wall will lower to reveal the final wood floor tile. Go and get the last skeleton cage and place it on here (OR you can continue using the one you already have, as it STILL makes no difference).

Eight more little dinos will pester you just as you are almost finished. When you have placed this last cage, you will hear the trapdoor open. Climb up the rocks, as the trapdoor is just beyond the cage on the E wall. Make your way down carefully, as it is a big drop. Follow the tunnel until you enter the rock room.

Rock room.

In front of you is a purple gate. High up in the E wall are four boulders poised to strike. In the NW and SW corners are wall levers, The SW switch is booby trapped! DO NOT pull this lever. All you need to do is pull the NW switch which, after a short delay, opens the purple door.

Go through the door and down the tunnel until you arrive at a T junction. N is inaccessible due to the steep slope, so go S to the second chicken run of the level. More wall spikes here to work past. STOP at the first wall hanging skeleton, look carefully, as there is a wall lever on the E wall that needs to be pulled. This lever opens the last blue door in the flooded room, so make sure you do not miss pulling this lever. Continue on your way past the rest of the spikes.

Follow the tunnel, being cautious at the corners. When you see the tunnel that contains skeletal remains, draw your weapons, as a native will be out to get you. It will take a fair bit of shooting with your pistols to finally kill him. But you could use the uzis, maybe?

Continue following the tunnel, there is an obvious boulder trap over a hole ahead, but a simple run/jump will put it behind you. You then come up to a door which will open as you get closer. Go through and you should recognize where you are. Turn left and go S up the steps again. Follow the tunnel and jump into the flooded room again. This time swim through the blue door in the NW corner. Climb out at the end, then STOP.

Pressure pad room.

The camera in this room is fixed, making it difficult to control Lara. Binoculars will show you that there is a closed door, your exit. A few raised floors but not much else.

There are, in fact, four closed doors, one behind the other. The ONLY way to get all the doors open is to steer Lara around the room WITHOUT letting her step on any the raised parts of the floor. Another mini maze. BEWARE of the high blocks near the exit door. Do not climb on them as Lara will burn!!

As she goes around, you will see that she crosses pressure pads which open the doors. (You should hear them opening.) When you reach the end, backtrack until you are able to go through the now open doors. Remember not to step on OR jump over the raised floor. If you do, the doors will close and you will have to go back to the entrance pool and start all over again. Worse still, Lara could catch fire!

Go through the doors until you come to the next room.

"Mirror room."

The FIRST tile in this room is safe. Ahead is a closed door. The way to open the door is down in that hole. Look left (W). You will see what appears to be a mirror. I say "appears," as Lara has no reflection. It actually is ANOTHER room, but make note of the high and low flooring. High is "bad." Low is "good".

Using the floor plan of the other room as a map, walk Lara around until she reaches the hole in the floor. Do not attempt to try and jump from the doorway to the hole. That is why the boulder is there, to give Lara a sore head. Once at the hole, climb down. DO NOT touch the floor at the bottom, it is a spike trap. Get into the crawlspace and follow it through to the rolling boulder room.

Rolling boulder room.

It looks difficult, but it is easy. The middle is not a good place. Choose a side and watch the rolling boulder closest to you. As it rolls away, SPRINT all the way across.

In the NW corner is a wall lever, pull this to open the door in the room where you came down the ladder. Now make your way back past the boulders. Back into the crawlspace and onto the ladder. DO NOT climb out at the top of the ladder, Lara burns. Instead backflip to a safe tile.

The door behind you is now open, go through into a room with five skeleton cages dotted about.

Cage room.

Using the "mirror" as a guide, place the cages in the same position as they are in the mirror. As you do this, you will hear doors opening. After placing the final one your exit is the NE corner.

Follow the tunnel to round until you get to the flames. Use the MS to cross over. Continue down the tunnel to reach the next room.

In front of you (E) is a lever and a door. To the left is a ramp with a glass wall. There is a boulder at the top of the ramp. Pull the lever to release the boulder. When the boulder reaches the end of the ramp, the door opens. Go through into the next room.

Glass wall room.

This room has a glass wall. Go all the way round into the NE corner to the closed door. The piece of glass two squares back from the door is different to the rest, you can walk through it. Inside is the Metal Key. As you get near the key, that closed door will open. Pick up the key and do through the open door. You will have to go through the glass nearest the wall this time.

Get your pistols out as you follow the tunnel, another native lies in wait. Maybe you STILL have uzi ammo left?? After finishing him off, continue through the tunnel until you reach the next flame trap. Use the MS to get across. The MS does not go all the way over. So you will have to walk closer to the flame and jump back up to grab it again to continue. Turn right and go down the slope.

As you slide down the slope, you will recognize it as the inaccessible slope by the second chicken run corridor. You will have to go back up through the skewer spikes again. The lever can be left alone this time, though. Now you have to get back to the flooded room so that you can get back to the start of the level where you can use that hard won Key.

Keep following the tunnels. You will pass the obvious boulder hole trap again. This time it is just a case of jumping over the already fallen boulder. Keep going until you come out through the door again. Turn left (S) and run up the steps again to get back into the flooded room.

This time swim to the SW corner and go through to get back to the starting room. Use the Metal Key at the keyhole on the W wall and go through the door once open.

Climbing room.

Go down the short tunnel until you reach the high climbing room. DO NOT touch the tiles that the wooden structures are on as Lara will burn. At the end of the wooden structures look to the N wall. You should see a crack you can jump to. Shimmy left all the way around to the SW corner where you can climb up. Turn and face N then jump up to grab the next crack.

Shimmy right all the way around until you reach the door at the SE corner. DO NOT climb up until you are right at the door, as the preceding tiles will turn Lara into a fireball. There is a wall lever on the S wall right next to the door. Pull this. You will hear a boulder start to roll somewhere. IF you look to the right, you may see the boulder fall and eventually land on the tiles at ground level. Shortly afterwards the door will open. Be careful that it does not push you off the edge, as it opens outwards (hop back and grab the edge until it opens, to be on the safe side).

Getting near the end now.

Follow the tunnel to the next room. The camera view changes, but will go back to normal soon. There is a hole in the centre of this room, so make your way down there by sliding down the sloping floor backwards, grabbing the edge and safety dropping down. Once down, enter the next room. There is a closed trapdoor on the floor over by the S wall. The wall lever to open it is on the E wall just inside the entrance.

Drop into the tunnel. S is a closed door. You will want to leave it like that until you have composed yourself. So do not go any closer just yet. You will see that the level is shaking a lot. The reason for this is behind that door. As you shot its relatives earlier on, the Tyrannosaurus in here is pretty upset with you.

Rex's room !!

The door will open as you walk towards it, and close behind you!!!

Before you enter, here is a guide to what is inside. (You may also want to save your game here, too.)

There are skeletons of the unsuccessful littered about the floor. Four of them have a SMP that they never managed to use. But the one you need first is the skeleton in the SE corner just over a low wall. He has a shotgun with 6 shells. This will be needed to give Rex a good sending off.

In the centre of the room you will see lots of skulls speared on sharp sticks. These are bounded on three sides by a low wall. These three walls can be used to put distance between Rex and Lara. Rex will have to walk around the wall, whereas Lara can jump over it. Lara is fairly safe when on the wall, although Rex can use his head or tail to knock her off. It is from this vantage point that you can get all the pickups before dispatching Rex.

What worked for me was to run into the room dodging Rex and jumping onto the wall at a low point. Stay on the wall and decide which skeleton (and SMP) you are going for. Let Rex wander off (or coax him to the opposite side), and when you think he is far enough away, jump down and go get the medipaks as fast as you can, INCLUDING getting back onto the wall. Repeat this for the remaining three SMPs. Now do the same for the skeleton with the shotgun (SE corner). Then get back on the wall.

I managed to use only ONE shotgun shell to finish off Rex.... How? Although this is more hazardous, drop down to the floor and hit Rex in the underbelly. It is best to be as close as possible to get full effect and damage with the shotgun. The other option is to stay on the wall and use all the ammo that you have left.

This can take quite a while, and even then you may NOT finish off Rex, leaving you with a "hung game." Hence, I prefer the one underbelly shot.

The level ends when Rex is dead....

Well, what are you waiting for? Go and open the door.......