level by
Vinci
walkthrough by dmdibl
(Savegames for the quad bike
jump and the timed runs have been posted in the Unofficial Custom Level Forum –
or they can be downloaded in a ZIP file from this
link.)
Slide down the slope and walk forward to the end. Look
up high at the wall ahead and spot a crawlspace, and a shimmy crack. That is
for later. For now jump the slopes to the left. This irritates a snake. Try to
get Lara into the right alcove to shoot the snake without taking damage.
Continue on the pathway, note the closed gate to the
right. Go up the slope.
Shoot a thug. He drops nothing. Go up top and shoot
two vultures, a snake, and a thug who drops a keycard.
While here you might notice an elongated hexagonal hole
high on one wall, which will be the target for the quad bike. Now go back to
the beginning where Lara shot the snake. Above the snake is a ledge with MP5 clips, so jump up there. At the end of this ledge
is a pushable block. Pull it out, stand on it, and
jump to the shimmy crack that is over the dead snake.
Shimmy right to the end, pull up into the crawlspace,
and use the keycard. Ease down, shimmy left a bit, and drop on the slope by the
snake. Go out, but this time go right through the
gate, and get on the quad bike. Ride it up to the top. On the upper level,
immediately to the right of the ramp, is a steeply sloped brown rock. Lara can
ride the quad bike up this, jump the gaps, and make a complete circuit of this
area.
The bike seems to have a nitrous oxide boost or
something, so sometimes hitting the brake (Alt: actually the reverse) does
nothing. It is very hard to control, and if Lara breathes wrong the bike will
slide sideways off the rocky path. It takes patience to navigate this route.
The quad bike is one of the best vehicles in Tomb Raider, but here it is a
torture device. In the middle of the ride pick up the Desert
Eagle clips. Dismount by using End and a Left or Right Arrow Key.
Lara ends up on the square next to the last sharply
slanted square. The bike will gun up to speed, and make a jump toward the
hexagonal opening. A dozen trials will find the right approach. After thirty or
forty attempts the quad bike sails into the opening--yes! yes!--bolts
through and explodes in the water beyond.
So the trick is to make the jump and end up with the
bike pointed sideways in the opening. The bike naturally points left. From here
Lara drives the bike around the rocky perimeter, jumps the water, turns right
(watch out for the hole) and ends by parking the quad bike pointed back toward
the hexagonal opening. [Without the quad bike here there is no possibility of
getting back out. More on that later.]
Get off. Jump in the water to find the MP5 clips in front of the hexagonal hole. Facing that
hole, swim left and around the corner, dive into a wall slit at the bottom to
get a keycard. Pull out of the water on the
other side of these central rocks. Get into the hole. Lara will have to crawl
on the right side to get through. Take the passage and pull out.
Walk by the two bushes. At the blind corner stop. Standing away from the corner, do a roll to
just touch the corner tile to trigger a boulder, immediately followed by
another roll to get away. Continue to next corner, shoot a snake. Make a left
at the next corner, then at the next corner is a boulder, so do the double roll
to trigger it. Continue and use the keycard on the door. Enter and shoot two
vultures.
Go down the stairs to what looks like a rusted door on
the right. This is the target of a timed run. The switch is on the opposite
wall. So run out on the central stone pathway, and stop at the right turn. To
Lara's left is a small medipack
in the water. To Lara's right, back in the smaller pool, are Desert Eagle clips. Collect these items, get back on
the central stone pathway, jump off and swim over to the switch, to the right
on the far wall. Get out, turn around, and study the route Lara needs to take.
There is a central ridge across this section of pool.
Only on the left is it shallow enough to use. Try it: Lara can do a running
jump, just clear the peak of the ridge, keep running and jump to grab the
central walkway. Pull up. Now notice that Lara will need to make running jumps
to cut the two corners and make the timed door before it closes. After a few
practice trials go back to the switch and use what you've learned. Next to
impossible, isn't it?
Once through the door, take the passage and make a
left. Go left for a small medipack.
Continue clockwise around the room. At the back wall, where a triangular
crawlspace is, look right, get down to the light colored sand to pick up a Desert Eagle. Now here is something curious. Lara can
get through that crawlspace, stand up, and find that a solid wall is in front
of her. She will be back here. For now get out of this room to the green
hallway.
Go left, crawl through to what looks like a deadly
fire tile (quite safe, really) but DO NOT stand up. Instead, still crawling,
return to the alcove you located the Desert Eagle and you’ll find the floor
texture has changed slightly: right now, it’s a fall-through floor. Inside the
chamber below, you’ll find a key needed for the only secret in this level. [Read
the “Bonus Points” at the end of this walkthrough.] On the opposite end of this
chamber, simply jump upwards towards the different texture in the ceiling and
you’ll be back in the green hallway.
Crawl through the passage again and, this time, jump
out shooting. One of the three thugs will drop a keycard.
There is a snake in a bush by the wall. The snake is protecting a push block in
the corner. Push the block in twice to find a door.
Go back to where Lara found the Desert Eagle, but this time enter that triangular back crawlspace. (The Desert
Eagle would have disappeared, if Lara hadn't already retrieved it.) Stand up
and this time find that instead of solid wall there is a push block here. Push
it in, throw the switch, and exit to the right. Go back to the other push
block. The door is now open, so Lara can run over two foxy tiles in the
corners. This will open a tall metal gate.
Now use the thug's keycard to open the corner door and
enter. Don't bother with the head tile, it is timed, and Lara first needs to
handle some thugs. Go to the dead-end for one-way quicksand. Fall through.
Shoot two bush snakes. Go right at the intersection to find the metal gate that
the foxy tiles opened. At the end of the passage is the timed door that the
head tile triggers. Lara first needs to get another keycard.
Go back and straight at the intersection, make a right
to see a hole in the floor. This should make thugs appear. Shoot them for the keycard. To return, jump into that hole (which
triggers a flip room). Jump right back out again to find that Lara is back
where that first push block is. Go through the corner door.
Step on the head tile. Race to the
"quicksand" and drop, run around all the corners, right at the
intersection, then loop left through the open metal gate, continue, leap up
into the timed door just as it closes.
[This is much too difficult. I assumed Lara was
supposed to step on the Indian head tile and race in the opposite direction,
run through the unobstructed room using dash. Then jump in the hole to flip the
room, jump out and have an almost straight dash to the open metal gate. But
that hole only generates a one-way flip, so when Lara jumps out it is always
the room with the push block and the key lock door. Maybe I missed something.
The timer is so short, using the flip effect seems a much better way to make
the run, but alas it doesn't work that way.]
Inside the timed door, take the green passage, slide
down backwards, using grab. Run to the end and jump up into the odd ceiling.
Get out of the water. Use the keycard in the slot, enter the door and go right.
The level ends.
*BONUS POINTS* -or-
WHY DID LARA PARK THE QUAD BIKE WHERE IT IS?
When this game started there was a suspicious block
that Lara pulled out in order to jump to a shimmy crack. Once you have ended
the game, it is optional to play on and explore this.
Lara can go back to the entrance to this area, retrace
the route past boulders, and get out of the hole to where the quad bike is
parked on central rocks. There would be no way out if the quad bike weren't
there. But now it is easy to jump back out through that hexagonal hole.
Drive the quad bike back to the beginning. Dismount.
Jump up to that first push block. Push it in and keep pushing until Lara can
pick up a large medipack.
Pull the block back once. At Lara's level on the right is a triangular opening.
It looks impossible to enter, but I found that if Lara did a run and jump she
slipped right into it.
Follow around to find a keyhole. Use the key you’ve
found after the timed run to open the shut gate near the exit of the level. Continue
on this same level. If Lara drops into the end hole, she falls through the
floor into blackness and dies. But at the hole, she can do a jump and grab to
the right, to get into the passageway to pick up MP5
and Desert Eagle clips. Get out by doing a grab up to the left.
Go back past the keyhole. Slide down. If Lara follows
all the passages she can jump up at a dead-end odd ceiling. She will be
swimming back in the pool where the quad bike was parked, so she doesn't have
to navigate the quad bike back over those tortuous rocks. She can go to the
level exit, but there is no going back to the beginning.
I suspect that the missing key opens up the gate door
at the very end, at the exit corridor. With the side
gate open, you can collect the SECRET of this level: the MP5 and ammo
clips, for all the good they’ll do to you now. Follow the ominous “To Be
Continued” hallway to finish the level.