A Little Help For Some Friends

Level by Doro

Walkthrough by manarch2 (a few revisions have been made by the Moderator at the builder's request)

Introductory commentary requested by the builder:  As you play this level, please assist all creatures you encounter -- which are Lara's friends -- in reaching their destiny and being united with their loved ones.  Above all, don't shoot at any of them!  At first you'll help two male tigers meet their female counterparts.  Then you'll perform the main intended task here:  luring the red whale through all the rooms to meet the blue whale outside.  The man you'll meet near the end is not there to serve as your guide, but to get to his girl friend's house.


Starting this level in an alley, run ahead and to the canal. Jump to the left ledge and pick up some Flares. Run through the opening and jump up the snowy rocks to get a Ham For the Tigers Box. Get on the highest ledge and run to the health-giving crystal.  Without moving away from that spot, turn to face the strange wall squarely and shoot the wall with your pistols.  Note from Moderator:  Others have mentioned how difficult it is to get this wall to shatter, and I must admit I experienced those same difficulties myself.  The builder's readme purports to explain how it's done, but the explanation wasn't at all clear to me.  It speaks in terms of east and north, which is not very helpful given there's no compass in TR3. What worked best for me was not what was stated in the readme (and above), but to get in the nearby alcove and shoot the wall at an angle.   Get in the cave behind and drop into the room below. Don’t go on the male tigers’ path or they attack.  Go right and pull down the lever to open a door, jump over the path and run into it, avoid the rolling blade and go to the slope.  With Lara's heels against it, back flip and jump off the slope to grab the ceiling.  Turn around and monkey swing past the flames and over the slope before releasing.   Climb the stairs in the next room and pull the lever (watch out for the blade, you can stop it using the black tile) to open the door, get down and enter the new room.

Go right and jump on the slope, then to the opposite one.  Slide down, grab, shimmy right, backflip onto the breakable tiles and run-jump towards the pillar with the lever.  Note from Moderator:  The builder says you can also use the climbable wall directly beneath the breaktiles either to backflip to the slope behind you or to climb up the left side, drop onto the breaktile and side flip to the pillar with the lever.  Use it, then stand-jump to the far wall slope and jump on the second lever platform to open the door that releases the female tigers. Watch out for the tigers' pathway and go into the next room, search for a grated block and move it onto the black tile. Go to the new open doors, climb onto the block and jump down to your left.  Shoot the green wall and, if necessary, hop over the fence to lure the female tigers to their mates.  Then get back to the block and hop over the balcony.  Run through the corridor to find a Universal Key.  The door in front of you opens, so get back to the first passage of this mansion (the fire bowls have gone out) and pull the block once to climb on it and get out again. Slide down the snowy hill (Note from Moderator: I found that the Ham and the Flares had magically reappeared here) and jump left over the canal towards the keyhole. Open the door beside it using the Universal Key. Note the docile Red Whale swimming about below, then jump on the central pillar and quickly to the opposite timed door and get in.

Jump up the structure, find a Nice Gift in a trench and get to the end of the room, use the wheel switch to open the door in the last room’s pool, get back there and swim through the long passage (making sure that the Red Whale follows you). Swim through the end of the room, climb up and use the left/right slopes with curve jumps to get up to the walkway. The Red Whale will have to wait patiently for your return, as the passage is blocked at the far end.  Get in the next room, dive in the water and swim to the left platform, climb up, jump to the slope and jump to the ladder, climb up and use the slopes to get to the safe pillar, from there jump to the left platform with a Gift and a health crystal. Get down into the water and pull up onto the (looking from entrance) far right corner of the central structure, jump to the block against the far wall, take an angled standing jump to your left and grab the ledge where the pots are burning, shimmy left and pull up onto the ledge.  The builder points out that it's much easier simply to slide down from the health crystal platform and jump off with a left curve to land on the upper ledge.

Push the block under the right opening, climb up and jump to the left ledge. From here, run-jump to the slope, to the next one to land on the platform with the railing. Back flip onto the next slope ahead, slide down and grab the edge, pull up and take a rolling back flip to grab the ladder. Climb up, jump to the statue ledge and to the balcony. From here jump to the top of the central structure, find a health crystal and use the two wheel switches to open two doors in the pool (one of which allows the Red Whale to enter, assuming he didn't get tired of waiting for you and swim back along the passage). Dive in the pool, enter the sloped passage (the Red Whale entered via the straight and level passage) and use the underwater lever (after the Red Whale is inside with you) to close the door at this end. Climb out through the air hole in the next room, jump on the slope to grab the ledge with the railing (although it was intended that you shoot the railing first), shimmy far right, climb and backflip with a mid-air turn and left curve to the ledge.

Now jump and climb up all the ledges to the top (use slopes as boost) and use the wheel switch. The next underwater door is open, so get in the new room after jumping down and climb the opposite ledge. Use the breakable tiles to get a Nice Gift and reach the platform with the wheel switch (I found it easier to use the upper breaktile rather than the lower one), use it to open the next underwater door. Swim outside again, where the Red Whale will be reunited with his lady love, the Blue Whale, and find another Universal Key on one balcony, use it on another balcony and get through the passage to another balcony near the start. Jump on the central ledge at the other side of the canal, jump left to find another Nice Gift, jump to the new courtyard and find Flares on a ledge.

Get in the mansion (while the rough-looking but friendly dude scampers nervously away from you) to find another Gift, then head back out and follow the dude into another courtyard. Find a bit higher ledge in the opposite corner and climb onto the high block. Use the breakable tile to get to the ledge with a Universal Key and another health crystal. Use the key on the keyhole down below to open the door, get in the new room and get a Nice Gift on the left ledge, jump there to get it. Get to the only lever in this room and pull it, it opens the timed door at the opposite wall on floor level, get in the new room and jump on the right slope, then with a left curve on the pillar. Search the pillars for a Gift and a Universal Key, there are two trigger tiles on the pillars, one activates the blades, one deactivates – first activate them and then deactivate them when they aren’t on the floor to reach the lever and the health crystal. Get back up again and find the open door, get out of this room and reach a pool area. Use your key to open the door and to release the dude again (I had to go back and find the shy rascal), follow him out and while approaching the house where the dude's girl friend waits, the level ends.  The builder points out that you can jump into the canal, swim underneath the finish trigger along the left wall to the other side while leading the dude closer to his girl friend, then swim back and pull out to watch the two of them cavorting madly about.

THE END